Novenas

Berkeley, Sunday, September 7, 2025 7:25 PM

The tradition of praying for nine days, novena, goes back to Our Lady, Mother of Jesus, God, Mary, and to the eleven apostles.

I, recently, in recent weeks, have read about the origins of the novem, but I haven’t noted down the resources, so I did a quick google search and clicked on one of the first links. But I will first start with what I have learned, what are my current practices, what is my plan, what are my questions, i hope someone would follow those, but later I make corrections. To some extent, you read here what is the current status of my thinking, or thinks that come to me, I usually do not delete on the process. At the end those blogs, and other pieces of writing I have at times, work for clearing the mind, or printing the new learnings.

After Our Lord, Son of God, Jesus, resurrected, it seems he was around for 40 days, before the ascension. Here comes my first question which I need to learn more, what about the real presence in the Eucharist as now, 2025 Anno Domini, or year 5758. I do believe on it. We have miracles on it. There is a real conversion of bread and wine years ago. But in any case, Our Lord, I believe, ascended to Heaven 40 days after His Resurrection. He instructed Our Lady, His Mom, Mary, and his 11 chosen followers, the apostles, to stay upstairs in a room praying, the Holy Spirit will come. The Holy Spirit, came at Pentecost, which is 50 days after resurrection. So the novena is 9 days of prayer after ascension, until one day before the feast. There are several extrapolations, such as novena for the Nativity of Our Lord at Christmas, or for the feast of a Saint. But also means that on the feast day you focus on the feast, and there is no more novena. So the novena is a sort of 10 days period starting at the day after the prior feast.

Then, comes the importance as well to live in community and in communion.

Break: I need to put the clothes from the washer to drier machines… Machines! No other option than those machines one an apartment complex. Ok for the help of the washer. I have mix feelings about the drier.

Ok.

Back, and a shared regret. This year, I brought to Church a good new friend from Goa, India Goa, which has an ancient Catholic community. It is said that the Apostle Thomas was there. But then a priest told me that the main current tradition is after the Portuguese and Saint Francis Xavier on the mid of the 16th century.

In any case, I keep learning things by day. He introduce me the concept that it is compulsory for all Catholics to attend to the Easter Resurrection Mass, and have communion there. He also never misses the Holy Friday mass. I forgot a bit the reason there. But we also went to the Holy Thursday mass, wash of the feet, which I believe is quite important, because there is the last Supper. I thought. Anyways, this year, unfortunately, and for the first time in many years, I skipped the resurrection mass. It was a sort of chaotic deadlines. And I attended to mass on Thursday, Friday, went to a celebratory lunch on Sunday. Then, I learned that there is not resurrection mass on Sunday afternoon. It was sad for me. I must get back on my feet and on a healthy schedule to wake up very early on Sundays.

OK. But now the numbers for this year feast. At the end regardless the yearly calendar traditions, the duration of a day was the same. So we are here talking about the expand of 40 days.

So, in 2025 AD, the remembrance of the day resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from 2025 years ago, was about mid-night Sunday April 20. Please correct me on the time.

Thus, if count counts the resurrection day, Sunday as day 1, which makes sense because it is a full day, Our Lord Ascended to Heven 40 days after, at some time on a Thursday. In 2025 A.D., this was Thursday May 29, 2025, at unknown hour, at least for me.

Then, if we do not count the Ascension day at the beginning of the day but at the end of the day. Pentecost happened 10 days after that occasion, because Pentecost means 50, and 50 days after resurrection. The Holy Spirit descened over them, while they were praying in a room. This, should be Sunday the week after ascension. In 2025 A.D., it was Sunday, June 8, 2025 at some time.

Ok, no at least intending to connect to the Holy Scriptures. The footnote of Acts 1:3 in the USCCB Bible, describes well the forthy days, citing Dt 8:2, and particularly Lk 24:50-53.

I correct myself, because I believe that during that time, the praying time, Our Lady Mary, Queen of Angels, and the apostles prayed and chose the twelve apostle, successor from Judas Iscariot?

It is that the beautiful act that the Holy Spirit filled on each of the apostles, and the Holy Mary(?), in in the Book of Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2.

The Holy Spirt came as a fire on each of them. They spoke in tongues…

OK. Back to time. Nine days of prayer, which I would need to read the scriptures more carefully, after the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ meant the following in the 2025 A.D. calendar, which is a rememberance.

Day 1 of the novem was Friday, May 30, 2025. Day 9, would have been on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

On, probably, Sunday, at Pentecost time, which was in year 30 or 33 A.D. at 9 am, Saint Peter already spoke filled with the Holy Spirit. A quick interpretation of Acts, 2, with the help of Google search, and the corresponding A.I. answers in the search before showing the websites. Although, then I usually look in the sources I trust, i.e. approved USCCB Bible translations.

If I do a calendar novena, a topic I will follow up in several following post, and I am about to leave now, it would mean cycles of 10 days, by day 10 meaning the feast day.

I will do it and add materials. I will need to figure out how to proceed on feast day. What is the prayer and reading material then, because it is the 10 day. The day after, starts the new cycle.

Some Consulted references.

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/acts/1

https://wcucatholic.org/the-ascension-pentecost-and-novena-prayer/

I have also listened for 1 minute and 37 seconds the Podcast from Fr. Mike Shmitz, Day 103: Power of Pentecost, which is part of his series on The Catechism in a Year.

Click to access 2025cal.pdf