Portion of Christmas novena prayed by Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Augustine, FL What is a Novena? This afternoon following Evening Prayer the Sisters of St. Joseph will begin to pray their Christmas novena, and continue praying it daily through Dec. 24th in preparation for the celebration of Christmas. If you are a Catholic of a certain age, you have probably prayed a novena in your life. However, if you are a young Catholic, or not a Catholic, you may not know what a novena is. In the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults (2006) published by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, a novena is defined as the following in their glossary of terms: "Nine days of prayer, usually invoking the intercession of the Virgin Mary or a saint. The novena traces its development to the scriptural nine days of prayer by Mary, the Apostles, and disciples asking for the gift of the Holy Spirit after the Ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven." (p. 521) Nativity in Motherhouse chapel in 2018 Anot
A blog written by and about the Catholic consecrated women religious known as the Sisters of St, Joseph of St, Augustine, Florida, centered on the Motherhouse in St. Augustine.