A number of people requested a copy of the Novena. Although the Novena to the Holy Spirit formally started yesterday if you missed the first day you can still conclude it on Pentecost Sunday itself.
Novena to the Holy Spirit
Friday, May 31 to Saturday, June 8
Why pray this novena?
Following the Ascension of Our Lord, tradition says that the disciples gathered in the upper room together with Our Blessed Mother for the novena, nine days of prayer in anticipation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was given to the disciples to empower them to “be my witnesses…even to the ends of the earth.” (Acts1:8)
As disciples of Jesus, we too can join together in prayer for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our parish, our faith communities, our families, and in ourselves. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to be effective witnesses of love of God for our world.
Say the following prayers daily for nine days, starting on Friday, May 31.
Opening prayer
Loving Father, we pause from the activities of the day to remember that You are the one who has called us to be here, and You are the one who calls us to put our gifts at the service of one another. We come before you with open hands and hearts. We ask you to pour out your Holy Spirit on us. We come as people of faith, standing ready to hear and follow your call wherever you lead us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Come Holy Spirit, Spirit of Wisdom. Grant that we may recognize and appreciate what is good, what is true, what is beautiful. Help us to discern their presence, even when they may be hidden in our midst.
Come Holy Spirit, Spirit of Understanding. Enlighten our minds concerning the mysteries of salvation, the mysteries of life and love, of person and relationship. Grant that we may understand them more fully and live them more deeply.
Come Holy Spirit, Spirit of Counsel. Incline our hearts to do what is right and just. Help us to be attentive to your call within ourselves, and respectful of your call in others, that each of us might mature in faith, hope and love, until we come to the fullness of life in Christ.
Come Holy Spirit, Spirit of Fortitude. Give us the strength, courage, and perseverance to live each day joyfully and enthusiastically. May we speak the truth with gentleness, act justly, love tenderly, and walk with our God.
Come Holy Spirit, Spirit of Knowledge. Teach us how to live in the here and now, to see things as they really are, to accept ourselves and others with our limitations as well as our giftedness. Help us to live in this reality without losing the vision of how things might be and the hope to attain them.
Come Holy Spirit, Spirit of Reverence. Fill us with the sense of your presence that this awareness may both influence and be reflected in all our thoughts, words, deeds, and relationships.
Come, Spirit of Wonder and Awe. Infuse us with a sense of awe. Let us come to you in wonder of your grace. Lead us to depend solely on you.
Reading: Ephesians 3: 14-21
This, then, is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every family, whether spiritual or natural, takes its name: Out of his infinite glory, may God give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, you will with all the saints have the strength to grasp the breadth and length, the height and depth, until knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God.
Glory be to God, whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory be to God from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever. Amen.
Holy Spirit, confident in your deep and personal love for me, I place into your hands the petitions I have been carrying in my heart( pause and state your intentions) . Teach me, Holy Spirit, to seek and know you. Grant me true repentance and sincere patience with myself and others. Keep me from sin. Increase my faith, my hope, and my love for my brothers and sisters. Nurture within me the virtues I particularly need. Guide me in the way of true discipleship. Strengthen in me an attitude of obedience, a recognition of your words even when they may come from unexpected sources. Give me discerning ears.
Take some time for silence.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.
And kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
And you will renew the face of the earth.
Lord,
by the light of the Holy Spirit
you have taught the hearts of your faithful.
In the same Spirit
help us to relish what is right
and always rejoice in your consolation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Pentecost Novena for Life
Holy Spirit,
At the dawn of creation,
You brought order out of chaos,
Light out of darkness,
Life out of nothingness.
Breathe on us once again,
And change this culture of death
Into a Culture of Life.
Inspire in your people
A spirit of generous welcome
For each and every life,
No matter how unexpected or dependent
That life may be.
Holy Spirit,
You are the Advocate.
As you fill us with Yourself,
Make us advocates
For the unborn and all the vulnerable,
Until we are all united
In the endless life and joy
of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
One God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Close with Our Father, Hail Mary,
Glory be to the Father