A NOVENA means nine days of public or private prayer for some occasion or intention. Its origin goes back to the nine days that the disciples and Mary spent together in prayer between Ascension and Pentecost Sunday. Over the centuries many novenas have been highly indulgenced by the Church.

To make a novena means to persevere in prayer asking for some favor over a period of nine days in succession or nine weeks. It means fulfilling our Lord's teaching that we must continue praying and never lose confidence. This confidence is based on our Lord's words: "Ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you. For whoever asks receives; whoever seeks finds; whoever knocks is admitted" (Lk 11:9-10).

Many devout Catholics make novenas to God, Our Lady, and the Saints. This book is published to accommodate those who would like to make various novenas and who like to have them in a single volume. A brief instruction (or meditation) precedes each of those most popular novenas.

The purpose of this collection of novenas is not only to provide prayers to obtain favors from God but also to encourage people to pray frequently because prayer, after the Sacraments, is the richest source of God's grace.