Duccio’s Pentecost (1308) / public domain
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 27, 2022 / 16:00 pm (CNA).
The first novena ever prayed is the Pentecost Novena, or the Novena to the Holy Spirit. This year, it begins on Friday, May 27, and concludes on Saturday, June 4.
Catholics worldwide often recite the novena during the nine days that fall between the feast of the Ascension, when Christ rises body and soul to heaven, and the feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit comes upon the apostles, Mary, and the first followers of Christ.
This year, Pentecost falls on June 5.
The prayer recalls and invites Catholics to participate in the nine days that the Blessed Virgin Mary and the apostles spent in prayer after Christ ascended into heaven. Together, they prayed in Jerusalem in anticipation of the Holy Spirit’s coming, which Christ had promised them.
The word “novena” is derived from the Latin word for nine. Catholics will frequently pray a novena — a prayer repeated once a day for nine days — for a particular intention. This novena asks for the Holy Spirit’s seven gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
There are many versions of this novena, including one derived from the “The Sanctifier” by Servant of God Luis Maria Martinez, Archbishop of Mexico from 1937 to 1956, and made available by the Daughters of St. Paul.
The Archdiocese of Denver recommends the one below, adapted from novenas found on Adoremus.org and Angeluspress.org.
End each day with the following prayer for all seven gifts:
O Lord Jesus Christ who, before ascending into heaven, promised to send the Holy Spirit to finish your work in the souls of your apostles and disciples, be pleased to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that he may perfect in my soul the work of your grace and love. Grant me the spirit of wisdom, that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal; the spirit of understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of your divine truth; the spirit of counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven; the spirit of fortitude that I may bear my cross with you and that I may overcome all obstacles that oppose my salvation; the spirit of knowledge that I may know God and know myself in him; the spirit of piety that I may find the service of God sweet and pleasurable; the spirit of fear of the Lord that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to offend him. Animate me in all things with your spirit. Amen.
Day 1: Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit, Lord of Light,
from the clear celestial height,
thy pure beaming radiance give.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your divine love. Send forth your spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit we may always be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Day 2: Prayer for the Gift of Holy Fear
Come thou father of the poor,
come with treasures which endure,
come thou light of all that live.
Come, O blessed Spirit of Holy Fear, penetrate my inmost heart, that I may set you, my Lord and God, before my face forever; help me to shun all things that can offend you, and make me worthy to appear before the pure eyes of your Divine Majesty in heaven, where you live and reign in the unity of the Blessed Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.
Day 3: Prayer for the Gift of Piety
Thou of all consolers best,
visiting the troubled breast,
dost refreshing peace bestow.
Come, O blessed Spirit of Piety, possess my heart. Implant in my soul filial love toward God my heavenly Father, and brotherly love for all, so that I may delight in the service of God and my neighbor. Amen.
Day 4: Prayer for the Gift of Fortitude
Thou in toil art comfort sweet,
pleasant coolness in the heat,
solace in the midst of woe.
Come of blessed Spirit of Fortitude, uphold my soul in time of trouble and adversity, sustain my efforts after holiness, strengthen my weakness, give me courage against all the assaults of my enemies, that I may never be overcome and separated from you, my God and greatest Good. Amen.
Day 5: Prayer for the Gift of Knowledge
Light immortal, light divine,
visit thou these hearts of thine,
and our inmost being fill.
Come, O blessed Spirit of Knowledge, and grant that I may perceive the will of the Father; show me the nothingness of earthly things, that I may realize their vanity and use them only for your glory and my own salvation, looking ever beyond them to you and your eternal rewards. Amen.
Day 6: Prayer for the Gift of Understanding
If thou take thy grace away,
nothing pure in man will stay;
all his good is turned to ill.
Come, O Spirit of Understanding, and enlighten our minds that we may know and believe all the mysteries of salvation; and may merit at last to see the eternal light in your light; and in the light of glory to have a clear vision of you, the Father, and the Son. Amen.
Day 7: Prayer for the Gift of Counsel
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
on our dryness pour thy dew;
wash the stains of guilt away.
Come, O Spirit of Counsel, help and guide me in all my ways, that I may always do your holy will. Incline my heart to that which is good; turn it away from all that is evil and direct me by the straight path of your commandments to that goal of eternal life for which I long. Amen.
Day 8: Prayer for the Gift of Wisdom
Bend the stubborn heart and will,
melt the frozen, warm the chill,
guide the steps that go astray.
Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, and reveal to my soul the mysteries of heavenly things, their exceeding greatness, power, and beauty. Teach me to love them above and beyond the passing joys and satisfactions of earth. Help me to attain them and possess them forever. Amen.
Day 9: Prayer for the Fruits of the Holy Spirit
Thou on those who evermore,
thee confess and thee adore,
in thy sevenfold gift descend.
Give them comfort when they die,
give them life with thee on high,
give them joys which never end.
Come, O Divine Spirit, fill my heart with your heavenly gifts: your charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, that I may never weary in the service of God, but by continued faithful submission to your inspiration may merit to be united eternally with you in the love of the Father and the Son. Amen.
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Of course (!), Fr. James Martin doesn’t reject the teachings of the Church. The game plan is to leave these teaching in place while, at the same time, creating a categorical safe-space where the teachings are simply suspended and do not apply. The separation of faith from objective morality.
One need not wonder whether the “clearinghouse” for now a category of persons includes Veritatis Splendor, or the Catechism, or even philosophical references to natural law. Instead, tunnel vision, literally.
Is this separation of faith and morality the modern equivalent to Arianism (the separation of Christ as the incarnation, from the divinity of the Father)? If so, the 1700th Anniversary (2025 A.D.) of the Council of Nicaea has its work cut out, and the synodal path of only walking together (through 2023 A.D.) doesn’t get us there.
No one, anywhere, denies the straw-man statement that “God is Father and he does not disown any of his children.” But, do we possibly abandon Him? Indeed, His complete “style” (what?) is merciful openness to personal conversion with particular forgiveness.
If half-truths ever work their way into the New Evangelization, this would be a betrayal of the entire Church.
Does God disown their behavior?
From the moment of conception, a unique human being is determined as biologically male or female. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you…” (Jeremiah 1:5). God willed and commanded that men and women “Be fruitful and multiply.” To that end, God provided men and women with the necessary means to procreate or cooperate with His work.
Mutilation or chemical transmogrification of one’s personal, God-given, biologically determined sexual organs, fails to comply with both natural and divine law. A person engaged in sterile sexual relations cannot procreate. The LGBTQ person thus denies both himself and God the honorable meaning, use, and purpose of his life. Justice requires that men seek happiness in the way of salvation which God has set for them.
Jesus, at Matthew 7:21: Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Aquinas, together with Gregory the Great preceding him, identified ‘daughters’ or consequences pursuant to the practice of the vice of lust. The ‘daughters’ include blindness of mind, thoughtlessness, inconstancy, self-love, hatred of God, love of this world (ST II-II Q. 153, A. 5) among others.
That church leaders have no qualms about not teaching the truth of God and His way of salvation is an abomination. May God have mercy.
“A ‘selective’ church, one of ‘pure blood,’ is not Holy Mother Church, but rather a sect.”
How true. The Parable of the Wedding Feast does highlight this fact. However, from scripture we do know that though we may be invited or called, not everyone is saved. Only those in union with Jesus doing the will of the Father will be saved. Living sinful lives is not the will of the Father.
As a gauge for discerning Francis’ words, we would, for example, expect His Holiness be delighted to support Germany’s New Way [neuer Anfgang]. Example, “The Holy Tradition and the Holy Scriptures form the one sacred treasure of the Word of God left to the Church’ (Dei Verbum 10). This statement is currently of great importance: In the orientation text of the Synodal Path in Germany, this clarification, which has been carried out continuously in the 2000-year history of the church, is ignored. Instead, new sources of revelation are mentioned, which are of importance for the theological discussion, but nothing more. To place them next to the recognized sources of knowledge or even to attach a higher importance to them is so theologically adventurous that this must be classified as revolutionary or – in church language – as heretical” (Martin Grünewald neuer Anfgang).
He doesn’t. He instead prefers convivial relations with SynodalWay Bishop Bätzing, and praise of Cardinal Reinhard Marx’ Queer Liturgy [Marx’ own description]. That is why what he says regarding Outreach to LGBT, “God does not disown any of his children” may seem compassionate, except that in this context, adding his approval of Fr James Martin’s efforts for liceity of same sex activity his words appear accommodating. If the SynodalWay succeeds in severing the German Church from the Vine, this difference in response will have contributed.
Of your quote: “‘The Holy Tradition and the Holy Scriptures form the one sacred treasure of the Word of God left to the Church’ (Dei Verbum 10).” And of other such truths…
Recall that the vademecum for synodality calls for very distilled synthesis reports while, at the same time, allowing for “minority reports.” Should we be surprised if rainbow/red-hatted Hollerich, the relator/super-synthesizer for the synodal Synod on Synodality (!!!) finds that those diocesan synods explicitly (!) affirming such as what you have quoted, are found to be minority reports in the paper-trail compendium of “continental” syntheses–such that the Tradition and orthodox Catholicism (in both faith and morals) are surely still included—but weighted as a “minority report”?
Count the words…word games. Should we be surprised? Should we? Instead of being severed from the vine, the viral German sect will claim to be the main stem of a non-exclusive jungle.
Theological Wuhan!
It is Good News. The Creator is known for generosity and magnanimity.