A NOVENA IN HONOUR OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Catholic church will be celebrating the Pentecost Sunday on 31st May, 2020.

Pentecost marks the end and the goal of the Easter season.  For Christians, it is a memorial of the day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and the Virgin Mary in the form of fiery tongues, an event that took place fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus.  The Paschal mystery of the Passion, the Death, the Resurrection, and the Ascension of Jesus culminates in the sending of the Holy Spirit by the Father at the request of His Son on Jesus’ disciples. The feast also commemorates the official inauguration of the Christian Church by the apostolic preaching of St. Peter, which resulted in the conversion of 3000 Jews to the Christian Faith.  Pentecost is, thus, the official birthday of the Church.

The Novena for Pentecost starts on the Friday following the feast of the Ascension (Thursday) and concludes on the Saturday prior to the celebration of the Solemnity of Pentecost.

The Novena of the Holy Spirit is the chief of all novenas because it was the first that was ever celebrated, and that by the Apostles and Mary in the upper room, and was distinguished by so many remarkable wonders and gifts, principally by the gift of the same Holy Spirit, a gift merited for us by the Passion of Jesus Christ Himself.

In this novena, therefore, we must consider, above all, the great value of divine love, in order that we may desire to obtain it, and endeavour by devout exercises, and especially by prayer, to be made partakers of it, since God has promised it to him who asks for it with humility: “your Father from heaven [will] give the good Spirit to them that ask Him!” (Luke 11:13).

St Alphonsus Liguori

The Novena in honour of the Holy Spirit
The novena in honor of the Holy Spirit is the oldest of all novenas since it was first made at the direction of Our Lord Himself when He sent His Apostles back to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost. Addressed to the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, it is a powerful plea for the light and strength and love so sorely needed by every Catholic today. To encourage devotion to the Holy Spirit, the Church has granted the following indulgences:

“The faithful who devoutly assist at the public novena in honor of the Holy Spirit immediately preceding the Solemn Feast of Pentecost may gain a partial indulgence for themselves or as an offering for the intentions of the faithful departed.

Those who make a private novena in honor of the Holy Spirit, either before the Solemn Feast of Pentecost or at any other time in the year, may also gain a partial indulgence for themselves or as an offering for the intentions of the faithful departed.”

This novena prayer, although short is sufficient. It would be better of course to add, if time permits, three Hail Marys or say five times the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be to the Father, or to use some of the many well-loved novena prayers from other sources. Remember that prayers must be said with the lips in order to gain the indulgences. For the novenas that precede the movable feasts, it is necessary to begin nine days before the feast occurs.

Prayer:

O Holy Spirit, who descended upon the Apostles and filled them with power and wisdom, watch over me and guide me in all my thoughts and acts. Never let me forget to call on you whenever I need help. Amen.

O Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth, come into our hearts, shed the brightness of Your light on all nations, that they may be one in faith and pleasing to You.

300 days. S. Pen. Dec. 22, 1932. (Pentecost Sunday is “Mission Sunday of the Sick” when the sick, the infirm, the crippled, incurables, and all who suffer offer their sufferings for the millions of pagans that they may know God.)

Prayer Source: All Day With God by Blanche Jennings Thompson

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=1212