novena
Noun: A novena is a Roman Catholic devotional practice. It consists of prayers or specific spiritual exercises performed over the course of nine consecutive days. The practice is often undertaken to ask for special graces, to honor a saint, or in preparation for a feast day.
A novena is a structured period of prayer. It is a specific type of devotion with a set duration. * The faithful began a novena to Saint Jude for his intercession. * She made a novena in preparation for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. * The parish community prays a novena together every year.
- To pray/perform/say a novena: This is the standard collocation for engaging in the devotion.
- He is praying a novena for the healing of his friend.
- Novena prayers: Refers to the specific prayers recited during the nine days.
- The booklet contains the novena prayers to the Sacred Heart.
- Novena has no common variant spellings. The plural is novenas.
- Devotion (n): A broader term for prayers or pious practices, of which a novena is one type.
- Triduum (n): A similar three-day period of prayer, often preceding a major feast like Easter.
- Nine-day prayer: A direct descriptive synonym.
- Devotional exercise: A more general term.
The word "novena" is specifically and almost exclusively used within a Roman Catholic context. Its meaning is directly tied to the nine-day structure ("novem" is Latin for "nine"). It is not used in a general secular sense.
- a Roman Catholic devotion consisting of prayers on nine consecutive days