NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT


 

NOVENA PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

O Lord Jesus Christ, who, before ascending into heaven, did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul the work of Your grace and Your 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 with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation,

the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints,

the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, and

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 displease Him.

Mark me, dear Lord, with the sign of Your true disciples and animate me in all things with Your Spirit. Amen.

This collection of scripture and prayer was used to prepare our hearts for Pentecost:

Day 1: Friday
SCRIPTURE
A Reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel:
I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my Spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees. You shall live in the land I gave your fathers, you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

PRAYER
Father of light, from whom every good gift comes, send your Spirit into our lives with the power of a mighty wind, and by the flame of your wisdom open the horizons of our minds. Loosen our tongues to sing your praise in words beyond the power of speech, for without your Spirit we could never raise our voices in words of peace or announce the truth that Jesus is Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(state your request)
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle
in them the fire of your love!


Day 2: Saturday
SCRIPTURE
A Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans:
For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death. Those who live according to the flesh are concerned with things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit the things of the spirit. For those who are lead by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. But you received a spirit of adoption by which we cry, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

PRAYER
Father of light, from whom every good gift comes, send your Spirit into our lives with the power of a mighty wind, and by the flame of your wisdom open the horizons of our minds. Loosen our tongues to sing your praise in words beyond the power of speech, for without your Spirit we could never raise our voices in words of peace or announce the truth that Jesus is Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(state your request)
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle
in them the fire of your love!


Day 3: Sunday
SCRIPTURE
A Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control: against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions & desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.

PRAYER
Father of light, from whom every good gift comes, send your Spirit into our lives with the power of a mighty wind, and by the flame of your wisdom open the horizons of our minds. Loosen our tongues to sing your praise in words beyond the power of speech, for without your Spirit we could never raise our voices in words of peace or announce the truth that Jesus is Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(state your request)
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle
in them the fire of your love!


Day 4: Monday
SCRIPTURE
A Reading from the Gospel According to Luke:
And I tell you, ask and you will receive: seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For anyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.

PRAYER
Father of light, from whom every good gift comes, send your Spirit into our lives with the power of a mighty wind, and by the flame of your wisdom open the horizons of our minds. Loosen our tongues to sing your praise in words beyond the power of speech, for without your Spirit we could never raise our voices in words of peace or announce the truth that Jesus is Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(state your request)
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle
in them the fire of your love!


Day 5: Tuesday
SCRIPTURE
A Reading from the Gospel According to John:
Jesus answered Nicodemus, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.  What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit.  Do not be amazed that I told you, ‘You must be born from above.’  The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

PRAYER
Father of light, from whom every good gift comes, send your Spirit into our lives with the power of a mighty wind, and by the flame of your wisdom open the horizons of our minds. Loosen our tongues to sing your praise in words beyond the power of speech, for without your Spirit we could never raise our voices in words of peace or announce the truth that Jesus is Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(state your request)
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle
in them the fire of your love!


Day 6: Wednesday
SCRIPTURE
A Reading from the Gospel According to John:
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: Rivers of living water will flow from within him.” He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was of course no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

PRAYER
Father of light, from whom every good gift comes, send your Spirit into our lives with the power of a mighty wind, and by the flame of your wisdom open the horizons of our minds. Loosen our tongues to sing your praise in words beyond the power of speech, for without your Spirit we could never raise our voices in words of peace or announce the truth that Jesus is Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(state your request)
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle
in them the fire of your love!


Day 7: Thursday
SCRIPTURE
A Reading from the Gospel According to John:
Jesus said, “But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go.  For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you.  But if I go, I will send him to you.  And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: sin, because they do not believe in me; righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.  I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.  He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.”

PRAYER
Father of light, from whom every good gift comes, send your Spirit into our lives with the power of a mighty wind, and by the flame of your wisdom open the horizons of our minds. Loosen our tongues to sing your praise in words beyond the power of speech, for without your Spirit we could never raise our voices in words of peace or announce the truth that Jesus is Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(state your request)
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle
in them the fire of your love!


Day 8: Friday
SCRIPTURE
A Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans:
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

PRAYER
Father of light, from whom every good gift comes, send your Spirit into our lives with the power of a mighty wind, and by the flame of your wisdom open the horizons of our minds. Loosen our tongues to sing your praise in words beyond the power of speech, for without your Spirit we could never raise our voices in words of peace or announce the truth that Jesus is Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(state your request)
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle
in them the fire of your love!


Day 9: Saturday
SCRIPTURE
A Reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians:
There are different gifts but the same Spirit; there are different ministries but the same Lord; there are different works but the same God who accomplishes all of them in everyone. To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one the Spirit gives wisdom in discourse, to another the power to express knowledge. Through the Spirit one receives faith; by the same Spirit another is given the gift of healing, and still another miraculous powers; prophesy is given to one; to another the power to distinguish one spirit from another; another receives the gift of tongues; another the interpreting of tongues. But it is one in the same Spirit who produces these gifts, distributing them to each as he wills.

PRAYER
Father of light, from whom every good gift comes, send your Spirit into our lives with the power of a mighty wind, and by the flame of your wisdom open the horizons of our minds. Loosen our tongues to sing your praise in words beyond the power of speech, for without your Spirit we could never raise our voices in words of peace or announce the truth that Jesus is Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(state your request)
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle
in them the fire of your love!