The Christmas novena: how to pray it, December 16-24

What a novena is

A novena is a prayer said on nine days in a row, to ask God for something or to prepare for a feast. Many link the custom to the days when the apostles, with Mary, waited in prayer for the Holy Spirit, between the Ascension and Pentecost (Acts 1:12-14; 2:1-4). The Christmas novena prepares for the birth of Jesus: it begins on December 16 and ends on the 24th, Christmas Eve. Those days fall in the last part of Advent, when, from December 17, the Church’s liturgy looks straight toward Christmas. The novena doesn’t replace Mass or Advent: it goes along with them, at home.

Where it comes from

The novena most prayed in Colombia and Ecuador was written in the 18th century by Fray Fernando de Jesús Larrea, a Franciscan born in Quito, at the request of Clemencia Caycedo, who founded the school of La Enseñanza in Bogotá. Later a sister of that school, Mother María Ignacia, revised it, and the gozos sung today are usually credited to her. Her version was approved by the Archbishop of Bogotá in 1910, and since then it has been printed in countless editions, which differ a little from one another.

How it is prayed

Each day has the same parts. It opens with a prayer that is the same on all nine days, offering the preparation to God. Then comes the reflection for the day, a meditation that changes each evening, on the mystery of God becoming a child. Next come prayers to Our Lady, to Saint Joseph and to the Child Jesus, and many editions add some Hail Marys and Our Fathers. The gozos are verses that call on Jesus with titles from the Old Testament, such as root of Jesse or key of David (Isaiah 11:1; 22:22), and between the verses everyone sings a refrain asking him to come soon. A mother or father can lead it, or the parts can be shared out among everyone, the children too.

How it is kept in Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico

In Colombia the novena may be the best-loved Christmas custom of all: each evening families, neighbors, schools and offices gather in front of the pesebre, pray, sing carols with tambourines and maracas, and share natilla and buñuelos at the end. In Ecuador, where its author was born, many homes pray it too. In Venezuela, the same days bring the misas de aguinaldo, Masses before dawn with aguinaldos and gaitas, Christmas songs of the country, and in Caracas many people roll up to them on skates. In Mexico, the nine days are the days of Las Posadas, and at many posadas people pray the Rosary before asking for shelter.

Praying it as a family

You don’t need a big gathering: the nativity scene at home, a candle and ten or fifteen minutes each evening are enough. Many parishes sell or give away the novena booklet. Outside Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador it is less known, but any family can pray it, in Mexico, in Spain or anywhere else, and it is a simple way for children to live the end of Advent and to wait for Jesus with their own prayer.