Novena of the Week: Novena to Saint Expeditus

If the rosary is the most distinctive form of prayer in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the novena may be a close second. A series of prayers to be said over nine consecutive days, the novena calls to mind the nine days that the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary spent in prayer between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday.

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of novenas, many of which are prayed for individual intentions (such as the Novena to St. Anthony to Find a Lost Article), while others, such as the Divine Mercy Novena, have become a part of the liturgical life of the Church.

Each week, I highlight a different novena. When possible, the novena relates to an upcoming feast or saint's day, and I sometimes suggest a prayer intention to offer while praying the novena. By praying each week's novena, you can join your prayers with those of your fellow readers of the About.com Catholicism Site.

Of course, since a novena takes nine days, and I'm introducing a new one each week, that means that consecutive novenas will overlap by a couple of days. When a novena is tied to a certain feast or saint's day, I'll also suggest that you start it on a certain date, so that you finish it on the day before the feast (the traditional way to pray a novena).

Our novena this week is perfect for the early days of a New Year. Saint Expeditus is the patron saint of, among others, procrastinators! In the Introduction to the Novena to Saint Expeditus, you can find out why. Our prayer intention for this novena is that God will grant us the graces we need to make this year a better one spiritually than the last.

To make it easier to remember to pray the Novena to Saint Expeditus every day, I've created a nine-day course of e-mails. Sign up for the course, and each day you will receive an e-mail with the prayers for that day (as well as links to related articles). After the nine days are over, the e-mails will simply quit coming. (If you'd like to pray the novena again, at any time of the year, you can sign up once more.)

If you have a favorite novena that you'd like me to choose as Novena of the Week, or if you'd like me to suggest a novena for a particular intention, send me an e-mail, and I'll work it into the rotation.

The Novena of the Week:

• Novena to Saint Expeditus
• Daily Reminder E-Mail for the Novena to Saint Expeditus