Italian Family Traditions
How to Pray a Novena: The Italian Tradition of Nine Days
Nine days of prayer for a single intention — what a novena is, where the tradition comes from, and how to pray one, with a guided nine-day novena you can follow below.
When an Italian family faced something too big to carry alone — an illness, an exam, a safe delivery, a hopeless situation — they often turned to a novena. Not a single desperate prayer, but nine days of steady, returning prayer for one intention. The word comes from the Latin novem, meaning nine, and the practice is one of the most enduring and beloved forms of Catholic devotion. To pray a novena is to commit: to show up, day after day, and place the same hope before God until the ninth day is done.
Here is what a novena is, where the nine-day tradition comes from, and exactly how to pray one — with a guided nine-day novena, one day at a time, that you can follow right here.
What is a novena?
A novena is a devotion consisting of nine days of prayer for a particular intention or in honor of a particular saint. You choose your intention — a person, a need, a hope — or the saint whose help you are asking, and you pray each day for nine consecutive days. The prayer is often the same each day (sometimes with a changing daily meditation), and the discipline of returning day after day is central to what makes a novena a novena. It is prayer as faithfulness, not as a single request.
Novenas are prayed for all kinds of reasons: in petition (asking for something), in thanksgiving, in preparation for a feast day, or in mourning for someone who has died. Many are addressed to a specific saint — asking that patron saint to carry the prayer — while others are offered to the Madonna or directly to God.
Nine Days of Prayer
A Novena, Day by Day
A novena is nine days of prayer for a single intention. Choose the saint or need in your heart, then pray through the nine days below — one each day.
This is a general novena you can offer to any saint or for any intention. Many saints also have their own traditional novena prayers — hold your chosen saint in mind as you pray.
Where the nine-day tradition comes from
The nine days trace back to the very beginning of the Church. After the Ascension, the Apostles and the Blessed Mother gathered in prayer for nine days, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. That first period of expectant prayer became the model for every novena since: nine days of waiting, together, in trust. Over the centuries the practice grew and multiplied — novenas to particular saints, novenas before great feasts, novenas for the dead — until it became one of the most characteristic rhythms of Catholic and especially Italian devotion.
In Italian families, novenas were woven into the year. The Novena di Natale — the nine days before Christmas — is still prayed in homes and churches across Italy, and countless families kept private novenas to their favorite saints in times of need.
A novena is prayer as faithfulness — not one desperate request, but nine days of showing up, and trusting.
How to pray a novena, step by step
- Choose your intention. Name clearly what you are praying for — a person, a need, a hope — or the saint whose help you are seeking.
- Choose your saint (optional). Many novenas are addressed to a particular saint. Use the patron saint finder to find the right one for your need, and ask them to carry your prayer.
- Pray for nine consecutive days. Set a time — morning or evening — and keep it. Pray the same prayer each day, holding your intention.
- Be faithful, not anxious. The point is not to pray perfectly but to return. If you miss a day, simply begin again.
- End in trust. On the ninth day, offer the whole novena and leave the outcome in God’s hands.
Pray With the Saints
Italian Saint Prayer Cards
Keep the saints and their prayers close through your novena and beyond — a printable set of the best-loved Italian saints and their prayers, for your bedside, your missal, or a gift.
Get the Prayer Cards — $9.49 →Instant digital download — print at home.
Common Italian novenas
While you can pray a novena to any saint or for any intention, some are especially beloved in Italian tradition:
- The Novena di Natale — the nine days before Christmas, prepared for in homes and churches.
- Novena to St. Anthony — for lost things, and for help in difficulty. Learn about the Feast of Sant’Antonio.
- Novena to St. Jude — the patron of hopeless and impossible causes.
- Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus — one of the most widely prayed of all.
- Novenas to the Madonna — under her many titles, from the Immaculate Conception to Our Lady of Sorrows.
To find the saint for your particular need, use the patron saint finder, or read about the Italian saints every family prayed to.
Free Printable
The saints, the feast days, the whole Italian year.
Join the list for a free printable Italian family calendar — every patron saint and feast day, mapped across the year.
A novena asks only one thing of you: that you return, nine days in a row, and keep your hope before God. Choose your intention, choose your saint, and begin — and let the faithfulness of those nine days be its own kind of answer.
More on the saints and prayers of Italian tradition: the patron saint finder, the Italian saints every family prayed to, Italian prayers for the dead, and the Italian feast day calendar.
FAQ
What is a novena?
A novena is nine consecutive days of prayer for a single intention or in honor of a particular saint. The word comes from the Latin novem (nine). It is one of the most beloved Catholic devotions, rooted in the nine days the Apostles and Mary prayed between the Ascension and Pentecost.
How do you pray a novena?
Choose your intention (and, if you wish, a saint to address it to), then pray each day for nine consecutive days — usually the same prayer, at a set time. Be faithful in returning each day, and on the ninth day offer the whole novena and leave the outcome in God’s hands. You can follow a guided nine-day novena using the tool on this page.
Why nine days?
The nine days recall the period after Jesus’ Ascension, when the Apostles and the Blessed Mother gathered in prayer for nine days awaiting the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. That first novena became the model for the devotion ever since.
What happens if you miss a day of a novena?
Traditionally a novena is nine consecutive days, so if you miss a day many people simply begin again. But the spirit matters more than perfection — the goal is faithful, returning prayer, not anxiety about breaking a streak.
Can you pray a novena for anyone or anything?
Yes. You can pray a novena for any good intention — healing, guidance, thanksgiving, a person in need, a hopeless situation — and address it to any saint, to the Madonna, or directly to God. Use the patron saint finder to choose a saint suited to your need.
Marco Ricci is an Italian-Canadian writer and the grandson of Calabrian immigrants. He created Italian Family Traditions to document the customs, feast days, and family rituals Italian families carried from Italy to North America — and to understand what they actually meant. He is based in Montreal.
