As Advent kicks off, one beloved Catholic tradition is the St. Andrew Christmas Novena – a powerful and hope-filled way to prepare our hearts for Christmas. But what exactly does this novena entail? What is its history? And why pray it?
The novena is connected to the earlier Feast of St. Andrew on November 30th and then continues through Christmas Eve. During these 25 days, the novena prayer is prayed 15 times each day.
The prayer reverently commemorates the sacred hour of Jesus Christ’s birth, and invites you to express your deepest desires and seek God’s favor through the powerful intercession of Our Savior and His blessed Mother.
As we string these weeks of Advent with hopeful cries of “Come, Lord Jesus!”, may this unique novena tradition renew our longing for Emmanuel.
† St. Andrew Christmas Novena †
[Prayer Video]
[Pray this prayer 15 times each day from November 29-December 7]
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.