Spiritual Bouquets

A few years ago, I first discovered the website Pray More Novenas.  It was mid-September, and I saw something on Facebook advertising a group of people gathering together spiritually to pray the novena to St. Therese.  The link said that it would e-mail the prayers to those participating so no one would forget to pray.  Convenient, I thought, so I clicked and signed up.

"I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens," St. Therese promised.

I always wanted to believe that she meant that literally.  Every year I pray the famous novena to St. Therese (my patron saint and homegirl) and hope to have a bouquet of roses appear in my room, rather than the usual pack of stinkbugs.  I very rarely actually receive any physical roses in answer to my prayers, but I do receive spiritual bouquets of roses--consolations, graces, assurances that my prayers have been heard and are being answered.

I love especially praying the same novena prayers to the same saint as so many other people.  Pray More Novenas has grown quite a bit in the last few years, and they pray at least one novena a month with over 100,000 people participating.  That's kind of crazy awesome.  I have since met the couple behind the ministry, and they are also awesome.  It's truly comforting to be part of such a huge prayer group.  And it's easy to remember to pray when the prayers are sent to my e-mail (which I, like I'm sure many of you, can receive on my phone).

Coming up on October 19th, we are beginning a novena to St. Jude, the patron of hopeless causes and desperate situations. As soon as I heard that this was the next novena, I knew exactly which hopeless cause I would be praying for (don't we all have a "hopeless" cause close to our hearts!) and I was so excited, feeling that the novena itself was an answer to my prayer.

Then I remembered that October 19th is the day that St. Therese's parents, Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin, were beatified 6 years ago, in the year of their 150th wedding anniversary.  This fact has a ridiculous amount of significance for me and my personal intention, so I know that we're already off to a good start!  (If you want to join in this awesome novena, click here!)

Since we're talking about prayer and novenas, and since October is the month of the rosary, I feel the need to share the mother of all novenas that I discovered a few years ago:  it's the 54 day rosary novena.  With 27 days of petition and 27 days of thanksgiving, and each day including a recitation of the rosary along with several special prayers, it is difficult to get through.  I confess that in the handful of times that I have prayed it, I didn't always pray it diligently/prayerfully/perfectly, but the intention was there and I know God heard me.

How do I know God heard me?

I finished praying a 54 day rosary novena for my future husband (which I began on a random day when I felt inspired to) and finished it (conveniently) the day before the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (October 7).  A month later, the man who is now my fiance asked me out on our first date.

The novena takes dedication, but it totally works.  Again, not always in the kind of way where water is turned to wine right before my very eyes, but in such a way that I know God is answering my prayers.  And, every time I have prayed it, I have found myself growing closer to Our Lady, more understanding of myself and my weaknesses, and watching with awe how God works everything out in His own way.

I found the novena here and hand-copied the prayers into a journal my mom gave me (made out of an old copy of my childhood favorite, St. Therese and the Roses by Helen Walker Homan).  But if you aren't as much of a nerd as I am, or if you don't have that kind of time (I did this shortly after I graduated college, when I didn't have a life), you can buy a book with the updated prayers here, at the St. Jude Shop. (Did you catch that reference?  The shop where you can buy the rosary novena booklet is named after the other novena we're talking about here.  If you weren't sure about joining the novena, this is your sign, so sign up here.)

So you get the idea--I like novenas.  And I like sharing novenas, and praying novenas with other people.  But something to keep in mind:  prayer can't be forced.  It shouldn't be a dull recitation of prayers written thousands of years ago.  As St. Therese herself put it:

"For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned towards heaven; it is a cry of recognition and love, embracing both trial and joy."

It's just that simple.

So however you choose to pray, I pray that you are showered with spiritual graces and roses from the heavens!  And if you read this, I would really appreciate it if you'd say a prayer (in whatever form you prefer) for a special intention of mine!  THANKS!