A novena is nine days of prayer for a particular intention.  It is an ancient tradition of the Church that has it’s roots in Mary and the Apostles’ nine days of prayer in the Upper Room between Ascension and Pentecost.  You can read about that very first novena in Acts 1:13.  There are many traditional novenas, including nine days of praying the rosary for a special intention, novenas asking for the intercession of a particular Saint, and novenas that focus on some characteristic of Jesus.

Each year the Church celebrates the Feast of the Divine Mercy on the first Sunday after Easter.  To help prepare our hearts to trust more fully in Jesus and to receive His mercy better, He asked Sister Faustina to pray a novena beginning on Good Friday.  In this novena, we pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy including a special intention for each of the nine days:

Day 1 (Good Friday): Pray for everyone, especially sinners.

Day 2 (Holy Saturday): Pray for the souls of priests and religious.

Day 3 (Easter): Pray for all devout and faithful souls.

Day 4 (Easter Monday): Pray for those who do not believe in Jesus and those who do no know Him yet.

Day 5: (Tuesday after Easter): Pray for the souls of all Christians who are not Catholic.

Day 6 (Wednesday after Easter): Pray for meek and humble souls and the souls of children.

Day 7 (Thursday after Easter): Pray for the souls who especially venerate and glorify Jesus’ mercy.

Day 8 (Friday after Easter) Pray for all the souls in purgatory.

Day 9 (Saturday after Easter) Pray for all the souls who have become lukewarm (lost their faith).