Dear Brothers and Sisters,
 
I welcome you to join me in praying our Pentecost Novena to the Holy Spirit again this year when, as a diocesan family, we prepare ourselves for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit on our Church and our mission.
 
The Pentecost Novena was instituted by Pope Leo XII so that we, as Catholics, would become more aware of the Holy Spirit and His work in our Church and the world. The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church and all our work in the world depends on His grace, so it is good for us to have a deep devotion to Him.
 
You could say the very first Novena the Church ever prayed was this Pentecost Novena to the Holy Spirit.  Before the Lord ascended into Heaven, He asked the Apostles to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit, and so they stayed together in prayer with the Blessed Mother and the other disciples. The evening of Ascension Thursday to the night before Pentecost has ever since marked nine days of prayerful waiting for the grace of the Holy Spirit.
 
These nine days are like the nine months expectant parents and their families wait upon and prepare for the birth of their child.  So, now, we wait and prepare for our new birth in the Holy Spirit. 
 
I hope, just as the birth of a child brings joy and hope to families, so the new birth the Holy Spirit brings will fill you and our diocese with renewed faith in His Promises and love of Our Lord’s Gospel commission to go into the whole world and proclaim His good news.
 
With the assurance of my prayers,
 
+ John

Link to the Novena here...

Ascension Thursday

 “ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
After he said this he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.”

The History of Pentecost Novena

 
Sr Elena Guerra, founder of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit lived in Italy at the end of the 19 ^th century.  She believed that the Catholic Church needed to be renewed and return to the first fervour of the apostles at Pentecost.  The key to this was prayer and so she wrote to Pope Leo XII on several occasions urging him to encourage the whole Church, like the first apostles, to return to the upper room and await a new Pentecostal outpouring.

Pope Leo XII, instituted the Pentecost Novena to be held on nine consecutive days from the feast of the Ascension to the feast of Pentecost.  On the 1 ^st of January 1901, the Pope invoked the Holy Spirit on the coming century with the Novena by singing “Veni Creator Spiritus” by the Holy Spirit window in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, asking for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the whole church.

On October 11, 1962 - At the opening of the Second Vatican Council, the very first words which Pope St John XXIII intoned as he knelt before the central altar at St. Peter’s in Rome were the words of the hymn “Veni Creator Spiritus. In preparation for the Council, he prayed for God to, "Renew Your wonders in this our day, as by a new Pentecost. All subsequent Popes have continued to invoke the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
“Are we going to discover the secret of the first Pentecost in the Church?  Are we going to offer ourselves humbly to the renewing power of the Holy Spirit….  The Upper Room is where Christians allow themselves in welcoming the Holy Spirit, to be transformed by prayer.”  Pope Benedict XVI

How to pray the Novena

You will receive an email each day from Ascension Thursday till Pentecost Sunday.  There is special intercession for each day.  These reflect the Charter of the Diocese from the Synod, namely the various areas we identified as priorities for prayer.  These include Evangelisation, Collaborative ministry, Faith formation, Welcoming Parishes, outreach to Marginalised, Youth, Marriage and Families.  The intercession for each day is accompanied by a passage of scripture, a reflection and a prayer.
There are additional prayers including the Diocesan Prayer of the Synod which we encourage you to say daily.
 

To Sign up for the novena click here

Prayer
Almighty God, fill us with joy, teach us how to thank you with reverence and love on account of the ascension of Christ your son.  You have raised us up with him, where he the head has preceded us in glory, there we the body are called in hope.
 
Our Lady of Paisley, pray for us.  Saint Mirin, pray for us.
 
 
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Thank you for signing up for the Pentecost Novena.  If you have a friend you know who would be interested in joining us in saying the Novena, please forward this email to them and ask them to click here

The 1st day of the novena will be posted out on Friday 30th May & daily for 9 days.