New guide to aims to inspire Catholics to rediscover novenas

By FRANCESCA POLLIO FENTON

(Denver, CO, CNA) A new book from Ascension is inspiring Catholics to experience the power of novenas with a pocket guide to dive deeper into this traditional form of prayer.

“Pocket Guide to Novenas” by Annie and JohnPaul Deddens offers readers a look into where these nine-day prayers came from, how to pray them, and what to expect when praying them.

The new pocket guide includes 20 novenas, 14 of which are newly written, an introduction to each novena, sacred art, inspirational stories from Catholics who have had their prayers answered through a novena, and a schedule for when to pray these particular novenas throughout the year.

First-time authors and married couple Annie and John-Paul Deddens spoke with CNA about their personal experiences seeing the power of novenas at work in their marriage and daily lives. A novena even played a part in bringing the two together.

Annie explained that the novena to St. Anne –the name given to the Virgin Mary’s mother in the Catholic tradition – was the first novena she ever prayed. She heard several women say they met their fiancés after praying for St. Anne’s intercession for a spouse. This moved Annie to find a novena to the saint. She began to pray it every morning at a local chapel.

“While I left that chapel every morning, I remember noticing a guy praying in one of the last pews in the back, and I thought to myself, “I’d like to meet someone like him, who is also starting his day in prayer,” she recalled.

“Very shortly after finishing the St. Anne Novena, I met John-Paul, and it turned out that he was the guy I had been seeing all along in the very back of the chapel while praying the novena,” she added. “So we attribute St. Anne’s intercession to us meeting one another.”

Now, they hope to encourage Catholics around the world to spend more time in prayer through their “Pocket Guide to Novenas.”

“Helping people pray novenas has been the heart of our ministry … for many years,” Annie said. “We wrote the (the book) to further help people pray novenas and hopefully grow closer to the Lord through each prayer. We love novenas and we hope they will become a beloved devotion for others in their prayer lives.”

John-Paul added that he hopes their book “will bring people closer to Christ, leading them in conversation and relationship with the Lord.” BC