Novenas in the Catholic Church
Its name deriving from the Latin word "novem," meaning "nine," a novena is a nine days private or public devotion in the Catholic Church to obtain special graces.
They remain a "popular devotion" and have been prayed since the very beginning of the Church.

The origin of the novena in the Catholic Church’s spiritual treasury is hard to pinpoint. The Old Testament does not indicate any nine-days celebration among the Jewish people. On the other hand, in the New Testament at the Ascension scene, our Lord gives the apostles the Great Commission, and then tells them to return to Jerusalem and to await the coming of the Holy Spirit. Acts of the Apostles recounts, “After that they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet near Jerusalem– a mere Sabbath’s journey away. Together they devoted themselves to constant prayer” (Acts 1:12,14). Nine days later, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost. Perhaps, this “nine-day period of prayer” of the apostles is the basis for the novena.

Novenas, then, often, but not necessarily, have about them a sense of "urgency"; they are typically made for special intentions, one's own or another's ("I'll make a novena for you"). Novenas to certain Saints are often made according to that Saint's patronage; for ex., because of his New Testament letter encouraging Christians to persevere in the face of persecution, St. Jude is the patron of desperate situations and "hopeless" causes, so a person who finds himself or a loved one in a real tough bind might make a novena to St. Jude.

There are four main types of novenas (a novena may fit into more than one category):
    • novenas of mourning, such as the novena made during the novemdiales -- the nine day period following the death of a Pope.
    • novenas of preparation, or "anticipation," such as the Christmas or Easter Novenas.
    • novenas of prayer.
    • the indulgenced novenas.

In some novenas, the same prayer is said each day for nine days, or sometimes 9 times in one day; others may have (or add) different prayers for each of the 9 prayer sessions. Some "novenas" aren't properly called "novenas" because the number nine plays no role in any way, but still retain the label.