Purpose
St. Anne’s Shrine, which the Society is working to restore, is first and foremost a place of worship. To that end, in line with the calls for new and fruitful evangelization, your Society is working to reach the greatest number of people through, not only in-person live services, novenas, and Masses (as allowed), but through live streaming via video and audio service, as well as maintain a treasury of events for your reference.
What is a Novena?
Succinctly, in the Catholic Church, a novena is a nine day period of private or public prayer to obtain special graces, to implore special favors, or make special petitions. (Novena is derived from the Latin novem, meaning nine.) Though they are not part of our liturgy and remain a “popular devotion”, they’ve been prayed since the very beginning of the Church — and even before its official beginning: Mary and the Apostles prayed from Christ’s Ascension to the Pentecost, a period of nine days (Acts 1)
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 mourning period following the death of a Pope
- Novenas of anticipation such as the Christmas Novenas or Novena to the Magi, prayed before a given Feast commemorating a Saint or an event in the life of Christ, His Mother, the angels, or the Church
- Novenas prayed to petition or offer thanksgiving
- Indulgenced novenas for some favor
Media
| 2020 | Special Shrine Novenas | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Divine Mercy Novena 2020 | Novena of Petition 4/23-5/1 | Novena of Thanksgiving 5/4-5/13 |
| Immaculate Heart 5/4 | St. Anne Novena 2020 (TBD) | Christmas O Antiphons |
| 2020 | Sunday St. Anne Novena | 2020 |
| Sunday St. Anne Novena |
Thank You!
On behalf of the volunteers and board of directors of the Society, thank you for helping us preserve and return this Church to its place as the center of Catholic spirituality and beauty in the Diocese of Fall River.