Praying 10 minutes today: Novena for Pentecost - Day 1

Image by Down East Stained Glass

Over the next week, we'll be using a novena for our Praying 10 minutes a day.  (After Pentecost Sunday, May 27, we'll return to the usual format.)   The oldest novena is the prayer of the first disciples (Mary, the apostles and other believers) from the time Jesus ascended to his Father (40 days after Easter) to the feast of Pentecost. These nine days are a time for us to pray for the coming of the Spirit upon the Church and upon each of us. Each day of the novena you will find a post with scripture and prayer for that day.

Praying 10 minutes today...
Novena to the Holy Spirit - Day 1

Find a quiet time and place to pray... 

take a few deep breaths... 

be still and know that God is near..

A word to reflect on...

Amen, amen, I say to you,
    you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;

       you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.

When a woman is in labor,
    she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;

       but when she has given birth to a child,

         she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy

            that a child has been born into the world.

So you also are now in anguish.

But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,

    and no one will take your joy away from you. 

John 16:20-23

Starting points for prayer and reflection...

• Who are the suffering, the anguished and the grieving
      for whose health, healing and comfort I will pray this day?

• Who within my reach, my home, my family, my community

     is suffering today?

   How might I be help to ease their burden
     by reaching out in word and deed?

• Who brings joy to my life?  

   What brings joy to my life?

   For what joy do I thirst?  What joy do I seek?
   For what joy will I thank God today?

• What will I pray for the Church today?

     For whose consolation will I pray?

     For the healing of whose pain will I pray?

     For whom will I pray the gifts of joy and peace?

• The Gifts of the Holy Spirit (as they are named in the Rite of Confirmation) include: wisdom... the spirit of understanding and right judgment... courage... the spirit of knowledge and reverence... and the spirit of wonder and awe in God's presence...  

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For which of these gifts will I pray today for myself?

Let us pray:

Come, Holy Spirit 

   to this place of prayer, this quiet time

      and in the stillness, let me know your presence and your power...

Comfort the heart of the anguished, I pray,

   and heal their suffering in their hour of pain...

Be the joy of those who have found your healing and you peace...

Come, Holy Spirit

   and fill my mind and heart with your word and wisdom,

      with your counsel and your consolation...

Fill my heart and strengthen me with your gifts

   that I will know what you ask of me

      and have the courage to do it... 

Come, Holy Spirit,
   fill the hearts of your people
      and kindle in us the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created
   and you will renew the face of the earth.

(Choose one of the 24 songs on this widget 

for your 10 minutes of prayer today...)

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