The Pentecost Novena to the Holy Ghost

The Pentecost novena is the nine days of prayer kept between the Ascension and Pentecost, asking the Holy Ghost to descend upon the soul as He descended upon the Apostles. It is the first and the original novena: every other novena in the Church is patterned on it. Our Lord ascended into heaven and commanded His disciples to wait; for nine days Our Lady and the Apostles persevered together in prayer in the Upper Room; and on the tenth day the Holy Ghost came down in tongues of fire.

The first novena: nine days before Pentecost in the Upper Room

A novena is nine days of prayer for a single intention, and the word names a Catholic devotion that the Church has kept since the Apostles. But this devotion is not a later invention grafted onto the calendar. It is the form of prayer Our Lord Himself imposed. Before His Ascension He charged the disciples not to depart, "but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard (saith he) by my mouth. For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence" (Acts 1:4-5, Douay-Rheims). And earlier: "stay you in the city, till you be endued with power from on high" (St. Luke 24:49).

They obeyed. Scripture records what they did in those days: "All these were persevering with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren" (Acts 1:14). This is the original Pentecost novena — nine days of persevering prayer, kept by the Mother of God and the Twelve, while they awaited the Holy Ghost. When the days were accomplished, the promise was fulfilled: "suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:2-4).

We pray this novena, then, in imitation of Our Lady and the Apostles, in the same room, for the same gift. What Pentecost gave to the infant Church, the Holy Ghost stands ready to give to every soul that asks Him with perseverance.

Whom we ask: the Holy Ghost, true God

We correct here a common confusion. The Holy Ghost is not a force, an influence, or a feeling. He is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, true God, "perfectly distinct from the Father and from the Son, and produced by the Will of both the one and the other," as the Roman Catechism of Trent teaches. The same Catechism warns that it is "no more lawful for Christians to be ignorant of, or to know ill" this Article than any other. We do not pray to an abstraction. We pray to God the Holy Ghost — the Paraclete, the Comforter promised by Christ — that He may come and dwell in us and govern us. This is why the Veni Creator addresses Him directly: Qui diceris Paraclitus, Altissimi donum Dei — "Who art the Comforter, the gift of God most high."

What we ask for: the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost

The proper fruit of this novena is the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and the fear of the Lord. The number is drawn from Isaias, who foretold of the Messias that there should rest upon Him "the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness," and that He should be "filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord" (Isaias 11:2-3). What rested in fullness upon Christ the Head is poured out by the Holy Ghost upon His members. These gifts are infused into the soul with sanctifying grace and given in their fullness at Confirmation; in the novena we beg that He stir them up and bring them to act, that He may make us, in the words of the Catechism of Saint Pius X, "prompt in the acts of virtue necessary to acquire the Christian life."

How to pray the Pentecost novena

The novena begins on the Friday after the Ascension and runs nine days, closing on the vigil of Pentecost. The pattern is simple and traditional, and it can be prayed alone or with a household.

Each of the nine days:

1. Make the Sign of the Cross and place yourself in the presence of God.
2. Pray the Veni Creator Spiritus, the Church's own hymn to the Holy Ghost:

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
And in our hearts take up Thy rest;
Come with Thy grace and heavenly aid,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

O Comforter, to Thee we cry,
Thou heavenly gift of God most high,
Thou Fount of life, and Fire of love,
And sweet anointing from above.

Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts art known;
Thou finger of God's hand we own;
Thou, promise of the Father, Thou
Who dost the tongue with power imbue.

3. Ask, on each day, for one of the seven gifts in turn — wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, fear of the Lord — and on the remaining two days renew the petition for all seven and for a deeper love of God.
4. Add the versicle and prayer the Church herself uses:

V. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created.
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray. O God, who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

5. Close with a Pater, an Ave, and a Gloria for the intention of the novena.

Those who wish a fuller daily form may pray the chaplet of the Holy Ghost alongside the hymn, meditating one gift on each section. The essential thing is perseverance: nine days without interruption, as Our Lady and the Apostles persevered "with one mind." We do not measure the novena by feeling. We pray it whether consoled or dry, as an act of obedience and trust.

What the novena is not

We answer two errors plainly. First, the Pentecost novena is not a technique that compels God or guarantees an emotional experience. It is humble petition; the Holy Ghost gives His gifts as He wills, and often most when least felt. Second, the gift asked is not vague enthusiasm but the supernatural ordering of the soul to God — the same Spirit who is the bond of charity and the principle of all genuine Catholic prayer. A soul truly visited by the Holy Ghost does not grow lukewarm; it is set on fire, for He is called ignis — fire — and fire does not leave what it touches unchanged.

Persevere as Our Lady persevered

The whole strength of this novena is in its model. The Mother of God did not need the Holy Ghost less than the Apostles; she who was full of grace prayed nine days for His coming. If she persevered, we have no excuse for tepidity. We ask the Holy Ghost to come down upon us as He came upon the Upper Room, that He may renew the face of our souls and make us, too, witnesses who do not turn back.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Pentecost novena?

The Pentecost novena is the nine days of prayer kept between the Ascension and Pentecost, asking the Holy Ghost to descend upon the soul as He descended upon the Apostles. It is the first and original novena: Our Lord commanded the disciples to wait, and for nine days Our Lady and the Apostles persevered together in prayer in the Upper Room before the Holy Ghost came in tongues of fire.

When does the Pentecost novena begin?

The novena begins on the Friday after the Ascension and runs nine days, closing on the vigil of Pentecost. It is prayed in imitation of Our Lady and the Apostles, who "were persevering with one mind in prayer" in the days between the Ascension and the coming of the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:14, Douay-Rheims).

What do you pray for in the Pentecost novena?

The proper fruit of the novena is the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and the fear of the Lord. We ask one gift on each of seven days, and on the remaining two days renew the petition for all seven and for a deeper love of God, begging the Holy Ghost to stir up the gifts already infused with sanctifying grace.

How do you pray the Pentecost novena?

Each day, make the Sign of the Cross, pray the Veni Creator Spiritus, ask for one of the seven gifts in turn, add the versicle "Send forth Thy Spirit" with the Pentecost collect, and close with a Pater, an Ave, and a Gloria. The essential thing is perseverance: nine days without interruption, prayed whether consoled or dry, as an act of obedience and trust.

Why is the Pentecost novena called the first novena?

Because it is the model on which every other novena is patterned. The form of nine days' prayer for a single gift was imposed by Our Lord Himself, who charged the disciples to wait "for the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4); they obeyed, and on the tenth day the Holy Ghost came down. Every novena in the Church since looks back to those nine days in the Upper Room.

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Sources. Holy Scripture, Douay-Rheims (Acts 1:4-5, 1:14, 2:2-4; St. Luke 24:49; Isaias 11:2-3). Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566), on the Holy Ghost. Catechism of Saint Pius X (1908), on the gifts of the Holy Ghost. The hymn Veni Creator Spiritus and the Pentecost collect, from the Roman Missal and Breviary.