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A Novena With The Holy Spirit
Rediscover the Holy Spirit
Join Catholics from around the globe in prayer from May 19th to May 27th, 2023, in preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
A Rushing Wind is a novena steeped in Scripture, the saints, and the teaching of the Church, and is designed to rekindle our love for the Holy Spirit and let Him renew our lives.
Buy the Book
Get a hard copy of A Rushing Wind: A Novena with the Holy Spirit that you can pray as often as you’d like.
The book is beautifully designed to pray on your own or with a group of friends.
Note: We recommend purchasing your copy before May 16th 2023 if you wish to receive it in time to pray through the full Novena in preparation for Pentecost!
Free Email Version
Sign up today to receive a daily novena email starting on May 19th, culminating on Pentecost Sunday.
A Beautiful Resource for Prayer
- Based on the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
- Steeped in Scripture and the Writings of the Saints
- Created with daily optional in-depth study resources
- Designed for Groups or Personal Use
Follow Along With The Novena
Rooted in Scripture
Novena Elements
Day 1 – Virtue
Day 2 – Fortitude
Day 3 – Counsel
Day 4 – Piety
Day 5 – Fear of the Lord
Day 6 – Knowledge
Day 7 – Understanding
Day 8 – Wisdom
Day 9 – Mission
A New Pentecost
Seeing their friend and teacher brutally murdered sent the apostles into hiding. They were alone and understandably terrified: Could the same thing happen to them? What did it all mean? Jesus was gone—now what? They have given up everything to follow Him, what would they do with their lives?
Experiencing the Resurrection changed all that. Jesus returned, sweeping away any fear and doubt. He appeared to the disciples in His glorious form—beautiful and powerful. The sense of awe, glory, and divine strength was present as never before. They had seen Him die a brutal death, and three days later here He was, alive among them, risen from the dead! If even death had been conquered, what could they fear?
Both Jesus’ divinity and humanity were now shockingly apparent to everyone who saw Him. He let them touch the tangible holes in his hands; He had a human appetite, and they shared meals together; but He was also able to walk through doors and appear out of nowhere. Everything had changed and the new “normal” had become supernatural.
Jesus spent the next forty full days walking, teaching, and sharing life with His disciples. Then suddenly, He took them to one of His favorite spots, the Mount of Olives, and told them He was leaving. The disciples were obviously very confused again. He was back from the dead to finish His work, and this time with power. But now He’s leaving? They even asked: Lord, aren’t you going to restore the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1:6)
Jesus responded almost abruptly that, no, He was leaving. He invited them to prepare their hearts, saying. “You will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you” and “You will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Then He left!
We can only imagine the disciples’ sense of shock, weakness, and desperate need for prayer. They were now responsible for the very mission they expected Jesus Himself to accomplish.
Instead of being alone, they came together and intensely prayed like never before as they waited together for the Holy Spirit to come. It was nine days. This was the original novena (from the Latin “novem” meaning “nine”).
To pray a novena should bring us back to the upper room. It can be a response to the Lord’s command to “wait for the gift my Father promised.” (Acts 1:4) It can unite us with all the Christians who came before us and the millions who gather now to prepare for Pentecost. The coming of the Holy Spirit in our own lives can change us just as radically and deeply as it did the first apostles.
There are so many ways to pray. Novenas are prayed nine days in a row, but can take many forms. We structured this novena around the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
To begin, we dedicated the first day to the foundation of virtue required for the Holy Spirit to work in us, and concluded the last day focused on our calling to be God’s missionaries in the world today.
Each day is designed to work for both groups and individuals, and includes an Optional Study for those who want to go a bit deeper. We recommend dedicating a full 10-20 minutes and finding a quiet space to pray where you can devote your full attention.
The purpose of this brief overview is to delve into the deeper meaning behind the various elements, so we can make the most of this Novena.
1. Coming into God’s Presence
St. Ignatius of Loyola, in his Spiritual Exercises, wisely encouraged his followers to begin every moment of prayer with pause in order to recognize the awesome presence of God. He suggested that remembering who God is—His power, wisdom and love—would help them to enter into personal dialogue with God.
Standing a few paces from the spot where I am going to make my meditation, I must recollect myself, raise my mind above earthly things, and consider our Lord Jesus Christ as present and attentive to what I am about to do (…) assuming an attitude of veneration and humble respect. (St. Ignatius, Spiritual Exercises, Introduction to Meditation, 3)
This preparation for prayer is not unlike many churches that are built with an entranceway designed to help us transition from the busy world into the sacred space.
We start every day of the novena with an invitation to become aware of God and His action in our lives. We can calm our busyness and set aside distractions to give the Holy Spirit all the attention He deserves.
2. Invocations
Since prayer is about relying on God’s strength, this novena will begin with invocations, crying out to the Spirit to come and fill our lives with His presence, power and peace.
The Holy Spirit “comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.” (Rom 8:26) We recognize our need for support and beg God to help us.
3. Optional Study
In simple words, based on the Church’s consistent teaching, we’ll explain one of the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. We will see how the these Gifts relate so beautifully to our own human efforts to live virtuously. We’ll also pick one concrete way to prepare our hearts for the Holy Spirit’s ever growing action in our lives, and give examples of how to do this.
In simple words, based on the Church’s consistent teaching, we’ll explain one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit each day. We will see how these gifts relate so beautifully to our own human efforts to live virtuously.
We’ll also pick one concrete way to prepare our hearts for the Holy Spirit’s ever growing action in our lives, and give examples of how to do this. Day one will explain the foundation of virtue and day nine will focus on our call to mission.
4. Scripture
Sacred Scripture is at the heart of our Faith. Many of our religious and liturgical traditions stem from the Bible. This novena rediscovers the prayerful time of waiting from Ascension Thursday—when Jesus left his followers on earth, to Pentecost—when the Holy Spirit was sent down upon the Church. Each day we will reflect on a brief verse that reminds us of the early foundations of our Faith, as lived by the early Christians.
5. Readings
Over the centuries, popes, saints, clergy, men and women religious, and the fathers and doctors of the Church have explored the most profound questions of our faith. We’ve chosen a selection of brief texts that highlight the wisdom of the Church explaining the different gifts of the Holy Spirit.
These readings may take a little effort to dig into, but it’s well worth the effort! We have selected two optional readings; you may feel free to pick just one or to use both of them.
6. Interior Dialogue
This is meant to be a peaceful, receptive pause to converse with God, to listen, and to embrace the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and consolation. Resist the urge to rush through this! Two minutes of silence may seem like ten.
Approach the Holy Spirit as your dearest friend, with calm humility and bold petition. Allow the Spirit to speak to and challenge your inner depths; to purify you and make you better; bring Him your real concerns.
We will provide some optional questions as conversation starters, however the goal is a brief moment of personal interior dialogue with the “Sweet Guest of the Soul.”
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Lk 6:7-8)
7. Intercessions
In preparation for Pentecost, in a spirit of unity, groups, families, and individuals all over the world together are begging the Holy Spirit nine days in a row to come and fill us with His divine love, strength and comfort.
Just like at Mass, these intercessions are a community opportunity to pray out loud, as a tangible way to unite our voices and intentions with those of the whole Church.
The content of these petitions comes from the Church’s consistent teaching on how to allow the Holy Spirit’s action to guide our lives. We’ve relied especially on renowned spiritual authors such as Aumann, Tanquerey, and Dubay.
8. Closing Prayer
A prayer steeped in the fullness of our Christian faith. A written conversation with the Holy Spirit that both teaches us how to pray and at the same time helps us to rediscover how beautiful and awesome our faith is, challenges our hearts to be rekindled with His divine fire, and asks for the divine assistance we constantly need to renew our lives.
Buy the Book
Get a hard copy of A Rushing Wind: A Novena with the Holy Spirit that you can pray as often as you’d like.
The book is beautifully designed to pray on your own or with a group of friends.
Note: We recommend purchasing your copy before May 16th 2023 if you wish to receive it in time to pray through the full Novena in preparation for Pentecost!
Free Email Version
Sign up today to receive a daily novena email starting on May 19th, culminating on Pentecost Sunday.
