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Are novenas considered now to be superstitious? And what happens when you get a resounding “YES!” as an answer/sign from a novena request (such as roses from St. Therese) and yet, several months later, the petition request has not been granted?
I said a novena several months ago to St. Therese. I have never known it to fail, and indeed got the sign I had asked for, in a pretty big way, that my request would be granted. But it wasn’t.
My friends tell me I shouldn’t engage in magical thinking…that novenas are just superstition, and that maybe saints can’t keep their promises.
Any insight?
Thanks, and God bless.
Novenas are not superstition, but another form of prayer.
I’m sure you have heard this before but God works in mysterious ways and perhaps it just isn’t time yet for your prayer to be granted or perhaps it has been granted but the fruit of it has not yet blossomed.
It’s also important to remember that the saint is not the one who is granting your prayer, but instead asking God with you to grant your petition. So, it’s not that the saints can’t keep their promises, but maybe God just hasn’t gotten around to it yet.
I think another important thing to consider is that if you are using the novena in a way to assure that you will get something (using it superstitiously) and it is not a genuine desire from the heart it may not be granted. I’m not saying that were not sincere, but that a level of sincerity is necessary for all prayer.
Just my $0.02.
Yup, it was sincere…I asked for patience, forgiveness, strength, and the return to me of a dear friend who had become like my little brother. The friend is the priest I’ve mentioned in my other posts.
I only say a novena as kind of a spiritual “911”. That was the way my mother said them, and they never failed her, OR me…until now.
The weird thing was, the day after I finished the novena, I got my sign. I had asked for a single pink rose as a sign of St. Therese’s intercession for me. I was given, quite unexpectedly, a box of bath products from someone who had NO idea I had said the novena. Each bottle or tube had a picture of a single pink rose with the brand name, “Love Always” written below it.
That was in February, two weeks after my friend stopped talking to me.
It’s not like I was asking to win the lottery. Yes, I forgave him. I love him, but as a friend, not as a lover. I’m married. He knew that.
Oh, well. I’m having trouble trusting God these days, anyway.
Well, from what I read in your other posts it sounds like your friend needs a conversion experience where his heart is more open to Jesus (or perhaps not, I don’t know everything.
Not all conversions are like Paul’s – instantaneous. Conversion of the heart is usually a slow process. Hopefully your prayer planted a seed and the Holy Spirit will nurture it so your friend will change. Change takes a while sometimes and we just have to kind of accept that God will take care of it – that’s what faith is.
Maybe you’d consider a novena to the Holy Spirit
I’ll say a prayer for your friend and you as well.
Is it possible, then, for a priest NOT to have had a conversion of the heart? That seems highly unlikely to me.
[quote:35363×67]Is it possible, then, for a priest NOT to have had a conversion of the heart? That seems highly unlikely to me.[/quote:35363×67]
You’d be surprised. There are a lot of priests that go through the motions. There are also many good priests out there who have experienced true conversion of the heart.
Tee,
I just wanted to put in my “two cent’s worth” about my own experience very lately concerning a novena I made to St. Therese.
Usually novenas are said over a nine day period. I had been praying to St. Therese “to send me a rose from the heavenly garden…..” (you know the rest) and had barely gotten past the second day, when I had received an Email from my aunt in Florida. It was a “Happy New Year” E-card, and on the front of this card (almost taking up the whole screen!) was this huge pink[b:3r0ystps] rose[/b:3r0ystps]!
Now, my aunt could have sent any number of various cards with innumerable designs, but my breath was caught in my throat when I realized what had happened. I truly believe St. Therese had heard my prayer and prayed to our Lord on my behalf, and was sending me “a rose from the heavenly garden” to let me know God had listened.
My prayer request has not been “granted” as of yet, but my overwhelming feeling was that the answer from God was “yes, my child—in [i:3r0ystps]my[/i:3r0ystps] time, it will be done!” I always ask that [i:3r0ystps]His[/i:3r0ystps] will be done, not mine, and was truly prepared to accept whatever His answer would have been. I believe that my request will be granted in time, be it tomorrow, next week, next month, whenever—because I place my life in His hands and my request (it wasn’t for me, it was for a family member) coincided with His plans, and maybe it pleased Him.
I am a true believer of the intercession of the Saints. I was “blind” years ago and believed that if what I asked for didn’t happed right then and there, that this whole “novena” thing was just a farce. Maybe I just needed the Holy Spirit to open my eyes to what God can truly do, and just needed to grow up a little!
Your friend in Christ,
[quote:29bp361n]Tee,
My prayer request has not been “granted” as of yet, but my overwhelming feeling was that the answer from God was “yes, my child—in [i:29bp361n]my[/i:29bp361n] time, it will be done!” I always ask that [i:29bp361n]His[/i:29bp361n] will be done, not mine, and was truly prepared to accept whatever His answer would have been. I believe that my request will be granted in time, be it tomorrow, next week, next month, whenever—because I place my life in His hands and my request (it wasn’t for me, it was for a family member) coincided with His plans, and maybe it pleased Him.[/quote:29bp361n]This put of the glorious mystery of God, His time and His will aare not always in sync with ours. In my life I found that I am can be inpatient when a prayer request is not answered in the time or manner I wish it to be. And this can be a sign that my Faith and trust in god is not what it should be.
I have also heard that a sign from a Saint represents that they have heard your prayer and that they are praying to God for you on that which you have asked for. But again, it may not be in God’s time to answer it yet.
Be faithful and patient. if it is God’s will it will be done. I have always found the prayers that seem to be those most answered are not always for self but other and when they are for self they usuall have to do with wisdom, faith and such.
Your servant in Christ, Fred
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