Novena Prayers

I prepared a beautiful Novena for my mother’s wake but the priest insisted we say it after the mass and not within it. Our other priest said it’s fine to say it during the prayer of the faithful during the mass. Who is right?


Strictly speaking, the first priest was right. Why? The power of one mass is so great, is so perfect, it supercedes the words, no matter how lovely, that are in the novena prayers.

For my own brother's wake, someone kept insisting there should have been novena prayers but since we had masses in abundance, there was really no need. In fact we had the total of 10 masses. We had 9 Wake Masses and one Funeral mass. Surely, that was better than any novena prayers we could have added.

Novena prayers for the dead actually evolved because it was not always possible to offer mass for the dead. Priests were not always available. Communion was not as commonly received as it is now. With the absence of the priest, a rather lengthy set of prayers was written so one could pray for another’s soul as well as keep the congregation busy with more pious activities than merely hanging around and chatting.

Inserting novena prayers into a mass can be likened to having the most elegant dinner complete with appetizers, salads, sherbets in between, main course, second course, third course, wines, etc, and an assortment of desserts, only to insert rather ordinary peanuts in between. You may do so if you like. But must you?

And some of these novenas! Wow, some are truly medieval. What comes to mind is the one that one must reply with, “when You come to judge the world by fire.” Truly consoling. If you’re dead already.

Novenas aren’t meant to be formulaic but rather an opportunity for one’s loved ones to congregate and pray for your soul. And says the Lord, as it is written in the book of Matthew, “whenever two or more are gathered in My Name, I am there in their midst.

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