NOVENA 1870 PD SOURCE FEAST: FEBRUARY 11

Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

Also known as Lourdes Novena ยท Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes

The Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes is a nine-day devotion in which each day takes a verse of scripture as its starting point and moves from it into meditation and prayer. The arrangement given here is from an English novena book of 1870, printed twelve years after the events at Lourdes.

The prayer said each of the nine days

O my Jesus, I love thee above all things, at least, I desire so to love thee. Since I cannot receive thee sacramentally, come at least into my heart.

The nine days

Drawn from the public-domain source cited at the foot of this page.

  1. Day 1 The beginning of sin On Sirach 25:33, that from woman came the beginning of sin. The first day sets the fall of Eve against the place given to Mary.
  2. Day 2 A mother's grief On Genesis 21, where Hagar sits apart from her child and weeps. The day turns on maternal sorrow and the compassion of Mary.
  3. Day 3 Sanctified before birth On Jeremiah 1:5, 'Before thy birth I sanctified thee.' The day considers the Immaculate Conception, the title Mary gave at Lourdes.
  4. Day 4 Behold thy Mother On John 19:27, the words of Christ from the cross. The day considers Mary given as mother to the disciple, and so to the Church.
  5. Day 5 The beauty of holiness On Song of Songs 4:7, on beauty without stain. The day considers holiness and grace rather than outward appearance.
  6. Day 6 Filled with bitterness On Lamentations 3:15. The day addresses low spirits and spiritual desolation, and where consolation is sought.
  7. Day 7 Glory from within On Psalm 44, that all the king's daughter's glory is from within. The day considers the interior life over outward show.
  8. Day 8 Not for myself alone On Sirach 24:47, 'I have not laboured for myself, but for all who seek the truth.' The day considers Mary's intercession for all people.
  9. Day 9 One who prays much for the people On 2 Maccabees 15:14. The final day considers Mary in heaven and the longing for eternal life.

History

In 1858, a fourteen-year-old girl named Bernadette Soubirous reported a series of apparitions of the Virgin Mary at a grotto at Massabielle, near the town of Lourdes in the French Pyrenees. There were eighteen apparitions between February and July of that year. The local bishop declared the apparitions worthy of belief in 1862, and the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes was later fixed on February 11, the date of the first apparition.

Devotion spread quickly, and novena books in English appeared within a decade. The source used here dates from 1870. Its structure is notable: rather than nine prayers on a single theme, it gives each day a verse of scripture and builds the day's meditation from it, moving through the whole arc of Marian theology from the fall to the intercession of Mary in heaven.

The novena concludes each day with the Litany of the Blessed Virgin and a spiritual communion, the short prayer of desire for Christ used when sacramental communion is not possible.

How it is prayed

Prayed on nine consecutive days, most commonly in the nine days before February 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Each day takes the scripture verse appointed for it, reads the meditation that follows, and closes with the Litany of the Blessed Virgin and the spiritual communion given below. The novena is also widely prayed for the sick, given the association of Lourdes with prayer for healing, and may be made at any time of year for a particular intention.

Common questions

When is the Lourdes novena prayed?
Most commonly in the nine days leading up to February 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, which marks the date of the first apparition to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. It is also prayed at any time of year, and is often prayed for the sick, given the long association of Lourdes with prayer for healing.
What happened at Lourdes?
In 1858 a fourteen-year-old girl named Bernadette Soubirous reported eighteen apparitions of the Virgin Mary at a grotto at Massabielle near Lourdes, in the French Pyrenees, between February and July of that year. The local bishop declared the apparitions worthy of belief in 1862. Lourdes has since become one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the Christian world.
Why does each day begin with a verse of scripture?
That is the structure of the 1870 source used here. Rather than nine variations on a single theme, the novena gives each day a verse and builds the day's meditation from it. Taken together the nine verses trace an arc from the beginning of sin through the Immaculate Conception and the words of Christ from the cross to Mary's intercession in heaven.
Source

A Novena to our Lady of Lourdes (1870). The daily spiritual communion and the nine scripture texts are taken from that edition. Public domain by age.

View source on Archive.org

Prayers to read alongside this novena

The Hail Mary The Salve Regina Sub Tuum Praesidium The Memorare The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary