Join EWTN's Novena to the Holy Spirit, the ‘oldest novena in the life of the Church’
EWTN will release daily recordings of the Holy Spirit Novena on its Live Mass & Devotions YouTube channel from Friday, May 15, leading up to Pentecost on May 24. The novena, described as the oldest in the Church, traces back to the Ascension and the apostles' gathering in the Upper Room, as recorded in Acts. Father John Paul Mary, MFVA, will lead each day, offering a meditation, a consecration prayer, and a prayer for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Each day also includes a prayer for one of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
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The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) will launch a daily “pray‑along” Holy Spirit Novena on its Live Mass & Devotions YouTube channel from Friday, May 15 through the Pentecost Solemnity on May 24, 2026. Chaplain Father John Paul Mary, MFVA, will lead each session, offering a meditation, a consecration prayer, a petition for one of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and a reflection on a corresponding fruit of the Spirit 1.
EWTN describes this devotion as “the oldest novena in the life of the Church,” tracing its roots to the apostles’ waiting in the Upper Room after Christ’s Ascension, as recorded in Acts 1.
Father John Paul stresses that the Holy Spirit is the means by which salvation is enacted in the Church and that true knowledge of Christ comes through the Spirit 1. He notes that the Holy Spirit is sometimes called the “forgotten Person of the Trinity,” yet it is the Spirit that transforms believers into “other Christs” in the world 1.
The novena aims to prepare the faithful for Pentecost by mirroring the disciples’ prayerful waiting with the Blessed Virgin Mary, fostering a deeper reception of the Holy Spirit 1.
Investigate the origins and theological significance of the Holy Spirit Novena
The Novena to the Holy Spirit is not simply one devotional custom among many; it is the Church’s way of re-entering the Upper Room’s prayer in the liturgical season that culminates in Pentecost. Its origins lie in the scriptural pattern of the Apostles’ prayer “after the Ascension,” and its theological significance is that the Holy Spirit is the gift that empowers witness, renews the Church, and matures believers interiorly, in harmony with the Church’s liturgy, sacraments, and Tradition.
Catholic teaching commonly grounds the Pentecost/“Holy Spirit” novena in the period after Christ’s Ascension when the Apostles, commanded by the Risen Christ, returned to prayer with Mary and the community in the Upper Room. Pope John Paul II describes this as the “first Apostolic novena to the Holy Spirit,” and explicitly calls it the model for what the Church “does each year.”
He stresses that the Apostles were praying for the fulfillment of Christ’s promise: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).
A key nuance in the Church’s understanding of “origin” is that Jesus did not prescribe the exact prayers used in a later novena. Pope John Paul II explains that Jesus did not designate which prayers to recite during those days, but he urged the Apostles to spend those days in prayer in expectation of the descent of the Holy Spirit—and this “urging was valid not only then. It is still valid.”
This matters theologically: the novena’s authority comes from its obedience to the Spirit-filled rhythm of waiting for Pentecost, rather than from any claim that Jesus handed down a specific set of novena formulas.
Popular devotion speaks of a “novena” (nine days). Yet the scriptural/liturgical period from the Ascension to Pentecost can be described as about ten days, depending on how the days are counted. Pope John Paul II explicitly refers to “the period of ten days after the Lord’s Ascension” and says it brings “every year, the same call of the Master.”
How does this fit “nine days”? The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that the first Pentecost novena is the “best model,” describing the Church persevering “for nine full days,” while at the same time it observes that later practice uses novenas widely in different forms.
So the Church preserves the substance (waiting in prayer with the Apostles) while allowing discipline and counting to express it devotionally in the form “nine days.”
The Church does not treat the Pentecost novena as a purely private invention. The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy states that the pious exercise of the Pentecost novena “emerged from prayerful reflection on this salvific event” (Acts 1:14 and Luke 24:49).
Importantly, it says:
This underscores theological significance: the novena functions as a liturgical continuation/appropriation of Pentecost expectation.
In the 19th century, the Church gave the devotion a more universal structure. Pope Leo XIII decreed that throughout the whole Catholic Church a novena to the Holy Spirit should take place before Whit-Sunday (Pentecost) in parish churches, and (if ordinariates judge fit) in other churches and oratories.
He attached spiritual benefits to participation: for each day an indulgence, and a plenary indulgence on certain days (including Pentecost itself or during the octave), with standard sacramental conditions (Penance and Eucharist) and prayer for his intention.
While indulgences are not “the essence” of the novena, they reflect the Church’s judgment that this prayer form is a genuine way of participating in Pentecost grace.
The Holy Spirit novena has also been explicitly used in major ecclesial moments. Pope John XXIII ordered a solemn novena to the Holy Spirit in all parishes immediately preceding the Ecumenical Council, stating its purpose: “to beg for an abundance of heavenly light and supernatural aid” for the Council Fathers.
He also links the novena to renewal of Christian life and even ecumenical movement: those seeking union with Rome should be encouraged through this time of prayer and penance.
The Catechism teaches that the Holy Spirit is active “from the beginning to the completion of the plan for our salvation,” and that in these “end times” the Spirit is revealed and given, recognized and welcomed as a person.
It further explains how the believer knows the Holy Spirit: the Church is the place where the Spirit is encountered through Scripture, Tradition, the Magisterium, sacramental liturgy, prayer, charisms and ministries, apostolic and missionary life, and the witness of saints.
A novena to the Holy Spirit, therefore, is not an isolated “devotional add-on.” Theologically, it is a way to enter the Church’s life where the Spirit communicates grace—especially through prayer and liturgical expectation.
The Catechism presents a core principle: the Holy Spirit teaches the Church and instructs her in the life of prayer, inspiring expressions of prayer such as blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise.
Thus, a novena is theologically significant because it is a concrete school of prayer in the rhythm of salvation history: it is the Church’s sustained petition while awaiting Pentecost and preparing the heart to receive.
John Paul II connects the Upper Room directly to Pentecost’s mission: the Apostles pray for fulfillment of Christ’s promise that they will receive power and become witnesses.
He also describes the effect in confident terms: repeating the Church’s prayer Veni, Creator Spiritus expresses faith that the Holy Spirit will renew the face of the earth.
In a parallel way, John Paul II tells the faithful that entering the Upper Room together “prepar[es] our souls to accept the Holy Spirit and his action in us,” and that this is “of great importance” for both personal interior maturity and the Church as a community.
The novena’s theological integrity includes conversion. John XXIII emphasizes that the “first need is for internal repentance,” namely detestation of sin and determination to amend—showing this repentance through a good Confession, participation in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, and reception of Holy Communion.
He warns that external acts of penance are “useless unless accompanied by a clear conscience and the detestation of sin.”
So the Holy Spirit novena is theologically significant partly because it is meant to draw people into a life where the Spirit’s grace meets authentic repentance and Eucharistic communion.
The Catechism teaches that the seven gifts (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, fear of the Lord) complete and perfect the virtues and make the faithful docile to divine inspirations.
In theological terms, the novena’s goal is not merely emotional uplift; it is to dispose the soul to receive and cooperate with those gifts as the Spirit forms believers for holiness, witness, and ecclesial service.
The Holy Spirit Novena originates in the Church’s biblical and apostolic pattern: the Apostles’ prayer in the Upper Room after Ascension, awaiting the promised descent of the Paraclete (Holy Spirit).
Its theological significance is that it is a liturgically anchored, Spirit-taught school of prayer that prepares the believer and the Church for Pentecost grace: renewal, witness, interior maturity, and conversion, rooted in sacramental life and the Church’s ongoing tradition.