Autumn Rain

A Novena with Mary

To Christ through Mary

What did a 14-year-old Jewish girl from a small town expect from life? What were her hopes and dreams?

Gabriel appeared. Mary said yes. Then her expectations were turned upside down, and she began a journey that would change the course of history.

Autumn Rain is a novena steeped in Scripture, the saints, and the teaching of the Church, and is designed to rekindle an authentic relationship with Mary, who directs us to her Son.

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Follow Along With The Novena

A Novena With Mary

Novena Elements

Day 1 – Nazareth

Day 2 – Judah

Day 3 – Bethlehem

Day 4 – Egypt

Day 5 – The Temple

Day 6 – Jerusalem

Day 7 – Cana

Day 8 – Calvary

Day 9 – Upper Room

Conclusion

Why “Autumn Rain”

Autumn Rain in the Valley of Tears

“As they go through the Baca valley they find in it a blessing, even the rain that autumn sends covers it with blessings.” – Psalm 84:6 (Jerusalem Bible)

“Baca valley” means the valley of weeping or tears. The road to heaven passes through this valley of suffering and sadness. Jesus did not preach a message of prosperity, where all will go well for the believer. No, Scripture is clear that life is tough—full of bitterness and sorrow. After all, God did not even spare His own Son from suffering. Jesus did not come to remove suffering from this life, but to give it meaning. Suffering can become a moment to share and experience love. Most of us are familiar with the idea of life as a valley of tears, but are we aware of the autumn rain? Yes, life is full of suffering, but as we make our way toward heaven, the Lord sends the autumn rain to fill it with His blessings.

Mary knew this valley well and so she will be our guide as we look at what it means to embrace the Gospel. She gives us an example of what it means to walk alongside her son. This novena follows her life, showing how she went through the valley of tears and what that means for all of us.

What is a Novena?

A novena is nine days of prayer, inspired by the nine days the first Apostles spent waiting from Ascension Thursday to Pentecost. Before Jesus rose into heaven, He told them to wait together for the Holy Spirit. They gathered for prayer in the Upper Room with Jesus’ mother and other believers. This first Novena was to prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, but over time the Church expanded the practice to any nine days of prayer.

The reCatholic Novena Series

This is not your typical novena.

It is a resource to experience several different types of prayer recommended by the Church: petitions, scripture, reflecting on the truths of the Faith, speaking to God about our life, and so on. This novena is not focused on asking God for what we want, but instead seeking His will. The goal is to help each person have an authentic, transformative encounter with the Lord.

Each day also includes a section with the Church’s teaching so the truths of the Faith are learned through prayer, rather than just academic study. Our encounter with God in prayer helps us rediscover our faith, rekindles our heart, and renews our lives.

Lastly, many novenas focus on a particular feast day or devotion, such as the Sacred Heart or the Assumption. reCatholic novenas are more general. Our novenas are not intended for any specific celebration. Instead, they can be used to prepare for many different feast days.

A Novena with Mary

This novena is an attempt to summarize what the Church teaches about Mary’s role in our lives and what she means for the Church. It is an opportunity to enter into the real, concrete moments of her life—to experience the depth of her sorrow, sacrifice, and love. We learn from her how to follow Jesus.

Based in Scripture

Our faith is not based on the Bible alone, but on a combination of both Tradition and Scripture. However, Catholic theology and worship have always been deeply biblical. This novena starts with what we know about Mary from Scripture. It follows the key moments of her life, using passages from the Bible.

Praying with Mary

The Church has prayed with Mary for close to 2,000 years, beginning with the Apostles gathering together for the first novena before Pentecost. There’s a rich collection of traditional prayers to Mary starting from very early on. The first prayer to Mary appears on a scroll, written just about 200 years after the death of her son! It’s remarkable that she has always been so present in the Church’s prayer from the very beginning.

Each day of this novena includes one of these ancient prayers, but this novena was written to focus on praying with Mary, not just to Mary. Most of the main events of Mary’s life were also key events in the life of her son. This means they are key events for the salvation of the world and for the life of each Christian. Praying with Mary means seeing the mysteries she lives as being primarily about Jesus. We come to see these events through her eyes, with her unique perspective.

Does Doctrine Matter?

The Church has spent a lot of time discussing the best ways to express the truths of faith. Trying to find the most accurate phrasing often creates dry, technical language that may seem disconnected from real life. It isn’t often clear what theological ideas have to do with any of life’s concerns.

This can be especially true about the doctrines surrounding Mary: the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, Mary as the New Eve, her perpetual virginity, and so on.

This novena takes up one of these doctrines each day and tries to show its relevance and importance for our lives. The truths about Mary are not just abstract, academic ideas, but are tremendously important for understanding the spiritual life and what it means to be a Christian.

Make the Most of This Novena

This introductory overview provides a closer look at each of the various parts of this novena. Understanding each section will prepare you to use them well.

Each day is designed to work for groups or 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 devote your full, prayerful attention.

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)

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, asking Jesus and Mary to intercede for us to the Father. Each day will focus on a virtue that we can imitate from Mary’s example in the Bible passage. We recognize our need for support and ask the Blessed Mother and her Son to help us grow.

3. Optional Study

In simple words, based on the Church’s consistent teaching, we will discover Mary’s example of virtue in the Bible, show how the virtue relates to a particular Church teaching about the Blessed Virgin Mary, and suggest some concrete ways that we can imitate her in our daily lives.

4. Scripture

The Bible is at the heart of our Faith and is also the reason why we venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary. Each day will include a passage from the New Testament that highlights Mary’s participation in Jesus’ earthly ministry.

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. These readings highlight the wisdom of the Church explaining Mary’s role in salvation history.

6. Interior Dialogue

Any contact with Mary should bring us closer to Jesus. We’ve opted to direct this moment of prayer to Christ, her Son, keeping in mind, like the apostles in the upper room, that Mary always prays with us, to God, on our behalf.

This is meant to be a peaceful, receptive pause to converse with Jesus, to listen, and to embrace what God is asking of us. Resist the urge to rush through this! Two minutes of silence may seem like ten, but it will be well worth it.

Some optional prayerful questions are provided as conversation starters. The goal is a brief moment of personal interior dialogue with the Lord.

7. Intercessions

Just like during the celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass, these intercessions are an opportunity to pray out loud as a community. This is 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 recommendations throughout the ages on how we can imitate the virtues that Mary exemplified during her life.

8. Closing Prayer

This is a prayer steeped in the fullness of our Christian Faith. It is meant to be a written conversation with God that teaches us how to pray. At the same time, it helps us to rediscover how beautiful and awesome our Faith is, challenges our hearts to be rekindled with His holy fire, and asks for the divine assistance we constantly need to renew our lives.

9. Traditional Prayers to Mary

In closing each day, from the riches of the liturgical history of the Church, we’ve gathered the most loved and used prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary from throughout the ages.

These prayers have been on the lips of the faithful for the last two thousand years. Priests and religious have turned to Mary in their daily prayers; soldiers have uttered them on the battlefield; sailors have invoked them for protection on their voyages; pilgrims have entrusted their search for a new homeland; scholars have prayed them in their search for wisdom; leaders of nations have asked for protection over their peoples; families have petitioned for safety; spouses have begged for strength and fidelity; scientists, doctors, inventors, and artists alike have entrusted their works to the heavenly protection and intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

We, too, gather our needs and place them under the mantle of Jesus’ mother, asking for her motherly care.