novenas

Scope note: Christian private or public devotions, special prayers, or services that are observed on nine successive days, or on the same day for nine successive weeks. The purpose of novenas is to request special graces of God or to express mourning; a novena is not, strictly speaking, a ceremony or liturgical event. The practice derives from Jewish tradition, although Jewish prayer periods were of seven days rather than nine. The tradition of nine days derives from the ancient Romans, who had official religious ceremonies that were nine days in duration.

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