A novena is a 9 day prayer. The novena given below was composed by Fr Nicholas King S.J. in order to prepare us for our pilgrimage to Lourdes. The novena consists of a reflection for each day, with a passage of Scripture attached. The reflection is simply to "get you going". The key thing is a prayerful listening to the word of God, for whatever length of time you can manage. If you can also manage mass each day, so much the better; but you could equally round off the meditation with a favourite prayer, the Hospitalité Act of Consecration, or a decade or more of the rosary.