DH and I have prayed the St. Andrew novena for the past couple years. I know some IFers have conceived after praying it, and I still pray that it might happen for us and others who are still waiting, but even if we don't conceive, it has become one of my favorite prayers and a new family tradition. (Family=DH+me) :)It goes from November 30 (the feast of St. Andrew) to Christmas. The prayer to the right is prayed 15 times each day. We usually pray all 15 prayers right before bed during our normal prayer time. I've found it to be a wonderful way to quiet my mind and really reflect on the birth of Christ as we prepare to celebrate Christmas. Even though it's a short prayer, I find myself focusing on a different phrase each day (like "in piercing cold"), which helps me imagine what it would have been like to be there. As we prayed it tonight, it felt like something was missing. Then I realized that since Advent hasn't started yet, we didn't have the Advent wreath lit. Just one day to go! I love praying by candlelight.
Last year I made a chaplet so I wouldn't have to count while we prayed. (Did I count that last one? I wasn't paying attention. Hmmm, better pray an extra one just in case I miscounted...) I figured one less distraction during prayer would be good, and I wanted an excuse to pull out my rosary-making supplies. I don't get to use them very often. If you'd like to make one, it's pretty easy to do. (I have no prior jewelry making experience...just taught myself from an online tutorial.) And the supplies aren't too expensive.
I know it's hard sometimes to remember to pray novenas. If I didn't have DH prompting me at bedtime with, "It's time to pray," I would probably forget. I found a free app that gives you the option to set a daily reminder to pray a (nine-day) novena. It's called "eVotions -Bl. John Paul II." The reminder is to pray a novena to JPII, but I'm going to use it for any novena. Yay for modern technology. :)
