The Christmas Novena, beginning on December 15 is nine consecutive days
of prayer and is a wonderful way of preparing ourselves for the birth of our
Lord Jesus Christ and getting into the true spirit of Christmas. The incensing of the Blessed Sacrament, the
prayers, the Syriac hymns and the processions all help us to worship and
glorify the Word of God who is coming to save us and live among us –
Emmanuel. After the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the congregation
kneels in worship and the chants “Shoubho-l-how qolo” or “Glory to the Word
that became flesh.” Traditionally this “Ziah” is chanted in Syriac.
The nine prayers (one
for each day representing the nine months that Mary was pregnant with Jesus)
are rich in their imagery and poetry. They give us the opportunity to adore and
love our Lord at His nativity. They help us to reflect on his humility, love
and divinity and at the same time our weaknesses and failures. They help
us to live our never ending love story with our Mother Mary with words such as
“O Wine of the Virgins and Lily of Purity” asking for her intercession and the
intercession of her beloved spouse Joseph. We then pray an Our Father, Hail
Mary and Glory Be before concluding with a beautiful prayer “We have offered
you, O Wonderful Child and Unique Son, the perfume of our incense, the desire
of our hearts, the surrender of our souls, the inclination of our bodies and
the supplications of our lips…” Then as the priest begins to incense the
Blessed Sacrament again, we sing the hymn “Arsal Allah” or “God sent his only
Son, light for all the nations” which summarizes the prophesy of Isaiah about
the incarnation of the Word of God. Benediction follows blessing the
congregation to “Quodous, Quodous” or “Holy, Holy.”
If you have intentions for us to include in the novena, please email them to us.