| From the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia
Novena
(From novem, nine.)
A nine days' private or public devotion in the Catholic Church to obtain special graces. The octave
has more of the festal character; to the novena belongs that of hopeful mourning, of yearning, of
prayer. "The number nine in Holy Writ is indicative of suffering and grief" (St. Jerome, in Ezech., vii,
24; -- P.L., XXV, 238, cf. XXV, 1473). The novena is permitted and even recommended by
ecclesiastical authority, but still has no proper and fully set place in the liturgy of the Church. It has,
however, more and more been prized and utilized by the faithful. Four kinds of novenas can be
distinguished: novenas of mourning, of preparation, of prayer, and the indulgenced novenas, though
this distinction is not exclusive. | 
