Spanning December 16-24 is the Christmas Novena: nine daily prayers and reflections on the Incarnation of God.
St Mary's offers visitors to the Memorial Garden a new station of prayer and reflection each day of our own Christmas Novena. Drop in to the garden during your daily walk, to pray or reflect in your own way—we will also post daily reflections on our website each day.
Embedded in our own Novena are the Great O Antiphons, a series of prayers based on names associated with Jesus by the early Church. These prayers, originally in Latin, date back as early as the 6th Century.
Here are links directly to each of the days of our Novena, where you will find the full text to aid your personal devotion on these final days before Christmas.
- December 16 - The Preface of Advent
- December 17 - O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
- December 18 - O Adonai (O Lord)
- December 19 - O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
- December 20 - O Clavis David (O Key of David)
- December 21 - O Oriens (O Morning Star)
- December 22 - O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations)
- December 23 - O Emmanuel (O God-With-Us)
- December 24 - Christmas Eve
You can also subscribe to a special Christmas Novena daily newsletter to receive each day's reflections by email - simply visit the subscribe link at the bottom of this page, and then on the confirmation page, select the box next to Christmas Novena 2023.