Would you like to be more in communion with God?  If so, I invite you to take part in the Annual Healing and Hope Novena at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.

This year’s theme is “Like Mary, In Communion with God.”  During the nine days of the novena, we will call upon Mary to help us reach a deeper understanding of our faith and relationship with God.

This novena will truly be a prayer pilgrimage, and Mary will be our guide.  Our pilgrimage will be a journey of continued conversion, a yearning to draw closer to God.

Mary is the perfect guide for us.  As Pope Benedict XVI explains:  “Mary opened the door of our world to God Himself; she became the living ark of the covenant in whom God took flesh, became one of us and pitched His tent among us.”

When you take part in the Annual Healing and Hope Novena, you will be continuing a special tradition that goes back 79 years.  For the first few years the novena to Our Lady of the Snows was held on the grounds of the Oblates’ St. Henry’s Seminary.  When the crowds grew too large for the seminary property, the Oblates created the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.  Since then, more than one million pilgrims have taken part in the novena.

I hope you will be able to come to the Shrine to experience this wonderful novena firsthand.  Below is a schedule for the novena to help you plan your visit.

If you are unable to attend the novena in person, there are several ways that you can be on pilgrimage with us through the power of prayer:

Send your prayer petitions

Your intentions will be prayed for throughout the nine-day Healing and Hope Novena at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows.

Novena Prayer Capsule

Honor loved ones with a full year of prayer.  You may have friends and family remembered in prayer for a full year by having their names and prayer needs placed in a special Prayer Capsule at the Shrine.

Join us for the Novena from home

Take part in the  novena from home.  The homily for each night of the novena will be posted on our website:  oblatesusa.org/live.

Devotional Gifts

As we bring healing into your life, you can do the same for people in need throughout the world.  Your donation can improve the lives of our less fortunate brothers and sisters here at home and in more than 60 countries.  I fyou like, you can receive a beautiful devotional gift for your donation.  Supplies are limited. 

Votive Candle

A beautiful way to take part in our journey with Mary is to have a Votive Candle lit at the Shrine during the novena.

Donation

When you make a donation in support of the healing ministries of the Oblates, you can request your complimentary Prayers for Healing booklet.

This 24-page booklet contains a variety of prayers focused on needs such as to accept God’s will, for renewed faith, or at the death of a loved one.

For more than 75 years, the Lord has lifted our burdens during the Healing and Hope Novena.  Please join us this year to bring healing into our lives and the lives of our loved ones.  May God bless you abundantly.