From November 30 to Christmas

The St. Andrew Christmas Novena

This old and simple prayer takes its name from St. Andrew because it begins on his feast. Though it is called a novena, it is prayed not for nine days but for the whole stretch from November 30 to Christmas.

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.

How to pray it

Pray it fifteen times each day, from the feast of St. Andrew, Monday, November 30, until Christmas.
The fifteen need not be prayed at once. Spread them through the day: for example, five at breakfast, five after school, and five at bedtime.
After the words “grant my desires,” pause and name your intentions, aloud or in silence.
Young children can pray it once with you; older children can keep count on their fingers or by moving fifteen beans from one cup to another.

Traditional prayer, public domain, as printed in The Little Treasury of Leaflets (Dublin, 1914). Spelling (“Saviour”) kept as printed.