Bishop Gruss: 'As the feast of Pentecost approaches, I invite all of you to pray with me a Novena to the Holy Spirit.
Let us be united in praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on one another and on our entire Diocese of Saginaw!'
Click here to download and/or print the prayers.
The prayers linked here can be prayed alone or with others.
Each day, you'll pray the prayers on the first page of the PDF (headings are highlighted in red).
You'll find the daily "scripture reading" and "thought for each day" in the "Readings and Reflections" section.
Invite the Holy Spirit to ignite your heart
For much of the world, the celebration of Easter has come and gone. However, for Christians who live the Easter joy, we know that the Easter season spans 50 days, concluding on the great Solemnity of Pentecost – the birthday of the Church when the promised Holy Spirit descended upon Mary and the apostles gathered in prayer.
(Click here to read the rest of Bishop's letter from the May/June 2023 issue of Great Lakes Bay Catholic Magazine.)
A New Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Since his arrival as Bishop of Saginaw, Bishop Gruss has been encouraging all of us to pray daily for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon ourselves, our families, our parish communities and our entire diocese.
The Spirit wants to awaken our hearts to a new springtime!
As the feast of Pentecost approaches, Bishop Gruss invites the whole diocese to pray with him this nine-day prayer, the Novena to the Holy Spirit for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit across the diocese.
The Church emphasizes very urgently the honor and also the duty to pray and invoke the Holy Spirit in every phase of our life.
“Lay people dedicated to Christ and anointed by his Holy Spirit (in baptism and confirmation) are marvelously called and equipped to produce in themselves ever more abundant fruits of the Spirit.”
Fruits of the Holy Spirit
The new Catechism of the Catholic Church lists the 12 fruits of the Holy Spirit as charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self control and chastity.
Imagine a world where people strive to achieve such worthy goals. We can help to create that world, because by changing ourselves, we can change the world.
We are assured by the Church that all of our work, prayers, apostolic endeavors, our mental and physical relaxation, if carried out in the Spirit, and even the hardships of life, if patiently borne - all of these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans) is happy to offer us this novena so that you may pray to and invoke the Holy Spirit daily for the seven gifts: Wisdom, Understanding, Right Judgment, Courage, Knowledge, Reverence, and Wonder and Awe.