The Novena: A Childhood Memory

Every December 16^th, since I was able to read, my family has taken part in a tradition that can be traced back in Catholic history to the mid-1700s in South America. I have grown to love and cherish this cultural branch of my ethnic family tree. I am amazed at the link this creates to my ancestors and to all who’ve read and maintained the tradition throughout the centuries. Even as I sit down to read it, I recognize that I am but a small stem on this large tree.

(PHOTOS): The first photo is of my own Nativity. The other photos are of traditional ways the Novena is celebrated.

The reading of the Christmas Novena has been a staple in homes in the South American country of Colombia (and elsewhere) and is celebrated and revered as a prayer of countless miracles during the season of miracles.

Although I was born and raised in the United States, my parents brought along the tradition to share with their children. In my childhood home I reading the passages, recited the prayers and sang the songs that make up the traditional novena, along with my brother and parents. I credit this annual event with the Spanish reading, writing and speaking skills I enjoy today. Unknowingly, I was honing skills I would be able to use all my life. I thank my parents for their patience and encouragement during that time, as I stumbled jaggedly through words I didn’t quite understand, but grew to love.

In its most basic format, the novena is a set of small daily prayers, followed by individual chronological prayers that lead up to December 24^th (one per night) and the birth of the Christ Child. It is read while gathered around the Nativity scene, which in some homes in Colombia takes on majestic proportions of grandeur. In Colombia, if you don’t have a Christmas tree, no one will bat an eye, but if you’re without a Nativity scene, someone will probably gather up the neighbors to take up a collection so you can have one!

The prayers are followed by daily recitations that flow like a child’s poetry making the appeal and likelihood of memorization that much simpler. Over thousands of years, songs written and recorded specifically for the novena also became a part of the festivities. Of mass appeal is the portion of the novena in which participants are given a chance to ask for something they desperately need, or want – whether that be a healing, a home, a job, or whatever basic, mundane necessities we as humans might conjure up. We ask this in the name of the most holy infancy of the Baby Jesus and we do so with an absolute faith that knows no bounds.

A traditional novena is best when shared with family and friends. In Colombia, children travel in small groups from house to house during the nine days of the prayer. They’re sometimes given candy and treats as a way of thanking them for stopping by with blessings. The children usually carry small, homemade instruments such as tambourines, tin whistles, or Ricky Ricardo-style drums to sing along.

The history of the first Christmas Novena can be traced to its originator Fray Fernando de Jesús Larrea. Larrea was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1700. He was ordained in Colombia in 1725 and he devoted his life to his Catholic faith. It was in Colombia where he began the tradition of a nine-day prayer session in preparation for the birth of Jesus.

As I grew up, I saw our Nativity scene at home grow in size, as well. Each year, my mother would painstakingly put all of the elements together to make of our Nativity something to behold. For the dark blue night she used felt and fabrics. For the single star in the sky, it was a hanging star ornament. The Three Wise men were placed at a distance from the manger and moved along through the days. As a nine-year-old girl, I once visited the home of a relative in Colombia whose Nativity scene was so lifelike and stunning, it seared itself in my mind and is still the one I reference mentally when creating my own.

As a grown-up with my own home, I have taken it upon myself to continue the tradition, putting together my Nativity with the same love, respect and hopefulness I learned from my mother and from my culture. I miss my mom terribly and often wish she could be around to comment or advise on my efforts at traditional Nativity scenes. However, the keeping this tradition alive is one way I know to stay close to her.

When I get home this evening, I will start my novena for 2009. I will do this for the next nine days until Christmas Eve. Although it will be much different and smaller in scale than novenas said in Colombia, or that of my childhood, I will feel the company of hundreds of my ancestors and loved ones, near and far, sitting around my Nativity in spirit and reading along with me.