
Catholic novena
Novena to St. Denis (Dionysius)
Quick answer
At a glance
Prayer source
Reviewed public-domain English devotional edition (1909)
Bonaventure Hammer, O.F.M., Mary, Help of Christians, and the Fourteen Saints Invoked as Holy Helpers (Benziger Brothers, 1909), Part IV, Novena to Each of the Holy Helpers, VII. Source: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/33596/pg33596-images.html
Read the source standards- What it is
- A complete novena in honor of St. Dionysius, from Father Bonaventure Hammer's 1909 devotional manual. The same full prayer is said on each of the nine days.
- Often prayed for
- Light of faith, freedom from anxiety of conscience, true penance, and growth in the knowledge and love of Jesus.
- Suggested start
- September 30, 2027. You may also begin this novena at any time.
- Length
- 9 days
- Feast
- October 9
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About This Novena
This novena remembers St. Denis as a preacher, bishop, and martyr. It asks that the faith he brought to others become our own light, peace, and path back to God through penance.
Traditionally prayed for
Often prayed for France, headaches, those under persecution, and missionary courage.
Usual timing
September 30 through October 8
Day 1 of 9
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Day 1
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Preparatory Prayer
ALMIGHTY and eternal God! With lively faith and reverently worshiping Thy divine Majesty, I prostrate myself before Thee and invoke with filial trust Thy supreme bounty and mercy. Illumine the darkness of my intellect with a ray of Thy heavenly light and inflame my heart with the fire of Thy divine love, that I may contemplate the great virtues and merits of the saint in whose honor I make this novena, and following his example imitate, like him, the life of Thy divine Son.
Moreover, I beseech Thee to grant graciously, through the merits and intercession of this powerful Helper, the petition which through him I humbly place before Thee, devoutly saying, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Vouchsafe graciously to hear it, if it redounds to Thy greater glory and to the salvation of my soul. Amen.
Prayer and Invocation
O GOD, who didst confer Thy saving faith on the people of France through Thy holy bishop and martyr Dionysius, and didst glorify him before and after his martyrdom by many miracles; grant us through his intercession that the Faith practised and preached by him be our light on the way of life, so that we may be preserved from all anxieties of conscience, and if by human frailty we have sinned, we may return to Thee speedily by true penance. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Invocation
GLORIOUS servant of God, St. Dionysius, with intense love thou didst devote thyself to Christ after learning to know Him through the apostle St. Paul, and didst preach His saving name to the nations, to bring whom to His knowledge and love thou didst not shrink from martyrdom; implore for me a continual growth in the knowledge and love of Jesus, so that my restless heart may experience that peace which He alone can give. Help me by thy powerful intercession with God to serve Him with a willing heart, to devote myself with abiding love to His service, and thereby to attain the eternal bliss of heaven. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
MY LORD and my God! I offer up to Thee my petition in union with the bitter passion and death of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, together with the merits of His immaculate and blessed Mother, Mary ever virgin, and of all the saints, particularly with those of the holy Helper in whose honor I make this novena.
Look down upon me, merciful Lord! Grant me Thy grace and Thy love, and graciously hear my prayer. Amen.
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About this devotion
Which edition is shown here?
A complete novena in honor of St. Dionysius, from Father Bonaventure Hammer's 1909 devotional manual. The same full prayer is said on each of the nine days.
Related devotion
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Move naturally from this novena into the nearest saint life or traditional litany in the library.
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About this novena
Description
This novena remembers St. Denis as a preacher, bishop, and martyr. It asks that the faith he brought to others become our own light, peace, and path back to God through penance.
Traditionally invoked as patron of
France, headaches, those under persecution, missionary courage
Traditionally prayed for
Often prayed for France, headaches, those under persecution, and missionary courage.
Usual timing
September 30 through October 8

Saint Denis, Metropolitan Museum of Art
