Come, Holy Spirit.

As we prepare for the 2026 Archdiocesan Assembly, this Novena invites us to pause, listen, and place ourselves together before God. 

Over nine days of sustained prayer, our desire is to seek the power of the Holy Spirit in renewing our hearts, deepening our listening, and strengthening our communion as a local Church.

A novena is a traditional form of prayer in the Catholic Church, inspired by the disciples who gathered with Mary in prayer between the Ascension and Pentecost as they awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:12–14). Since that first novena, the Church has returned again and again to this practice whenever guidance, renewal, or courage to act is needed.

We begin and end each day with an opening and closing prayer, so that wherever we are – at home, at work, in a parish, school, or chapel – we pray as one Archdiocese, open to the Holy Spirit who leads us. 

May this Novena help us walk together in faith and trust, ready to be renewed and sent for the life of the world.