The Nine tongues of fire on you: Nine days of prayer with St Charles de Foucauld

. The practice of the Novena is based in early Christianity, where Masses were held for nine days with devotional prayers to someone who has died. The practice may trace its origins to an early Greek and Roman custom performed by families, ] Over time, members of the Roman Catholic faith began to associate Novena with Christian themes such as the nine months Jesus spent in the womb, the giving up of His Spirit at the ninth hour, and the event which occurred in the Upper Room with Twelve Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary when they prayed for nine days until the Holy Spirit descended on the Feast of the Pentecost. In the New Testament, this biblical event is often quoted from Acts of the Apostles, 1:12 - 2:5. The Church Fathers also assigned unique meaning to the number nine, seeing it as symbolic of an imperfect man turning to God in prayer (due to its proximity with the number ten, symbolic of perfection and God).The word Novena is rooted in the Latin word for nine. The Novena practice is based on early Christianity, where Masses were held for nine days with devotional prayers to someone who has died. The method may trace its origins to an early Greek and Roman custom performed by families. Over time, members of the Roman Catholic faith began to associate Novena with Christian themes such as the nine months Jesus spent in the womb, the giving up of His Spirit at the ninth hour, and the event which occurred in the Upper Room with Twelve Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary when they prayed, Pentecost. Today's novena shares in this Pentecost, always asking with Mary and the saints for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.