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Prayer — Novenas

Novena to St. Raphael the Archangel

Indulgenced as a novena by Pius IX, 26 November 1876; the prayer by Leo XIII, 21 June 1890

Nine days with the archangel of Tobit — guide of travellers, physician of God, deliverer from the demon — using the prayer Leo XIII indulgenced in 1890, with the antiphon and collect of his feast.

The Prayer

English · Original

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

PRAYER (each day)
Glorious Archangel St. Raphael, great Prince of the heavenly court, illustrious for thy gifts of wisdom and grace, guide of those who journey by land or sea, consoler of the afflicted, and refuge of sinners; I beg thee to assist me in all my needs and in all the sufferings of this life, as once thou didst help the young Tobias on his travels. And because thou art the medicine of God, I humbly pray thee to heal the many infirmities of my soul, and the ills which afflict my body, if it be for my greater good. I specially ask of thee an angelic purity which may fit me to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

(Here name the intention of the novena.)

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be.

Ant. Most glorious Prince, Raphael the Archangel, be mindful of us: pray for us always, both here and everywhere, to the Son of God.
V. An angel stood beside the altar of the temple.
R. Having a golden censer in his hand.

Let us pray.
O God, who didst give the blessed Archangel Raphael to thy servant Tobias as a companion on his way: grant to us thy servants that we may ever be protected by his guardianship and strengthened by his help. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

When the Prayer is Said

20–28 September before the feast of the archangels; before a journey; for a marriage; in sickness; at any time of the year.

History & Background

The Church never fixed a text for this novena. Pius IX's rescript of 26 November 1876 granted three hundred days each day, and a plenary indulgence during the nine days, to anyone who made a novena to St. Raphael 'with any form of prayer sanctioned by competent ecclesiastical authority'. The manuals therefore took the prayer Leo XIII indulgenced in 1890 and said it for nine days, and that is the form given here, closed each day with the antiphon and collect of the archangel's feast.

Raphael's three offices all come from the one Book of Tobit: he walks the road to Media and back with the young Tobias, he binds the demon that had killed Sara's seven husbands, and he heals the elder Tobit's blindness. That is why the novena is made before journeys, for a marriage, and in sickness. The feast is 29 September (24 October before 1969); the novena traditionally begins on the 20th, but may be made at any time.

A novena is nine consecutive days (or nine consecutive weeks of one fixed day) of the same prayer for the same intention; a day missed breaks it, and it is begun again. Confession and Communion during the nine days, or on the last, were the ordinary conditions for the plenary indulgence.

Indulgences Attached

Three hundred days each day and a plenary indulgence during the novena — Pius IX, 26 November 1876 (Raccolta, 1910, no. 294); the prayer, one hundred days — Leo XIII, 21 June 1890.

Related Saints

St. Raphael the Archangel

Created before the world – Immortal

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