Nine days to Bethlehem
Pray the novena →From December 16 to 24, Catholics pray nine invocations to the Child Jesus, one for each step from the Annunciation to Nazareth.
December 25
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The Raccolta's chaplet in honor of the Holy Childhood walks through the infancy of Jesus: the Incarnation, the Visitation, the waiting in Mary's womb, Bethlehem, the circumcision, the Magi, the Presentation, the flight into Egypt and the years in Egypt. This page takes one invocation a day for the nine days before Christmas.
The chaplet of the Holy Childhood was indulgenced by Pius VII in 1819.
The nine days before Christmas are also when Latin America keeps Las Posadas, December 16 to 24.
Each invocation ends the same way: 'Have mercy on us, Infant Jesus, have mercy on us.'
A novena is nine days of prayer for one intention, modeled on the nine days the apostles and Mary prayed between the Ascension and Pentecost (Acts 1–2). Pray this each day:
Day 1. Jesu, sweetest Child, who didst come down from the bosom of the Father for our salvation, who wast conceived by the Holy Ghost, who didst not abhor the Virgin's womb, and, the Word made flesh, didst take upon Thee the form of a servant; Have mercy upon us. Have mercy on us, Infant Jesus, have mercy on us. Hail Mary.
Day 2. Jesu, sweetest Child, who, through thy Virgin Mother, didst visit Saint Elisabeth, and fill thy forerunner the holy Baptist with the Holy Ghost, sanctifying him whilst yet in his mother's womb; Have mercy upon us. Have mercy on us, Infant Jesus, have mercy on us. Hail Mary.
Day 3. Jesu, sweetest Child, who, shut up for nine months in thy Mother's womb, wast looked for with eager expectation by Mary and by Joseph, and wast offered to God the Father for the salvation of the world; Have mercy upon us. Have mercy on us, Infant Jesus, have mercy on us. Hail Mary.
Day 4. Jesu, sweetest Child, born in Bethlehem of Mary ever Virgin, swathed in rags, laid in the manger, announced by angels, visited by shepherds; Have mercy upon us. Have mercy on us, Infant Jesus, have mercy on us. Hail Mary.
Day 5. Jesu, sweetest Child, wounded in thy circumcision the eighth day, called by the glorious Name of Jesus, and at once by thy Name and thy Blood foreshown as the Saviour of the world; Have mercy upon us. Have mercy on us, Infant Jesus, have mercy on us. Hail Mary.
Day 6. Jesu, sweetest Child, made known to the three Magi by a star, adored in the arms of thy Mother, presented with the mystic gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh; Have mercy upon us. Have mercy on us, Infant Jesus, have mercy on us. Hail Mary.
Day 7. Jesu, sweetest Child, who wast presented in the Temple by thy Virgin Mother, who wast embraced by Simeon, and revealed to Israel by Anna the prophetess; Have mercy upon us. Have mercy on us, Infant Jesus, have mercy on us. Hail Mary.
Day 8. Jesu, sweetest Child, whom wicked Herod sought to slay, whom Joseph carried with Mary into Egypt, who wast taken from a cruel death and wast glorified by the blood of innocents; Have mercy upon us. Have mercy on us, Infant Jesus, have mercy on us. Hail Mary.
Day 9. Jesu, sweetest Child, who didst dwell in Egypt with most holy Mary and the Patriarch holy Joseph until the death of Herod; Have mercy upon us. Have mercy on us, Infant Jesus, have mercy on us. Hail Mary.
One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from Christmas Novena's story, and a nudge to keep going.
[Affiliate placeholder: Catholic Company Christmas Novena to the Holy Child medal]
Image: Gerard van Honthorst, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Chaplet in honor of the Holy Childhood (no. 75), The Raccolta, or Collection of Indulgenced Prayers (London: Burns & Oates; New York: Benziger, 1910), public domain. One invocation is given for each day.
