A novena is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost, when the disciples gathered in the upper room and devoted themselves to prayer, is often considered to be the first novena.
Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brazil
Novena likely has roots in ancient funeral-related rituals. Above: a group gathered for a novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, most likely a mourning event (c. 1940).
A Marian novena wall painting in France, with tagline: "What do you want me to ask to My divine Son?".
Novena to Our Lady of Fátima
The Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. It is one of the ecumenical feasts of Christian churches, ranking with the feasts of the Passion and Pentecost. Following the account of Acts 1:3 that the risen Jesus appeared for 40 days prior to his Ascension, Ascension Day is traditionally celebrated on a Thursday, the fortieth day of Easter according to inclusive counting, although some Christian denominations have moved the observance to the following Sunday, sometimes called Ascension Sunday. The day of observance varies by ecclesiastical province in many Christian denominations, as with Methodists and Catholics, for example.
Christi Himmelfahrt by Gebhard Fugel, c. 1893
Liturgy during the Feast of the Ascension in a Mumbai Syriac Orthodox Church