What should you do if you missed a day of a novena? Yesterday was day 8 of the St. Joseph novena and I forgot to say the prayers. I was being reminded by email but I was hardly online yesterday so it slipped my mind. Should I just continue as if today were day 8 and finish tomorrow? Pray it twice today? Start over?

i have no answer but isn't that aggravating ... i hate it when it happens to me...especially in the middle of a 33 day consecration... what i always do is say the missed prayer on the next day, then say an extra one as a sort of penance for missing

Unless there was a particular time limit for this (has to be done by a certain date) then continue from where you left off....if there is a time limit then just count yesterday as if you didn't forget and keeping going.....

There is no need to do any penance because you are not bound to perform novenas under pain of sin (well, unless you belong to some confraternity or something that involves taking a formal vow you aren't)

Of course there's s deadline. The St. Joseph Novena has to be completed by the Solemnity of St. Joseph, March 19th, or it’s all wasted.

If you missed a day of the St. Joseph Novena, you must dig a hole in your yard and bury yourself upside down. Wait, that's for selling your house and involves a St. Joseph statue buried upside down. Never mind!


Edward Pothier

FTFY

That isn't 'fixed' because there was no error....

If there is a time limit, has to be completed by X date, and let's say the day you missed was day 6, then on the next day, start with day 7 and continue to the end....you basically just never do day 6 and that's fine..novenas do not bind under the pain of sin, if you forget a day then you forget a day, no biggie...some people start the novena late, maybe beginning on day 4, that's fine too, whatever...

But there is no time limit, and the day you missed was day 6, then the next day, do day 6, then do day 7 and so on....just do the day you missed the next day

And that is exactly how I originally had it worded....

kinda defeats the idea behind a novena though doesn't it... doesn't a novena imply you are doing something 9 times? if you miss a day, you have not completed the novena because you end up one prayer short....my assumption for "fxing that" assumed one actually wished to complete the novena by doing it the prescribed number of times

I'm just going to pick up with day 8 today and make day 9 tomorrow. I don't know if this will affect the magic or not, though.

be sure and hold your tongue correct, while throwing salt over the proper shoulder

Unfortunately you will only get 8/9 as much magic as you otherwise would

It definitely won't affect the "magic"! St. Joseph must be smiling at this whole conversation. Making a nine day novena is a discipline, but prayer is still prayer! What you wrote above is fine.

You are being legalistic, people are fallible, and prayers are not a magical incantation that have to be done a certain way in order to 'work'...praying a prayer imperfectly is better than not praying at all, and the attitude which says that if one cannot perform it perfectly then he shouldn't do it all is harmful and discouraging.....so sure, maybe you don't pray it the exact number of times you need to, or maybe you start it a couple of days late....no big deal....just pray...

Novenas are made for man, not man for the novena.

nm