Saint Andrew, Apostle and Martyr

Today is the feast day of Saint Andrew the Apostle. As Our Blessed Mother Mary always leads us to Jesus, Saint Andrew brought others to Jesus. Andrew told his brother Simon: We have found the Messiah, the Christ; and he brought him to Jesus. When Jesus called Andrew and his brother Simon Peter, He said to them,  

Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Matthew 4:19 

They immediately dropped their fishing nets and followed him. Let us say Yes to Jesus the way Andrew, Simon and Our Blessed Mother Mary did. Let us call on their intercession in our need.

A novena is normally a nine day prayer, the term is sometimes used for any prayer that is repeated over a series of days. This prayer is often called the "Christmas Novena" or the "Christmas Anticipation Prayer" because it is prayed 15 times every day from the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle until Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent is the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saint Andrew.

The novena is not actually addressed to Saint Andrew but to God Himself, asking Him to grant our request in the honor of the birth of His Son at Christmas. You can say the prayer all 15 times, all at once; or divide up the recitation as necessary, perhaps five times at each meal. Prayed as a family, the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is a very good way to help focus the attention of your children on the Advent season.

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.

Saint Andrew, you gave your life to follow Jesus. Help us offer our lives to follow Him in all we do and in all we say. Saint Andrew, pray for us.