A Back- to- School Novena for the Catholic Teen

This novena is a collection of prayers, both traditional and original, to help prepare the young Church for the upcoming school year! It's meant for you to begin the novena NINE DAYS BEFORE YOUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. So, for example, if you begin school on August 29, you'll begin your novena on August 20 so your last prayer falls on the day before school begins. We'll call upon some amazing Saints of the Church to help us prepare our hearts and minds for the upcoming year. Our faith needs to permeate every aspect of our lives- education included. I hope that this novena will help and encourage you to bring your faith into the school year, no matter what it looks like. Please note that the prayers in this novena are (unusually) short. This is to keep our prayers short, sweet, and to the point so that we can focus on them without feeling too overwhelmed in the busy days before school starts. Feel free to add on any extra prayers you'd like- it'll be like a mini-retreat before school!! 😉

Please like and share this post with other Catholic Teens! I'd love to hear if you pray the novena on your own or within a group. May God bless you and keep you as you begin this school year!

In His mercy,

~ Catholic Teen

DAY ONE

(Insert name of patron Saint here), I ask that you would be with me and guide me to Jesus in a special way as I begin this school year and this novena. Please intercede for me and bring all my intentions to Jesus. Thank you for your intercession and witness to Christ. Our Lady of Studies, please pray for me! Amen.

DAY TWO

Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati and Bl. Chiara Badano, I come to you to ask for your intercession as I prepare my heart for the school year. You both were young people who had to juggle school, sports and activities, and social lives, all while trying- and succeeding- to keep your faith first. Please help me keep my dear Jesus at the forefront of my mind and heart. Intercede for me as I try to shine His light, glorify His mercy, and offer up my sufferings to Him. I want to be an instrument of God's mercy, a light to all that I meet, and be fully open to the will of God! Thank you for your intercession and witness to Christ. Our Lady of Studies, please pray for me! Amen.

DAY THREE

St. John Baptist de La Salle, you were a great teacher and had a notable influence on modern education. Please intercede for my teachers this year. I pray for their health and safety and that they'll always keep TRUTH as the focus of their lessons. Please ask our Lord to help and guide them through this year and help them teach clearly and with impact, keeping their students' best interests in mind. Please also help me to be open to the will of God for my life. Thank you for your intercession and witness to Christ. Our Lady of Studies, please pray for me! Amen.

DAY FOUR

St. Isidore of Seville and Bl. Carlo Acutis, I ask for your intercession in my technology this year. Please help all of my technological issues to be quickly solved. Guard my eyes against anything evil or impure on my devices. Please protect me and all those who take part in social media and help us regulate our use of it. May all we do bring glory to God!

Blessed Carlo, please also guide me to our Eucharistic Lord and help me to recognize His true presence. Thank you for your intercession and witness to Christ. Our Lady of Studies, please pray for me! Amen.

DAY FIVE

St. Gianna Molla, you were a doctor and a mother, I beg you to intercede for me before God and keep me healthy and protected from all illness and disease this school year. If I do get sick, please help me to be brave and have a speedy recovery. I surrender myself to the will of God. Thank you for your intercession and witness to Christ. Our Lady of Studies, please pray for me! Amen.

DAY SIX Saint John the Beloved Disciple, I ask that you, the patron saint of friends, would intercede in my friendships this year. Help me recognize and accept who my true friends are and kindly and gently let go of unhealthy friendships or those that are leading me away from Christ. Please help me be a beautiful example of friendship with Christ, just as you were. Thank you for your intercession and witness to Christ. Our Lady of Studies, please pray for me! Amen.

DAY SEVEN St. Thomas Aquinas, we pray the prayer that you wrote so many years ago and ask that you'd intercede for us and bring our prayers to Jesus as we pray: "Creator of all things, true source of light and wisdom, origin of all being, graciously let a ray of your light penetrate the darkness of my understanding. Take from me the double darkness in which I have been born, an obscurity of sin and ignorance. Give me a keen understanding, a retentive memory, and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally. Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations and the ability to express myself with thoroughness and charm. Point out the beginning, direct the progress, and help in the completion. I ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." Thank you for your intercession and witness to Christ. Our Lady of Studies, please pray for me! Amen.

DAY EIGHT

Pope Saint John Paul II, I rely on your love for youth and ask that you'd intercede for me! Please beg Jesus to make me holy and transform my heart throughout the school year. Help me to"be taken over with the light of Christ and shine that light wherever we are" (JP2 World Youth Day 2002). We love you! Thank you for your intercession and witness to Christ. Our Lady of Studies, please pray for me! Amen.

DAY NINE Our Lady of Studies, I ask for your intercession as I begin this school year tomorrow. I pray: "O Mary, Seat of Wisdom, so many persons of common intellect have made through your intercession admirable progress in their studies. I hereby choose you as guardian and patron of my studies. I humbly ask You to obtain for me the grace of the Holy Spirit, so that from now on I could understand more quickly, retain more readily, and express myself more fluently. May the example of my life serve to honor you and your Son, Jesus. Amen." (Written by St. Thomas Aquinas) Mamma Mary, I love you and I give myself totally to you for your Son's glory! Amen.