Life of Dominic Savio

By Venerable John Bosco.

"Let us leave a saint to write the life of a saint," is said to have been the exclamation of the Angelic Doctor St. Thomas Aquinas, when he entered the cell of his brother doctor, St. Bonaventure, and found him absorbed in writing the life of his spiritual father, St. Francis. The peculiar value of the present little book is that it may be said once more to present the spectacle of a saint writing the life of a saint. Only whereas in St. Bonaventure's case a son was writing the life of a father, in this case we have the unique example of a father writing the life of his spiritual son. The writer, the saintly Don Bosco, has already been declared Venerable, and the process for his Beatification is proceeding in Rome. - Preface.

A miraculous healing is attributed to the 54 Day Novena. in 1883 the commander of Naples' daughter, Fortuna Agrelli, fell severely ill with 3 incurable diseases and was almost near death for over a year. On the 3rd of March 1884, Our Lady appeared as the Lady of Pompeii before Fortuna, and the girl exclaimed “Queen of the Holy Rosary, be gracious to me, restore me to health! I have already prayed to Thee in a novena, O Mary, but have not yet experienced Thy aid. I am so anxious to be cured!” 

Our Lady replied, "Child, you have invoked Me by various titles and have always obtained favours from Me. Now, since you have called Me by that title so pleasing to Me, ‘Queen of the Most Holy Rosary’, I can no longer refuse the favour you petition; for this name is most precious and dear to Me. Make three novenas, and you shall obtain all.” 

The Queen of the Holy Rosary appeared to Fortuna again and said “Whoever desires to obtain favours from Me should make three novenas of the prayers of the Rosary, and three novenas in thanksgiving.” Fortuna obeyed and was healed of her illnesses.

The full prayer consists in praying the mysteries of the Holy Rosary, followed by various prayers. In this version, the Luminous Mysteries are included. It takes 54 days altogether to pray, 27 in petition, and 27 in thanksgiving regardless of whether the petitions were granted or not. Some versions are simpler (such as those found on the Hallow app or IPieta app) as they don't have the Memorare, St Michael's Prayer or the Litany of Loreto. The version below is the same as found on the Laudate app. I have added the Latin translations of the common prayers.

Use the Novena Day Counter below to check which day you are on. Remember to click the Advanced mode.

Novena Day Counter

Saint Gerard Majella lived between 1726 and 1755 and was an Italian lay-brother of the Redemptorist. He is the patron saint of children, unborn children, women in childbirth, mothers, expectant mothers, motherhood, the falsely-accused and good confessions.

Saints of the month of February