Philadelphia Archdiocese prays St. Andrew novena for fallen away Catholics

CNA Staff, Dec 6, 2025 / 14:30 pm

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is mobilizing Catholics this Advent to pray the St. Andrew Christmas Novena prayer 15 times daily for a single intention: the reconciliation of the 83% of baptized Catholics in the archdiocese who no longer participate in the sacramental life of the Church.

The “St. Andrew Novena for the 83%,” organized by the archdiocese’s Office for the New Evangelization, is running from Nov. 30 through Dec. 24. Participants are asked to recite the traditional prayer 15 times each day while praying specifically for the grace of reconciliation for loved ones currently disconnected from the faith.

“The novena is an opportunity for practicing Catholics to pray intentionally for their loved ones who are currently disconnected from their Catholic faith. It’s also an opportunity to pray in communion with hundreds of fellow Catholics who share the same heartfelt desire for the ‘homecoming’ of their loved ones,” Meghan Cokeley, director of the Office for the New Evangelization, said to Philadelphia’s archdiocesan paper this week.

Cokeley said the idea came to her as she prayed during Eucharistic adoration. “I wasn’t looking for it and it filled me with a lot of joy, so I thought that perhaps it was Jesus who was asking for this.”

She emphasized Advent’s special grace for reconciliation and St. Andrew the Apostle’s role as a “fisher of men.” “By joining our prayer with the saint, we are asking him to ‘go fishing’ for our loved ones and catch them for Jesus,” Cokeley said.

More than 400 people have already signed up, submitting initials of family members and friends. Everyone who registers receives a secure link to the full list, allowing them to pray for all individuals by their initials.

The initiative is part of the archdiocese’s broader “Trust and Hope” campaign to adjust to changing realities and bring about “parish renewal” in the Church in the Pennsylvania Archdiocese. 

Cokeley noted the widespread sorrow many feel over loved ones away from the Church. “In my travels around the archdiocese, I often hear from people who ache on behalf of their loved ones who are away from the Church. I sense that it is a widespread and shared sorrow for many,” she said.

“Time spent in prayer is the most fruitful investment of one’s life,” Cokeley added.

Here is the full prayer (which is also available in Spanish on the website): “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 the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of his blessed Mother. Amen.”