St. Andrew Christmas Novena: The Prayer, How to Pray It, and a Free Tracker
From November 30 to Christmas Eve, many Catholics repeat one short prayer fifteen times a day. It is called the St. Andrew Christmas Novena, and it takes about five minutes: a single sentence that goes back to the hour Christ was born, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold, and asks God, in that hour, to hear one request.
The name is a little misleading. It is not prayed for nine days but for twenty-five, and it is not addressed to Saint Andrew but to God; it simply begins on his feast. Here is the prayer in full, how to pray it, where it comes from, why it carries the name of an apostle, and two free printables: a prayer card and a tracker to color one star for every prayer said.
The St. Andrew Christmas Novena Prayer
This is the text as it has been printed on prayer cards since 1897:
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 Savior Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.
Some modern versions read “vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God”. The meaning is the same: vouchsafe is an old word for “be pleased to”, “graciously grant”.
How to Pray the St. Andrew Christmas Novena
- When: every day from November 30, the feast of Saint Andrew, to December 24, Christmas Eve. In 2026 that is from Monday, November 30, to Thursday, December 24: twenty-five days.
- How often: fifteen times a day. You can say all fifteen at once, which takes about five minutes, or spread them through the day, for example five in the morning, five at noon and five in the evening.
- For what: keep one intention for the whole of Advent, and name it at the start each day. It can be for yourself or for someone else.
- In the last week: from December 17, you can add the O Antiphons, the seven evening prayers the Church sings before Christmas.
- With children: a Jesse Tree tells the same story of the promise, one ornament a day from December 1.
Fifteen times a day for twenty-five days is 375 prayers. That is why a tracker helps: color one star each time, and the page shows you where you are.
Free printable St. Andrew Christmas Novena prayer card:
- Prayer card, PDF, US Letter
- Prayer card, PDF, A4
- Pocket prayer cards, 4 per sheet, PDF
- High resolution image, JPG
The pocket size fits in a missal or a wallet, so the prayer is with you wherever you are when the time comes to say it.
Free printable St. Andrew Christmas Novena tracker, 2026:
One page for the whole of Advent: the prayer, a line to write your intention, and a row of fifteen stars for each day, with the Sundays of Advent and the feasts of December 8 and 12 marked in the margin. Children like coloring the stars; it turns the prayer into something they can see growing.
✦ Two Advent Novenas to Pray Alongside It
The Immaculate Conception novena runs from November 29 to December 7, and the Our Lady of Guadalupe novena from December 3 to 11. Both are free printable booklets, with one painting and one short reading for each day.
Immaculate Conception novena →Our Lady of Guadalupe novena →Where Does the St. Andrew Christmas Novena Come From?
Its author is unknown. The prayer as Catholics say it today was printed with the imprimatur of Michael Augustine Corrigan, Archbishop of New York, dated February 6, 1897, and the card that carried it added that it is piously believed that whoever says it fifteen times a day, from the feast of Saint Andrew until Christmas, will obtain what is asked.
Two things are worth knowing about that note. An imprimatur means that a bishop found nothing in the text contrary to faith or morals; it is not a guarantee of results. And “piously believed” is the language of devotion, not of doctrine: the prayer is not a formula that works by repetition. What it asks for is trust, renewed every day for twenty-five days, in the God who chose to be born poor, at night and in the cold.
Why Is It Named After Saint Andrew?
Because it begins on his feast, November 30, and because his feast is where Advent begins. The first Sunday of Advent is always the Sunday closest to Saint Andrew’s day, which made it, in the old calendars, the threshold of the season that prepares for Christmas.
The choice also fits the man. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was a disciple of John the Baptist, and the first to follow Jesus. Saint John tells it in his gospel:
And Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who had heard of John, and followed him. He findeth first his brother Simon, and saith to him: We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus.
John 1:40-42, Douay-Rheims
The Eastern Churches call him the First-Called. His first act as a disciple was to bring someone else to Christ, and that is what the twenty-five days before Christmas are for. Tradition holds that he was martyred at Patras, in Greece, on an X-shaped cross, the saltire that became the flag of Scotland, whose patron he is.
At Midnight, in Bethlehem, in Piercing Cold
The prayer asks for nothing at first. It stops at an hour and a place, and looks: the middle of the night, a stable in Bethlehem, the cold. Painters have looked at that same hour for centuries. Geertgen tot Sint Jans painted the Christ Child as the only light in a dark stable, and Correggio made his light so bright that a shepherd girl has to shield her eyes. You can see them, with eight other masterpieces, in our ten famous Nativity paintings.
For children, those paintings are also free Nativity coloring pages, each next to the real painting: something to color while the grown-ups say their fifteen prayers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the St. Andrew Christmas Novena a real novena?
Not in the strict sense. A novena lasts nine days, from the Latin novem, nine. This devotion lasts twenty-five days, from November 30 to December 24. It has kept the name because it is a prayer repeated over a set number of days for one intention, which is what people mean by a novena. It is also called the Christmas Anticipation Prayer.
Why fifteen times a day?
No one knows for certain; the number comes with the prayer as it was handed down. Some connect it with the fifteen traditional mysteries of the Rosary. In practice, fifteen times takes about five minutes, enough to make it a real moment of prayer each day.
What if I miss a day?
Simply carry on. Some people make up the missed prayers the next day, and that is a good habit, but there is no rule. The prayer is not a contract that a missed day cancels; God hears the intention and the perseverance.
Can I start after November 30?
Yes. Start on the day you discover it and pray through to Christmas Eve. The tradition is to begin on the feast of Saint Andrew, but a late start is better than none.
Is the prayer addressed to Saint Andrew?
No. It is addressed to God, “vouchsafe, O my God”, through the merits of Christ and of his Blessed Mother. Saint Andrew gives it its name and its starting day.
When does the St. Andrew Christmas Novena start in 2026?
On Monday, November 30, 2026, and it ends on Thursday, December 24, Christmas Eve.
