A New Novena for End of Life Care
From October 22nd – 30th, the parishes I serve (St. Mary’s of the Lake and St. Benedict’s) prayed the Respect Life Novena from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) after daily Masses. Generally, some parishioners lead it but the leaders were not present one day. In their absence, they asked me to lead it that day.
As I was leading the USCCB Respect Life Novena for life in all stages, I received the inspired thought, “November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month and we still await Governor Hochul’s veto on the New York State bill to legalize assisted suicide. How about praying a novena for end of life issues?”
So, I asked around to find a novena for end of life care. No one knew of one. So, working with a couple here, we set about creating one! Our end of life novena is now complete! You can view it at
https://renewaloffaith.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/End-of-Live-Novena-Final.pdf
Our end of life novena can be prayed at any time of the year. As we still await Governor Hochul’s action on the NYS bill passed by the NYS legislature legalizing assisted suicide, the parishes I serve will start the novena after daily Masses on November 12th. It has also been shared throughout our diocese. It is our hope that many people will pray from other parishes too. Will you?
Peace,
Fr. Jeff