Novena App from US bishops gathers thousands to pray for life

9 Days for Life Apple | Android
With this free app, you can join the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops‘ annual Novena For Life which begins January 21! You and thousands of Catholics across the country will gather (digitally) in prayer to end abortion. The novena–nine consecutive days of special prayers for a particular cause–begins Saturday, January 21 and ends January 29, 2017. ‪#‎Call2Prayer‬

This clean, simple and user-friendly app opens to a calendar which takes you to the day’s prayers, then reflection, then “Act of Reparation”–suggested things you can do in penance for others and to foster a culture of life. The app will open in either English or Spanish, depending on your device’s settings. [La aplicación se abrirá en inglés o español, dependiendo de la preferencia de idioma del teléfono.] 9 Days for Life requires you to register with an email address to proceed. That’s annoying, but you will get the prayers emailed to you daily as your reminder to pray. The app even lets you set the time of day you want to receive your reminder.

The significance of the date for this novena?  January 22 is the 44th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal throughout the U.S. Since that tragic decision, more than 56 million children’s lives have been lost to abortion, and many suffer that loss — often in silence. The annual March for Life takes place in Washington DC each year on or around that anniversary date. Because of the Presidential Inauguration on January 20, the March for Life has been delayed by the National Park Service until Friday, January 27th.

Depending on when you read this post, the 2017 update may not have been released. You can still download the app at any time and then check for the update. Better yet, enable automatic app updates on your device and this will be taken care of.

Additional features of this app:

· Gallery of images. Share your favorites!
· Instagram sharing capability
· Optional social media share text (daily intentions & image gallery)
· Spiritual preparation tools
· Info on other ways participate in “More Info” section
· Active hyperlinks