A novena (which comes from the Latin word novem, which means nine) refers to nine days of public or private prayer.
The Holy Father invites us to pray that we might again learn how to discern, to know how to choose paths of life and reject everything that leads us away from Christ and the Gospel.
During the Jubilee of Bishops, Pope Leo XIV gave a meditation at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica. He said that "a Bishop is a witness to hope by his example of a life firmly grounded in God and completely devoted to the service of the Church. This will be the case only insofar as he is conformed to Christ in his personal life and in his apostolic ministry. The Spirit of the Lord will then shape his way of thinking."
In this month of June, the Holy Father invites us to pray that the world might grow in compassion, that each one of us might find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and from his Heart, learn to have compassion on the world.
Popular depictions of Conclaves often show a political drama with lots of maneuvering and intrigue. At heart, it's also a deeply synodal act of spiritual discernment. How can we reconcile these two diverging perspectives on papal elections?