Few changes are as quick to disrupt our lives as something that alters our health. A need for healing touches each of us differently. Hopefully it sends us on a search for healing and strength and hope through our faith.

For many of us, the path to healing starts with prayer. We ask God to give us His healing love, and maybe a bit more strength than we usually need. We also turn to St. Jude, the Patron of Hope, for the courage to approach our healing with patience and the peace of hope.

Our upcoming Solemn Novena to St. Jude, August 21–29 at the National Shrine, is another way to share your needs for healing with St. Jude. While all petitions are definitely welcome for the Novena, these nine days of prayer are especially dedicated to asking St. Jude to intercede on our behalf for God’s healing.

As you consider your needs for prayer, send your petitions to the National Shrine, where they will be prayed for during the Novena and remembered in the Masses and prayers of the Claretian Missionaries.