With Pentecost less than two weeks off, the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown is inviting the faithful to participate in praying a Novena with a daily session each day, starting Friday, up to Pentecost.

“As the Catholic Church prepares to celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost on June 5, please join the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown in praying a Novena to the Holy Spirit May 27-June 4,” the diocese posted on Facebook.  

Novena prayers will be posted daily beginning with the first one being dedicated to the Holy Spirit. The diocese posted the prayer online.

Fifty days after Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday, and around 10 days after his ascension into Heaven, Jesus' followers were gathered inside of a room, according to Christianity.com. Suddenly there was a sound, as if a gust of wind had rushed into the room, and tongues of fire appeared over the heads of Jesus' followers. 

The Holy Spirit filled them, and they began to speak in tongues, christianity.com added. A crowd gathered around them, and everyone in the crowd could hear Jesus' followers speaking in his native language. Peter began to preach to the crowd about Jesus, and that day, 3,000 people converted. 

Before Jesus ascended into Heaven, he instructed his disciples to wait patiently for the arrival of the Holy Spirit, Guardian explains. Pentecost marks the descent of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of the Church. The disciples had been frightened after Jesus' departure, but the Holy Spirit filled them with the courage and strength they needed to go out and proclaim the Gospel. 

Pentecost is celebrated seven Sundays after Easter, which means that this year, Pentecost falls on June 5. Pentecost is sometimes also referred to as Whit Sunday, White Sunday or Whitsun. 

A novena — the word comes from the Latin word for nine — involves saying a novena prayer for nine consecutive days. The number nine could signify the nine months that Mary was pregnant with Jesus, or it could refer to when the Apostles and Mary prayed for the nine days between Jesus’s Ascension into Heaven and Pentecost.