This was the last book I did in the Monastery. It is available on Amazon either as a Paperback or Kindle. All paperback sales go to support the monastery while the Sisters have graciously allowed Kindle sales to go to me.
The Express Novena
by Elizabeth L. Chabala – Bridgeville, Pennsylvania
My story is about the power of praying the “Express Novena” that has been made popular by blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. For us it had to do with getting a job and also jobs for some other people that I am aware of.
Several years ago, while watching morning Mass on EWTN, I was pleased to hear a homily given by Fr. Andrew Apostoli concerning the topic: “God Answers Prayer.” He talked about the ways to pray that God hears and answers. Toward the end, he mentioned how Mother Teresa always prayed the “Express Novena,” as she called it. It consists of saying the Memorare nine times in a row.
I was so impressed with Father’s homily that at noon, when the Mass was repeated, I turned off the phone and forbade anyone to talk so that I could record it.
Shortly afterwards, my husband, Dave, an engineer, lost his job during a time of downsizing. We were on unemployment compensation, and during that time, he went on one interview after another with no results.
Dave joined a group of unemployed people who met weekly to be of help to each other and pass on information about any jobs that they had heard of. One week, when we had just received our last unemployment check and were down to nothing, so to speak, he decided to go to another meeting.
I thought to myself that I might call up a friend to go out for a sandwich while I still had a few dollars in my pocket. But, before calling her, I needed to get refreshed. I decided to take a bubble bath, thinking that would be soothing to my stress. While in the quiet, soaking in the bath, it seemed to me that this would be a great time to pray. My prayer was the “Express Novena,” done with great sincerity and interior grace.
Right after I finished praying, I got a severe back pain and barely made it out of the tub to get dressed. “There goes the sandwich and the visit with my friend,” I thought. So at that point, the only thing to do was head to my recliner in the hope that I would feel better.
No sooner did I sit down than the phone rang; it was a friend of ours who asked to speak with my husband. I said he was at the meeting and wouldn’t be home for at least another hour and would return the call. Just at that point, in walked Dave early! He spoke to our friend who said that he had a job lead for an engineer in a nearby steel mill. Dave took down the number and called the person. After the call, he went for an immediate interview and was hired on the spot!
I know it was the Blessed Mother answering my bathtub prayer!
Later that week I was speaking to a nun friend of mine about this miracle and she told her cousin about it. He had been out of work for two years and was very depressed. Before the week was over, Sr. Agnes called to tell me that her cousin was hired for the best job that he had ever had. She thanked me for telling her about the novena.
Another time my son-in-law had just left the Army, (he was a captain) and come home to his wife (our daughter) and two little girls. He was working at McDonald’s and as the first Town Crier in Pittsburgh for the local paper. He couldn’t find any work for which he had been educated. I told my daughter to give him the “Express Novena.” He wanted her to say it, since he was not a Catholic at that time and didn’t know the ‘Memorare’. She told him it had to come from him and gave him the prayer. And you know the rest of the story. He still has the job after nearly thirteen years.