Was St. Cloud a real person? What’s a novena? Why do we pray novenas?
As the feast day of the patron saint of the Diocese of St. Cloud approaches Sept. 7, Catholics around the diocese are invited to learn more about the prince who was forced into a life of solitude because of his uncles’ plot to kill him, all while growing in grace and wisdom.
Through a series of daily videos leading up to the feast day, people from around the diocese will read about the life of St. Cloud using story, Scripture, prayer and reflection excerpted from selections of the novena composed by Msgrs. Camille Thiebaut and Michael Kremer in the 1920s.
Beginning with a video Aug. 29, the director of the diocesan Office of Worship, Timothy Johnston, will explain what a novena is and why novenas are a rich and historic form of prayer in the life of the church.
Viewers are encouraged to pray along with the next nine videos in the series.
The final video lands on St. Cloud’s feast day, Sept. 7. It will be filmed at the Shrine of St. Cloud located inside St. Mary’s Cathedral and feature the church’s pastor, Father Scott Pogatchnik, and parochial vicar, Father Doug Liebsch.
Mass will be celebrated with Bishop Donald Kettler at 12:05 p.m. Sept. 7 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in St. Cloud. The relics of St. Cloud also will be on display for veneration.
To view the videos, visit The Visitor’s blog at www.fromtheheartmn.org or its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TheSt.CloudVisitor.
To read about the life of St. Cloud and for the full text of the novena, visit http://stcdio.org/about/saint-cloud-saint.