St. Abigail Novena
Contents
Show HideSt. Abigail was a medieval Irish saint. She is also commonly known by the names of St. Gonait or St. Deborah. She lived sometime around the 6th century in County Clare, Ireland.
St. Abigail spent a lot of her life in charitable service. You can use this novena to ask for prayers from this charitable Irish saint!
About St. Abigail
Very little is known about the early life of St. Abigail. Though there is no written record about her life, we do have some information about her from a written account of St. Abban moccu Corbmaic, which was written in the early 13th century. St. Abigail is said to be the sister of St. Abban.
Abigail was born in the 5th or 6th century. Because her family was in the midst of a terrible feud, she ran away to a place called Inis Oir in the Aran Islands.
While she was there, it is said that an angel appeared to her and told her that this was “not the place of her resurrection.” The angel told her she should go farther inland to look for the place where she should spend the rest of her life. He told her that she would see nine white deer eating grass in this place.
Abigail began traveling inland in search of the deer, as the angel had instructed her to do. The path she traveled is now marked with many churches and holy wells that are dedicated to her. She finally found the deer at a place that is now called St. Gobnet’s Wood.
From this time onward, Abigail spent the rest of her life dedicated to charitable works, pastoral service, and caring for the sick. Her brother St. Abban is said to have joined her here to help her establish a convent.
Abigail also became a beekeeper during her time in the convent. This enterprise of hers may have been related to early Celtic folklore and religious imagery, in which the soul was pictured to leave the body in the image of a bee or a butterfly.
Tradition holds that Abigail developed a deep relationship with the bees she cared for and found uses for their honey in treating wounds and illnesses.
Abigail eventually became known for miracles she performed involving bees, such as rousing bees out of their hives and using them to chase away evil. Some legends even attested that the bees transformed into soldiers as they chased away evil.
St. Abigail is also said to have saved her town from the plague.
In 1601, Pope Clement VIII attached an indulgence to veneration of St. Abigail on her feast day. Today, St. Abigail is one of the saints whose feast day is celebrated nationally in Ireland.
St. Abigail’s Feast Day: February 11th
Why Pray the St. Abigail Novena?
St. Abigail is the patron saint of bees and beekeepers. You can ask for her prayers if you are a beekeeper, or for someone you know who is a beekeeper.
St. Abigail is also a great saint to seek prayers from if you are of Irish decent, since she was born in Ireland and lived there her whole life.
You can also ask St. Abigail to intercede for you if your family is suffering from feuding and dissension, since her family suffered from a feud so terrible that she ran away to escape from it.
You can pray the St. Abigail Novena for any intention!
St. Abigail Novena Prayers
St. Abigail Novena - Day 1
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us Your servant, St. Abigail, as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the virtue she showed in choosing a life of devotion to You despite the conflict and turmoil she experienced in her family life.
St. Abigail, you did not have a family life that was conducive to peaceful living. Your family was involved in a terrible feud, so you fled from this turmoil in order to live a life of peace and service to God.
Please bring my petitions before God Whom you served!
You spent your days seeking to do God’s will and devoting your life to Him as a member of a religious order.
Pray for me, that I may serve God as wholeheartedly as you did. Pray that I may never allow the conflicts of others to lead me away from faithful devotion to God.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Abigail, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
St. Abigail Novena - Day 2
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us Your servant, St. Abigail, as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the love of You she showed in choosing to follow Your commands to her after she fled from her family’s feud.
St. Abigail, you ran away when your family was in the midst of a terrible feud. Though you must have been uncertain of what you should do or where you should go, you faithfully obeyed the command of God’s angel.
Please be faithful in bringing my petitions before God!
The angel told you where you should go, and you found the place you were to stay just as the angel had described. Then you spent the rest of your life serving God as a religious sister.
Pray for me, that I may always open to God’s will in my life. Pray that I may be ready and willing to do what He asks of me, even when He asks unexpected things.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Abigail, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
St. Abigail Novena - Day 3
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us Your servant, St. Abigail, as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the devotion to You she showed in choosing to become a religious sister.
St. Abigail, you faithfully followed the instructions of God’s angel and found your way to the spot in which he said you should spend the rest of your life. In this place, you established a convent with the help of your brother St. Abban.
Please bring my petitions before the throne of God!
You spent the rest of your life in faithful service to God. You devoted your life to charitable works for the love of God.
Pray for me, that I may be a faithful servant of God as you were. Pray that I may be ready to devote my whole life to Him, as He calls me to do.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Abigail, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
St. Abigail Novena - Day 4
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us Your servant, St. Abigail, as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the devotion to You she showed in choosing to establish a convent and to live out the rest of her life as a religious in Your service.
St. Abigail, you obediently followed the instructions of God’s angel to find the place where God wished you to spend the rest of your life. Then, you established a convent there in order to faithfully serve God as a religious sister.
Please be faithful in continuing to bring my petitions before God!
After working with your brother to establish this convent, you spent the rest of your days in prayer and works of service.
Pray for me, that I may be faithful to the duties of my vocation, as you were. Pray that I may eagerly serve God in whatever manner He calls me to.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Abigail, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
St. Abigail Novena - Day 5
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us Your servant, St. Abigail, as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the virtue she showed in choosing to devote herself to works of service for the love of You.
St. Abigail, you eagerly chose to devote yourself to God as His bride in the convent you established with your brother. While there, you continually sought new ways to serve God through charitable works, pastoral service, and caring for the sick.
Please continue to bring my petitions before God Whom you served!
You did not weary of faithful service to God. You remained His joyful servant throughout the rest of your life.
Pray for me, that I may always seek to serve God through works of service toward those He puts into my life. Pray that I may be a joyful servant of God, as you were.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Abigail, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
St. Abigail Novena - Day 6
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us Your servant, St. Abigail, as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the virtue she practiced in all the works she performed for Your glory.
St. Abigail, you eagerly dedicated your life to serving God in a convent. During your time in the convent, you sought to do all you could to serve God faithfully.
Please be faithful in continuing to bring my petitions before God Whom you served!
You began caring for bees during your time in the convent. Since you were familiar with the Celtic religious imagery that pictured the soul leaving the body as a bee, you must have found occasion to remember your final end with God in this work.
Pray for me, that I may orient all of my earthly activities toward my final end with God. Pray that I may do all things for the love of God and for His glory.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Abigail, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
St. Abigail Novena - Day 7
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us Your servant, St. Abigail, as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the love of You she showed in devoting herself to faithful service to You.
St. Abigail, you lived out your vocation in the convent with great virtue. You sought to do all you could to serve God and bring glory to Him.
Please continue to bring my petitions before the throne of God!
Throughout your years of holy service to God, He began to work miracles through you and through the bees you cared for. Your bees were said to have left their hives at times to chase away evil.
Pray for me, that I may always be eager to do what I can to combat evil in the world. Pray that I may take every opportunity to fight against sin and glorify God.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Abigail, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
St. Abigail Novena - Day 8
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us Your servant, St. Abigail, as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the love of You she showed in seeking to serve You even in mundane tasks.
St. Abigail, your life was marked with faithful service to God. Even as you carried out every day tasks like caring for bees, you oriented all of your activities toward Him.
Please continue to bring my petitions to God with such faithfulness!
Tradition tells us that you developed a deep relationship with the bees you cared for, and that you made use of God’s creatures by utilizing the bees’ honey to treat your sick brothers and sisters.
Pray for me, that I may seek to serve God in every aspect of my life. Pray that I may make holy use of things that God has created, as you did.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Abigail, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
St. Abigail Novena - Day 9
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us Your servant, St. Abigail, as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the virtue she showed in living her life in faithful service to You and Your Church.
St. Abigail, you obeyed God’s angel and traveled to the place where he said you should spend the rest of your life. Once there, you established a convent so that you and others might serve God and His Church.
Please continue to bring my petitions before God Whom you served so eagerly!
You lived out the rest of your days in that place, as the angel had told you to. And you continually sought other ways to serve God more fully in your life.
Pray for me, that I may serve God to the best of my ability as you did. Pray that I may seek to serve Him in every aspect of my life.
Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).
St. Abigail, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.