Novena of Grace:
Claiming our Hope Today

Daily: Thursday, March 5 - FRIday, March 13

Weekdays 12:30-1:30 pm PST
Saturday and Sunday 11 am-12 pm PST

Chapel of St. Ignatius, Seattle University
901 12th Ave, Seattle

Presenters: Ross Hays, Stephanie Ragland, & Joseph Dickan, SJ

In-person and online. Livestream available on this page each day.

about the program

This Lent, we invite you to journey with us as we take one hour a day for a retreat amid daily life. Join us for any or all of the nine days of reflection, music, and preaching. Join together with us as a faith-filled community for God’s healing and hope in our lives. Be nourished and inspired each day as you open yourself to the Spirit and experience a grace that transforms.

The Novena’s origins date to 1633, when tradition says early Jesuit St. Francis Xavier appeared to a priest in a healing vision and promised that all who would earnestly ask his intercession with God for nine consecutive days would experience profound grace. The Novena survives today as an annual tradition which is continually updated to remain relevant to the daily lives of retreat-goers.

All are welcome!

About the Theme

Hope is a grace God offers us in the present, often revealed as we remember how God has already been faithful in our lives. Hope is not an aspiration or a sentiment; it is a powerful grace dispelling the overwhelm of despair, the paralysis of cynicism, and the loneliness of emotional darkness - no matter how dark the present moment is. We as people of faith and goodwill are invited to ask: Where do we notice hope stirring today? And where might God be inviting us to trust more deeply?

In this Novena of Grace, we will listen to the yearning for hope we need in these uncertain times. As a community, we will gather and pray together over nine days for the freedom to claim that hope and allow it to lead us to faith, generosity, and a love that embodies God's care for our communities and our daily lives. Let us courageously embark on a journey deeply rooted in a faith that chooses light over darkness and joy over despair.

program cost

Novena of Grace is free to attend. Free will donations are welcomed. Thank you for donating to make this and other programs like this possible.

MAKe the retreat online

The livestream link will be posted here each day, and the video recording soon thereafter so that you can view, revisit, and follow along at your convenience. Worship booklet and prayer card will be provided here to shape your contemplative prayer experience.

SPREAD THE WORD

Please invite your friends and family to join you.

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ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Ross Hays, MD has been part of the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life (SEEL) community in Puget Sound as a retreatant, director and board member. Ross is professor emeritus for the University of Washington School of Medicine in the departments of Pediatrics, Rehabilitation Medicine and Bioethics & Humanities. He formerly served as Director of the Pediatric Palliative Care Program and Chair of the Ethics Committee at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and also served as the medical director for the Stepping Stones Pediatric Program for Providence Hospice of Seattle. Ross is a parishioner at St. James Cathedral in Seattle.

Stephanie Ragland is originally from Oakland, California and came to Seattle by way of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest after undergraduate studies at Santa Clara University in 1978. A graduate of Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry, Stephanie brings forty years of extensive experience in social outreach, retreat work, and parish ministry. Prior to retirement, Stephanie was on staff with the St. Vincent de Paul Society of King County coordinating spiritual formation, training and recruitment of volunteers. Gardening and traveling are Stephanie’s passions as well as her role as a grandmother. She and her husband, Jerry, live in Seattle.

Joseph Dickan, SJ is a Jesuit and Maronite priest who recently joined the pastoral team at the St. Joseph-St. Therese Parish Family in Seattle. Originally from Los Angeles, his Jesuit formation has spanned from New York and Lebanon to San Jose, where he taught high school math and engineering. He most recently arrived from Boston, where he completed studies in historical theology at Boston College while serving the local Maronite and Chaldean Catholic communities. He is grateful to return to the West Coast to accompany the people of Seattle in their journey of faith. Fr. Joe enjoys reading and film, and he is currently testing out his capacity for heights as a newcomer to rock climbing.