Oct. 10 is World Mental Health Day. Oct. 18 is the Feast of St. Luke, patron saint of health care. That means we have NINE DAYS from one date to the other!…so let’s pray a Novena. Join the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in praying the Mental Health Novena—for healing, hope, those living with mental illness, their families, caregivers, and everyone who needs the comfort of knowing they are not alone.
Statement on the National Catholic Mental Health Campaign
Remarks of Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, Chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Chairman of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, Delivered to the Plenary Assembly of Bishops in Baltimore, MD, November 15, 2023.
This Novena for Mental Health is an opportunity for all the People of God to join together in prayer for women and men experiencing or impacted by mental health issues and for all those who accompany them. The Novena can be prayed at any time of year.
The entire Church in the United States is especially encouraged to pray this Novena in solidarity with one another from October 10 to October 18 each year. October 10 is a fitting beginning as it is also World Mental Health Day. It is a time when people around the world are seeking to raise awareness and remove the stigma connected to mental health issues. This nationwide annual moment of prayer fittingly concludes on the feast of Saint Luke, patron of health care, on October 18.
This Novena is offered in solidarity with those suffering from mental health challenges as well as health care professionals, family, and friends who are caring for people in need. We hope that this modest Novena will move all people to discern how God is calling them to offer greater assistance to those with mental health needs.
Each day of the Novena reflects on a theme related to mental health, or a particular population significantly affected by mental health challenges, using a “Pray, Learn, Act” structure. The Novena is not meant to be exhaustive of all of the many aspects of this crisis; rather, we hope it will offer nine initial entry points for people to prayerfully approach the topic. It is our sincere hope that this Novena will inspire more prayer, reflection, and creative action to address these great challenges of our time.
We note that various links to religious and secular mental health resources are included. We encourage all to utilize a variety of resources, always keeping in mind Catholic teaching and recognizing that mental health is a universal human right. Whether this Novena is prayed at the annual time of October 10 to 18, or at any other time of year of your choosing, may you know that we never make this journey alone. Let us always pray with and for one another.
To access the novena and to get daily emails to pray the novena, go to: