The Novena for Fertility to Conceive a Baby

The novena for fertility is nine days of prayer offered by married couples who long for a child, begging God — through the intercession of His Mother and the saints He raised up as patrons of motherhood — to bless a marriage with children. It leans above all on three intercessors the Church has long trusted in this need: the Blessed Virgin Mary; St Gerard Majella, the wonder-worker whom mothers call their own; and Sts Joachim and Anne, the once-childless couple who, after long years of barrenness, conceived the Mother of God herself. Below we give the full novena — the prayers for each of the nine days — together with the separate St Anne and St Gerard novenas and the true stories of the saints who make this devotion so sure. If you are new to the practice, see first our guide to what is a novena.

Why the Church prays for fertility

Scripture is full of barren women whom God remembered. Sarah conceived Isaac in old age (Genesis 21); Rebecca, Rachel, and the mother of Samson bore sons after long waiting; Hannah wept before the Lord at Shiloh and was given Samuel (1 Kings 1); Elizabeth, "barren" and "well advanced in years," bore John the Baptist (Luke 1:7); and Anne, the mother of Our Lady, conceived the Immaculate Virgin when hope had all but failed. The Church has never regarded a childless marriage as beyond God's mercy. Children are "the heritage of the Lord" (Psalm 126:3), and it is right and good to ask Him for them — always in submission to His will, but with confidence, for He has answered this prayer so often before.

A fertility novena is that prayer, made steadily over nine days in imitation of the nine the Apostles and Our Lady spent together between the Ascension and Pentecost — the first novena of all. It does not command God or work like a treatment; it entrusts a marriage and its longing to the saints who carry such petitions to the throne of grace, and waits in trust.

The full novena for fertility

Pray these prayers once each day for nine consecutive days, at a fixed hour if you can, husband and wife together where possible. Name your intention plainly at the start — the child you long for — and offer the nine days for that grace, submitting always to the will of God. Many join the novena to Holy Mass and Communion, or to a decade of the Rosary; on praying the beads, see how to pray the Rosary.

Opening

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, Author of all life, who didst say to our first parents, "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth" (Genesis 1:28), and who dost open and close the womb according to Thy holy will: look with mercy upon us Thy servants. Thou didst hear Sarah and Hannah and Elizabeth in their barrenness and turn their sorrow into joy; hear us also, if it be Thy will, and grant that we may bring forth children to know, love, and serve Thee, and to be heirs one day of Thy kingdom. And if in Thy wisdom Thou wouldst have us wait, or bear this cross, give us the grace to say with Thy Son, "not my will, but Thine be done." (Here name your request.) Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer to Our Blessed Mother

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, who didst carry in thy womb the Author of life, obtain for us from thy Son, if it be His will, the blessing of a child; and whatever He sends us, teach us to receive it as thou didst receive His word — with a whole and trusting heart.

Prayer to St Gerard Majella, patron of mothers

O good St Gerard, powerful intercessor before God and wonder-worker of our day, confidently I call upon thee and seek thy aid. On earth thou didst always fulfil God's designs; help me now to do the holy will of God. Implore the Master of life, from whom all parenthood proceeds, to render me fruitful in offspring, that I may raise up children to God in this life, and in the world to come may they be heirs to the kingdom of His glory. Amen.

Prayer to Sts Joachim and Anne

Good St Anne, thou wast granted the favour of the Lord to carry within thy womb the most holy Virgin Mary, and after long years of barrenness thy prayer and thy husband Joachim's was heard. Thou knowest my deep desire for a child — a little one to love, to hold, to care for, and to cherish. Together with thy holy spouse, intercede for me before the throne of God, that, if it be His will, He may take away all that hinders us and grant us the child we long for; and if He wills otherwise, obtain for us the grace to trust Him as thou didst trust Him in thy own long waiting. Amen.

Prayer to St Colette

O glorious St Colette, whom God gave to an aged and childless couple after they had prayed to good St Nicholas and hoped no longer, and whom He filled from thy earliest years with the love of the Infant Jesus: look kindly upon us who now beg the same favour. By the fruitfulness God granted thy own parents in their old age, and by thy tender love for the Child of Bethlehem, obtain for us from the Giver of all life, if it be His will, the child we long for; and teach us, whatever He may send, to serve Him with an undivided heart. Amen.

Prayer to St Raphael the Archangel

Glorious Archangel St Raphael, great prince of the heavenly court, thou who by the power of God didst restore health to Tobias and lead him on his way: I entreat thee, medicine of God, to heal whatever in body or soul stands in the way of the grace I ask. Watch over this marriage, guard it from all harm, and present my petition before the Most High, that His holy will may be done in us. Amen.

Conclude each day with one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be, offered for your intention; then:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The St Anne novena for fertility

Of all the saints invoked for the gift of children, St Anne stands first, for she herself knew the sorrow of a barren marriage. She and St Joachim were childless for many years, a reproach in their day, until an angel told her, "the Lord hath heard thy prayer, and thou shalt conceive and bring forth" — and she became the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A novena to St Anne for fertility is therefore prayed with special confidence: no one better understands the ache of waiting for a child.

The St Anne novena is traditionally kept over the nine days before her feast, from 17 to 25 July, ending on the eve of 26 July, St Anne's feast in the traditional calendar (St Joachim's own feast falls separately, on 16 August) — though it may be prayed at any time of year. Each day, say the Prayer to Sts Joachim and Anne above, or simply repeat: Good St Anne, mother of the Mother of God, pray for us and obtain for us the child we long for, if it be God's will. For the fuller devotion and her whole life, see our novena to St Anne and the life of St Anne.

The St Gerard novena for fertility

St Gerard Majella is called the Mothers' Saint. A Redemptorist lay brother of eighteenth-century Italy, he is honoured as the patron of expectant mothers, of motherhood, and of childbirth, and countless couples invoke him at the very beginning — in the longing to conceive. A St Gerard novena for fertility is prayed for nine days, and is often kept over the nine days before his feast, from 7 to 15 October, ending on the eve of 16 October. Each day, say the Prayer to St Gerard Majella above — the prayer that begs God, "from whom all parenthood proceeds," to "render me fruitful in offspring" — adding an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. Read his full story and devotion at our novena to St Gerard Majella and St Gerard.

The St Colette novena for fertility

St Colette of Corbie (1381–1447), the reformer of the Poor Clares, is loved as a patron of women who long to conceive — and for a reason close to their own hearts. Her parents were elderly and long childless; only after they had prayed to St Nicholas was she born to her mother in old age, and they named her Nicolette, later shortened to Colette, in the saint's honour. Herself the fruit of such a prayer, she is invoked with confidence by childless couples, and many keep a St Colette novena for fertility over the nine days before her feast on 6 March, saying the Prayer to St Colette above with an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. Canonized by Pope Pius VII in 1807, hers is a devotion long settled in the Church's tradition.

The novena to St Gianna for fertility

Some couples also pray a novena to St Gianna Beretta Molla, an Italian physician, wife, and mother who died in 1962 and is invoked as a patron of mothers and of the unborn.

A note on this devotion: St Gianna was canonized only in 2004, and her cult is entirely modern. We mention her because many now seek her intercession and she is honestly held up as a model of Christian motherhood; but those attached to the 1962 books and calendar should know that hers is not an ancient devotion, and the surest traditional recourse in this need remains the Blessed Mother, St Anne, and St Gerard, all long established in the Church's treasury. Her feast is kept on 28 April, and a novena to her is prayed over the nine preceding days.

A short novena prayer for fertility

When the longer form cannot be kept, the whole novena may be reduced to a single daily prayer, said for nine days with your intention named:

Lord God, giver of life, who didst bless Sarah, Hannah, and holy Anne with children when they had ceased to hope: through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of Sts Joachim and Anne, and of St Gerard Majella, grant us, if it be Thy will, the child we long for; and in all things make us obedient to Thy fatherly design. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The fertility novena for impossible cases

When medicine has given a hard verdict, or the years have grown long, the fertility novena becomes a prayer for what the world calls impossible — and it is precisely there that Catholic devotion has always been boldest, for "with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37) — Sarah bore a son at ninety. Many couples in this trial join the fertility novena to a novena to St Rita or to St Jude, the patron of hopeless cases, and commend the whole matter to Providence.

How to pray the fertility novena

• Start date. Begin any day; to end on a feast, count back nine days — 17 July for St Anne (feast 26 July), or 7 October for St Gerard (feast 16 October).
• Nine days. Pray once each day, ideally at the same hour. If you miss a day, simply resume — the trust behind the prayer matters more than a broken count.
• Together. Where possible, husband and wife pray it together, and offer it with Mass and Communion, or with a decade of the Rosary.
• Disposition. Name your intention plainly, but end always in submission: Thy will be done. So prayed, the novena never truly fails.

Who are the patron saints of fertility?

Sts Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are the foremost patrons of childless couples. Of their lives Scripture tells us nothing directly; the ancient tradition of the Church, drawn from very early sources, holds that they were long childless, that this was a public reproach to them, and that after Joachim had fasted and prayed in the desert and Anne had prayed at home, an angel came to each with the promise of a child. Anne — whose Hebrew name, Hannah, means "grace" — conceived and bore Mary, and dedicated her to the Lord. Devotion to St Anne is very old, spreading through the West and becoming immensely popular in the later Middle Ages. In the traditional calendar her feast falls on 26 July, St Joachim's on 16 August. She is invoked by mothers, by married women, and above all by those who long, as she once did, for a child.

St Gerard Majella (1726–1755) was born at Muro Lucano in southern Italy and, after being turned away for his frailty, was at last received as a lay brother among the Redemptorists founded by St Alphonsus Liguori. In only five years of religious life he became famous for his charity, his heroic obedience, and above all for the calm with which he bore a grave false accusation — bearing it, like his Master, "without murmur or complaint." From that patience under calumny grew his patronage: because he was falsely accused and vindicated, and because of a miracle worked for a mother near death in childbirth, God raised him up as the protector of mothers. He died at twenty-nine on 16 October 1755, was beatified by Leo XIII in 1893, and canonized by Pope St Pius X in 1904. He is the patron of expectant mothers, of motherhood, of childbirth, and of the unborn — and one of the surest intercessors a longing couple can find. Another great healer of the body, St Raphael the Archangel, who cured Tobias, is often joined to him in this prayer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the patron saint of fertility?

There is no single patron of fertility, but three intercessors are invoked above all others: St Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin and herself once childless; St Gerard Majella, the wonder-working patron of mothers and childbirth; and the Blessed Virgin Mary herself. Sts Joachim and Anne together are the classic patrons of childless couples, because after long barrenness they conceived the Mother of God.

Should I pray to St Anne or St Gerard for fertility?

You may pray to both — many couples do. St Anne is the great patron of those longing to conceive, for she knew years of barrenness before bearing Our Lady; St Gerard is the patron of motherhood and of a safe childbirth, invoked from the first hope of a child through the delivery. The full novena above calls on both, together with Our Lady. Choose whichever draws your heart.

When should I start a fertility novena?

Any day will do; God is not bound to a calendar. But if you wish to end on a feast, count back nine days: begin 17 July to finish on St Anne's feast (26 July), or 7 October to finish on St Gerard's feast (16 October). What matters is that you pray all nine days with a steady and trusting heart.

Does a novena for fertility really work?

A novena is not a technique that produces a result; it is a prayer. God has answered this very prayer countless times — Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth, and St Anne herself all bore children after long barrenness — and He may answer it again. But He answers as a Father, giving sometimes the child asked for and sometimes a greater grace. Pray with confidence and end with Thy will be done; so prayed, the novena never returns empty.

Is there a fertility novena in Spanish (novena para la fertilidad)?

Yes. A novena para la fertilidad is simply the fertility novena said in Spanish, most often to Santa Ana (St Anne) or San Gerardo (St Gerard). The prayers above may be prayed in your own tongue — the Iter Fidei app carries them in several languages with audio.

Can I pray this novena while undergoing medical treatment?

Yes. Prayer and licit medical care are not opposed; a couple may rightly seek both the help of doctors and the intercession of the saints, entrusting the whole matter to God. The Church asks only that the means used respect the dignity of marriage and of the child. Pray the novena alongside your care.

What other prayers help a couple hoping for a child?

Beyond this novena, couples often keep a devotion to Our Lady under her titles of the Annunciation and of Our Lady of Guadalupe, long invoked as protectress of the unborn, and pray the Miraculous Medal novena. Any of these may be joined to the fertility novena.

Pray this fertility novena with day-by-day reminders and audio, in Latin and your own language, in the Iter Fidei app. Download it here.

Sources. Holy Scripture (Genesis 1:28; Genesis 21; 1 Kings [1 Samuel] 1; Psalm 126–127; Luke 1); Butler's Lives of the Saints (St Anne and St Joachim, 26 July and 16 August; the ancient tradition of their childlessness from the Protevangelium of James); the traditional Memorare; the traditional prayer to St Gerard Majella (O good St Gerard, powerful intercessor before God) and the traditional prayer to St Anne for a child; the traditional prayer to St Raphael the Archangel; the traditional prayer to St Colette; the beatification of St Gerard Majella by Pope Leo XIII (1893) and his canonization by Pope St Pius X (1904); the canonization of St Colette of Corbie by Pope Pius VII (1807); the canonization of St Gianna Beretta Molla (2004).