Novena at the Basilica of Ste. Anne de Detroit
July 17 – 26
One of the highlights of the year at the Basilica of Ste. Anne de Detroit is Novena. This joyful event will take place from July 17-26 and is a decades-old tradition. Novena is nine days of prayer including Mass each day. Each day of prayer has a different theme associated with an ethnic group important to Detroit. On the tenth day, we celebrate the Feast of Ste. Anne. We gather to ask Ste. Anne to pray for our intentions, the intentions of our families, our city, our Archdiocese, and our world.
Support the 2023 Novena
- Family or Business Ad in the Novena Program Book used on all 10 days
- Novena Patrons
- Novena Memorials
- Novena Candles
- Novena Shrine Enrollments
- Novena Donations
- Volunteer
2023 Novena Schedule
Monday, July 17
Mass at 7 p.m.
Celebrant – Fr. Ndue Gjergji
Preacher – Fr. Marko Djonovic
Deacon – Dcn. Lekë Brisku
Celebration of Fr. Ndue Gjergji’s 50 years of priesthood at Mass
Celebration of Albanian Culture
Tuesday, July 18
Mass at 7 p.m.
Celebrant – Bishop Hanchon
Celebration of Hispanic Culture
Wednesday, July 19
Mass at 7 p.m.
Celebrant – Msgr. Kosanke
Celebration of Asian Culture
Thursday, July 20
Mass at 7 p.m.
Celebrant – Fr. Enzo Andarri
Celebration of Western European Cultures
Friday, July 21
Mass at 7 p.m.
Celebration of Celtic Culture
Saturday, July 22
Mass at 7 p.m.
Celebrant – Bishop Fisher
Celebration of Eastern European Cultures
Sunday, July 23
Mass at 12 p.m.
Celebrant – Fr. John Herman
Celebration of Native American & French Cultures
Celebration of the Alumni of Ste. Anne School
Celebration of Grandparents Day
Monday, July 24
Mass at 7 p.m.
Celebrant – Bishop Kalabat
Celebration of Chaldean Culture
Tuesday, July 25
Mass at 7 p.m.
Celebrant – Fr. John McKenzie
Celebration of African Culture
Wednesday, July 26
Mass at 7 p.m.
Celebrant – Archbishop Vigneron
Feast Day of Ste. Anne
In addition to the Masses listed above, there will also be a 12 noon Mass on weekdays.
History of Devotion to Ste. Anne
What is known about Ste. Anne comes from the Protoevangelium of James, an apocryphal Gospel written around 145 A.D. Anne was married to Joachim and is the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and therefore the grandmother of Jesus.
Missionaries dedicated a chapel to Ste Anne in France in the 6th century A.D. In France, devotion to Ste. Anne became important when a French peasant, Yves Nicolazic, reported apparitions of Ste. Anne in August of 1623 and 1624. A woman appeared who said: “I am Anne, mother of Mary. There was a chapel built here before that was dedicated to me. I ask you to build it again and take care of it because God wants me honored here.”
French missionaries brought the devotion to Quebec, Canada in 1658. Over the centuries several churches have been built in honor of Ste. Anne. The Basilica of Ste. Anne de Beaupre in Quebec was completed in 1946.
Devotion to Ste. Anne in Detroit
Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Detroit on July 24, 1701. Two days later a Mass was celebrated on Ste. Anne’s feast day by one of the priests who came with Cadillac. Ste. Anne was the patroness of New France.
Although the novena to Ste. Anne presumably goes back to the beginning of the parish, there was surge of devotion to the saint and to the novena with the building of the current church in 1886. A shrine was constructed in the southeast side of the church. A relic of Ste. Anne was obtained from the Basilica in Paris and is displayed in a reliquary at the shrine. Fr. James Grand (1886-1907) and Fr. Luke Renaud (1907-1919) of the Basilian Fathers of Toronto were pastors during this period.
On April 19, 2017, Most Rev. Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of Detroit, decreed that the shrine in the Basilica of Ste. Anne de Detroit is the official Archdiocesan shrine to Ste. Anne. Ste. Anne is the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Detroit.
For more information about Novena, please contact the parish office at 313-496-1701.
