Bill McHugh was a child in the 1950s when he started going to the St. Ann novena — a popular summertime event at the former St. Ann Church on Page and Whittier in north St. Louis. McHugh tagged along with his family to offer their prayers to grandmother of Jesus.

"I didn't really know what a novena was," he said. "Then I became an altar boy. I served at the novena Masses. ... We probably had four or five Masses a day."

Devotion to the Blessed Mother's mother began in 1903 at St. Ann Church, with three days of special prayers to the saint leading up to her feast day on July 26. Father James Douglas started the first novena in 1926. It became a popular tradition; attendance grew to more than 5,000 attendees in the early 1940s. Over the years, it dwindled to about 100 people by the 1980s and '90s.

In 1992, the parish merged with Visitation Parish in north St. Louis, and the shrine to St. Ann moved there. The relics and other devotions came along. With the closure of Visitation-St. Ann last summer, the shrine to St. Ann moved to St. Nicholas — a 151-year-old parish with its own storied history, on the north end of Downtown.

To see the devotion to St. Ann continue is a joy for McHugh, even though it's difficult to see the closure of several parishes over the years. At the opening Mass of the novena July 18, McHugh explained that he sees many familiar faces at the novena.

"A lot of times it was out of tradition," he said. "Sometimes they started coming to novena with their parents or grandparents and continued it over the years." McHugh recalled a friend who came to the novena for the first time. Not long after, the friend was offered a "very good position" doing contract work. His friend indicated "it was a prayer that was answered."

And how about McHugh? Has St. Ann answered any of his prayers?

"I'm here," he said with a laugh. "And I'm reasonably healthy."

As grandparent of five, McHugh said it special "to give honor to the grandmother of Christ. I had a friend ask me once about the prayers. ... I said, if I can go to God's grandmother and ask her to ask her grandson to do something for me, it's likely to happen. It's hard to say no when you're a grandparent."

God reminds us that we don't need to only pray alone, Father Timothy Cook said in the homily at the opening Mass. Having a public novena also gives the faithful the opportunity to come together for prayer. "Communal prayer is very important. We believe in the power of intercessory prayer. We must pray for a city that needs renewal and hearts that need to be recreated."

Deborah Anderson has been coming to the novena for years. Although Anderson is Baptist, a family friend introduced her to the novena and she's been coming ever since, now helping with the music.

"Our next-door neighbors were Catholic, and they had a daughter my age and we grew up side by side," she said. "When she was learning the Rosary and the Catechism, I would drill her and she would drill me. So I learned it, too. I was still going to the Baptist church, but every Christmas, we'd go to midnight Mass at Visitation when we were teenagers. We'd go to Mass and then go to White Castle to eat afterward."

Anderson sees the fellowship at the novena as a blessing. "It's all about serving God and loving God," she said. "The Bible tells us to seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, and everything else will come to you. My mission here is to glorify God." 

What is a novena?

A novena is nine days of private or public devotion, with the purpose of seeking special graces from God, the angels and saints. Novena prayers are generally offered leading up to a particular event or feast day.

The St. Ann novena, which began July 18, continues through July 26, the feast of St. Ann.

In the Acts of the Apostles, the Blessed Mother, the apostoles and other men and women prayed together for nine days, preparing themselves for the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

In addition to the St. Ann novena, weekly prayers are offered at St. Nicholas Church in honor of the Blessed Mother, and her mother St. Ann, during weekday Masses. A blessing for grandparents also is offered at the 8:15 and 10:30 a.m. Masses on the fourth Sunday of the month. 

Novena continues through July 26

The St. Ann novena continues at St. Nicholas Church, 701 N. 18th St. Downtown. Mass times are 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 22; 8:15 and 10:30 a.m. Sunday, July 23, and 12:15 and 6:30 p.m. from July 24-26.