The National Catholic Register (NCRegister) portal reports that EWTN is launching a “pray-along novena to the Holy Spirit” from May 15 to the Solemnity of Pentecost, 2026, led by “Chaplain Father John Paul Mary.” The article presents this novena as the “oldest novena in the life of the Church,” rooted in the apostles’ prayer in the Upper Room with the Blessed Virgin Mary after Christ’s Ascension, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Father John Paul emphasizes the importance of praying to the Holy Spirit to receive His seven gifts and nine fruits, stating that “the Holy Spirit is really the way in which salvation is carried out in the life of the Church” and that “it’s really the Holy Spirit that changes us, that conforms us into Jesus himself and makes us other Christs in the world.” The article also mentions “Pope Leo XIV” releasing a dove in Bamenda, Cameroon, on April 16, 2026. While the language is superficially pious and references traditional Catholic concepts like the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, a deeper examination reveals that this novena, and the structures promoting it, are embedded within the conciliar sect, rendering its spiritual efficacy null and its true nature a subtle form of modernist indoctrination.
The “Oldest Novena” and the Illusion of Continuity
The National Catholic Register article claims that the novena to the Holy Spirit is the “oldest novena in the life of the Church,” harking back to the apostles’ prayer in the Upper Room. While it is true that the apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary prayed in anticipation of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 1:14, the assertion that this constitutes a continuous, formalized “novena” practice from that era is historically dubious and serves a specific modernist agenda. The purpose of such claims is to create an illusion of unbroken continuity with the apostolic age, thereby legitimizing the current practices of the conciliar sect. This is a hallmark of the hermeneutics of continuity, a modernist fabrication designed to mask the radical rupture that occurred after 1958.
The true Church, founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, is immutable in her doctrine, worship, and discipline. The Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the sacraments, and authentic devotion have been faithfully preserved and transmitted through the ages. However, the conciliar sect, which emerged from the Second Vatican Council, introduced a new ecclesiology, a new liturgy (the Novus Ordo Missae), and a new approach to ecumenism and religious liberty that are fundamentally incompatible with the perennial Magisterium. To claim that a novena promoted by an entity like EWTN, which operates entirely within the framework of this conciliar sect, is a direct continuation of apostolic practice is to ignore the profound theological and liturgical revolution that has taken place. It is a subtle attempt to baptize modernist innovations with the veneer of antiquity.
The “Holy Spirit” in the Conciliar Sect: A Distorted Theology
Father John Paul Mary, identified as an “EWTN Chaplain,” states: “The Holy Spirit is really the way in which salvation is carried out in the life of the Church… Christ is known through the power of the Holy Spirit and that nobody can really say Jesus is Lord, Saint Paul says, unless it is in the Holy Spirit.” While these individual sentences, taken in isolation, might sound orthodox, they must be understood within the context of the conciar theology of the “Church” they represent.
The conciar understanding of “salvation” and the “Church” has been fundamentally altered. The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, from Vatican II, introduced the concept that elements of sanctification and truth can be found outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church, thereby diminishing the Church’s unique and exclusive role as the sole ark of salvation. This is a direct contradiction of the perennial teaching, as articulated by Pope Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors (1864), which condemned the proposition that “Good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ” (Proposition 17). If the “salvation” carried out by the Holy Spirit is now understood to operate through “elements” outside the true Church, then the urgency of conversion to the One True Church is relativized, and the Holy Spirit’s role becomes a tool for fostering false ecumenism and religious indifferentism.
Furthermore, Father John Paul’s statement that “it’s really the Holy Spirit that changes us, that conforms us into Jesus himself and makes us other Christs in the world” can be interpreted in a Pelagian or semi-Pelagian light, emphasizing human effort and experience over the necessity of divine grace operating through the sacraments of the true Church. While the Holy Spirit certainly sanctifies, this sanctification is primarily effected through the sacraments validly administered by the true Church, not through the模拟 sacraments of a heretical sect. The conciar emphasis on personal experience and “conformation” often overshadows the objective reality of sanctifying grace conferred through the sacraments and the necessity of adhering to the true Faith.
The “Gifts and Fruits” Within a Heretical Framework
The article mentions the “seven gifts of the Holy Spirit” (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear) and the “nine fruits” (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). While these are indeed traditional Catholic teachings, their enumeration and emphasis within the context of a conciar novena must be scrutinized.
The number of gifts (seven) is biblically sound, derived from Isaiah 11:2-3. However, the number of “fruits” listed as nine is a significant theological error. The traditional teaching, based on Galatians 5:22-23, identifies twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit: caritas, gaudium, pax, patientia, benignitas, bonitas, longanimitas, mansuetudo, fides, modestia, continentia, castitas (charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, long-suffering, gentleness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity). The omission of “goodness, long-suffering, modesty, continency, and chastity” and the substitution with “generosity, faithfulness, self-control” (which are not the direct biblical fruits) is not merely a numerical discrepancy but a subtle distortion of Catholic doctrine. It reflects a modernist tendency to adapt or dilute traditional teachings to align with contemporary sensibilities, often prioritizing social virtues over those that demand personal mortification and strict adherence to God’s law. This alteration, even if unintentional, demonstrates a lack of precision and fidelity to the deposit of faith, characteristic of the conciar environment.
EWTN and the Conciliar Sect: A Platform for Modernism
EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network), while presenting itself as a “Catholic” media outlet, is entirely integrated into the structures of the conciar sect. It recognizes the authority of the antipopes, including Leo XIV (Robert Prevost), and promotes the Novus Ordo Missae and the entire post-conciliar revolution. Its chaplains, like “Father John Paul Mary,” are ordained within this heretical structure and operate under its jurisdiction. Consequently, any “novena” or “devotion” promoted by EWTN is, by its very nature, tainted by the errors and apostasy of the conciar sect.
The article’s mention of “Pope Leo XIV” releasing a dove in Cameroon further illustrates the conciar sect’s engagement in symbolic gestures that mimic true Catholic actions but lack any true spiritual authority or efficacy. Such acts are part of the ongoing “psychological operation” to maintain the illusion of a legitimate papacy and a true Church, despite the manifest heresies and apostasies of its leaders. The faithful are thereby led to believe that these structures are still the true Church, diverting them from seeking the authentic means of salvation outside the conciar abomination.
The True Church and the Authentic Work of the Holy Spirit
The true Church, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail (Matthew 16:18), endures in the faithful who profess the integral Catholic faith and are led by bishops with valid sacraments and validly ordained priests, even if they are currently without a visible head due to the vacancy of the Holy See (sede vacante). The authentic work of the Holy Spirit is to guide the Church into all truth (John 16:13), to sanctify souls through the true sacraments, and to preserve the deposit of faith from error.
Authentic devotion to the Holy Spirit, including novenas, must be rooted in the true Faith, offered through the true priesthood, and directed towards the true ends of the Church. This means praying for the restoration of the true Papacy, the condemnation of modernism, and the return of all souls to the One True Church. It means rejecting the模拟 sacraments and the false teachings of the conciar sect, which, by its manifest heresies and apostasies, has severed itself from the true Body of Christ. The “oldest novena” is not a ritualistic formula but a profound act of faith, hope, and charity, offered in union with the true Church and her legitimate pastors, awaiting the return of her rightful head.
In conclusion, while the language of the EWTN novena may appear superficially pious, it is a product of the conciar sect, which has systematically undermined true Catholic doctrine and worship. Its promotion of a distorted theology, even in seemingly minor details like the number of fruits of the Holy Spirit, and its integration into a heretical structure, renders it spiritually bankrupt. The faithful are urged to discern the signs of the times and to seek the authentic work of the Holy Spirit within the true Church, outside the abomination of conciliarism. Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus (Outside the Church there is no salvation) remains the immutable truth, and no amount of pious-sounding novenas from a heretical sect can alter this divine reality.
Source:
Join EWTN's Novena to the Holy Spirit, the ‘Oldest Novena in the Life of the Church’ (ncregister.com)
Date: 15.05.2026