The novena begins on Oct. 3, immediately following the live town hall meeting.

For those families that might need help praying the rosary, the cardinal has recorded specific rosaries at CatholicTV along with the Little Sisters of the Poor. The rosaries will air 5 times per day on CatholicTV and CatholicTV.com, from Oct. 3 through Oct. 11 each day at 3 a.m., 10 a.m., noon, 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The Little Sisters of the poor work with the elderly and dying in their ministry to bring God's love to those facing the end of their lives, as did Blessed Mother Theresa throughout her ministry.

"Mother Teresa began her special vocation to God's poor by aiding the dying people in the gutters of Calcutta. She took them on her back or in a wheelbarrow to an old abandoned Hindu temple where she cleaned them and fed them and did whatever possible so that they could die surrounded by God's love. She called this, 'doing something beautiful for God,'" the cardinal said.

"As Christians, we're all called to 'do something beautiful for God.' When we care for our sick and elderly, we are not only following the example of Christ and the saints, but we ourselves are doing it because we see God hidden in those who are most vulnerable, those most in need," he added.

Parishes will receive supporting materials for the novena this week.

More information on the archdiocese's educational campaign on physician assisted suicide is available at www.suicideisalwaysatragedy.org.