Friday, January 19, 2007

FIRST ANNUAL FORTY-HOURS DEVOTIONS

Saint Gianna’s Latin Mass Community looks forward to the arrival of Father Carl Lenhardt of the Institute of Christ the King, who will preach our First Annual Forty-Hours Devotions. This is a time when Our Blessed Lord will shower us with a superabundance of divine graces. In addition to Eucharistic adoration, we will encourage all to receive the holy Sacrament of Confession. Look for the schedule of devotions in our bulletin next week.
It is difficult to pinpoint the exact origins of Forty-Hours Devotions. Pope Clement VIII issued the Constitution Graves et Diuturnae on November 25, 1592. He ordered each parish of the Diocese of Rome to conduct a Quarant' Ore - - - forty hours of continuous adoration and prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. The main intentions were for the peace of the Universal Church and to combat the evils of the times. There is also evidence that Forty-Hours Devotions existed in Milan, Italy in the twelfth century. After the Council of Trent, St. Charles Borromeo mandated that every parish of the Diocese of Milan was to conduct Forty-Hours Devotions each year. The devotion spread throughout Europe and eventually to America where it soon became an annual event at practically every parish. As a result of Forty-Hours Devotions, love and respect for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was without parallel in the United States.
One of the primary purposes for Forty-Hours Devotions is to make reparation for the desecrations and indifference toward Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. It is interesting to note, however, that, with the practical disappearance of these marvelous devotions, love and respect for the Blessed Sacrament has declined alarmingly. This is a very sad, indeed.
The Eucharist is the Divine Gift that Our Blessed Lord has given us from the depths of His Sacred Heart. It is His Gift Beyond Compare. May we always treasure the Sacred Presence of Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar! I invite all of our members and visitors to join us for daily adoration and our evening devotions. Sign up for an hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. Attend the evening devotions for the Rosary, stirring homilies and an outpouring of divine graces. Many graces and blessing will flow from the Sacred Heart of our Eucharistic Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. O Sacrament most Holy! O Sacrament Divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment, thine.

Father Richard J. Rego, S.T.L.

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