Forty Hours Devotion

What: Forty Hours Devotion
Where: Parish of the Lord of the Divine Mercy, Sikatuna Village, QC
When: September 17, 2008
Time: after the 8:00 am Latin MassDuration: 2 days and 1 night

EVERYONE IS INVITED TO COME...."Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed iswilling, but the flesh is weak."- Matthew 26:41"Take heed, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time is." -Mark 13:33"Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy toescape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before theSon of Man."- Luke 21:36

The 40 Hours Devotion, introduced into Rome by St. Philip Neri in 1548, is the collective adoration of the exposed Eucharist for a period of 40 hours, in honor of the time Our Lord spent in the tomb (no single person is expected to spend 40 hours in adoration). While we say in the Creed that Christ was in the tomb for "3 days," those days are in the reckoning of the Old Testament religion, which counted any part of a day as "a day." In other words, Our Lord died at 3:00 on Friday (day one), descended into Hell (the afterworld) to save the righteous dead and was laid in the tomb on Saturday (day two), and arose on Sunday morning (day three). In modern terms, we'd say He was in the sepulcher for "1 1/2 days or so" because some of those "days" are partial days, but those who practiced the Old Testament religion, and those who practice modern Judaism, would consider that time period "3 days." Counting the time by hours, however, we can see that from 3:00 PM Friday to 6:00 AM Sunday are 40 hours. This devotion is often practiced during the Sacred Triduum (the three days before Easter which consist of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday), but is also offered in times surrounding other great Feasts, or on regular schedules not related to the calendar at all.When visiting the Blessed Sacrament as the 40 Hours Devotion goes on, we are to recite a sequence of an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory be 5 times -- the last cycle being for the intentions of the Holy Father. If one does this after having gone to Confession and received Communion, one recelves a plenary indulgence (under the usual conditions).