From the Pastor
March/13/2009
March 15, 2009
As we draw closer to Easter, we pause in our regular schedule of Lenten observances to see the impact that the Holy Eucharist has in our lives. We set aside approximately Forty Hours this coming week for special prayers, meditations and reflections on the great gift of God to His people. He gives His very self to us, unlike any other god in recorded history, and offers his life for our sake.
Most historians say the practice of Forty Hours Devotion originated in Milan, around the year 1530, as a means of stirring up the faith of the people. The custom of having this devotion in one church after another in that diocese began in 1537, and soon it spread all over Italy and even beyond its borders. Then, St. John Neumann (1811-1860), the fourth bishop of Philadelphia, introduced the custom to his diocese and following that, it spread throughout our country. At the Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1866, the devotion was approved for all the dioceses of our country.
Following the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, many parishes dropped Forty Hours as well as novenas and other pious practices. The post-Vatican world focused more on the reception of the Eucharist and on the celebration of the Mass. Pious devotions were often but on the back burner. But, in recent years, a resurgence of devotional life has come about again in the Church, as many Catholics miss and yearn for some of the traditional devotions practiced in their youth.
The Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion is a special period of rather continuous prayer made before the Blessed Sacrament in solemn exposition. It usually begins with a Mass of Exposition and concludes with a procession of the Blessed Sacrament. During Mass, the Sacred Host in the monstrance (golden and elaborate vessel that shows the host through a glass container in the middle of the vessel, often shaped like a sun burst) is reserved in the tabernacle. After Mass, until the solemn conclusion (or each night’s ceremony), it is exposed again for adoration by the faithful, until put away at the end of the day.
While the number 40 is one of the most significant of Biblical numbers, most historians attribute the number of hours to the time that Jesus spent in the tomb after His crucifixion. Pope John Paul II highly recommended this devotion, as well as the procession of the Eucharist on the Feast of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ). Since the Eucharist was called “the source and summit of the Christian Life” (Vatican II), the faithful are urged to pray during these devotions for the grace of God to flow into their lives and that of their neighbors.
Since the Eucharist is understandably the heart of our diocese’s 25th Anniversary celebration, during this entire year each parish will have the opportunity to celebrate, for its particular community, this special devotion. In each place we are asked by Bishop Barbarito to thank God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon our five-county diocese, as well as to make atonement for the various sacrileges and sins committed against
Jesus in the Eucharist, and the various other sins connected with our relationship to our God and our neighbor. The law of God is our guide through life, and each time we disobey God’s law or, worse yet, ignore Him, we place ourselves in difficult straits regarding our salvation in Christ. This week’s Readings try to show us that God’s laws are meant to free us, not hinder us. Jesus tries to teach us that He is here to help save us and from sin, if only we’d believe in His Father’s law of love for all His children. In Scripture, the laws of God are described as perfect, refreshing, giving wisdom to the simple, trustworthy, rejoicing the heart, enlightening the eye, more precious than gold, sweeter than honey, just, right and true.
Not once do we even have a hint that they may be burdensome, difficult, unpleasant, partial or impossible. If only we’d look closer at God’s law, perhaps we would come to appreciate it as the writer of the Psalms did. Then we would look upon it as deserving of more attention than mere human law. May you and your family find peace, nourishment and consolation during these next few days of increased love for Our Lord in the Eucharist!
Very Rev. Canon Tom Skindeleski
As we draw closer to Easter, we pause in our regular schedule of Lenten observances to see the impact that the Holy Eucharist has in our lives. We set aside approximately Forty Hours this coming week for special prayers, meditations and reflections on the great gift of God to His people. He gives His very self to us, unlike any other god in recorded history, and offers his life for our sake.
Most historians say the practice of Forty Hours Devotion originated in Milan, around the year 1530, as a means of stirring up the faith of the people. The custom of having this devotion in one church after another in that diocese began in 1537, and soon it spread all over Italy and even beyond its borders. Then, St. John Neumann (1811-1860), the fourth bishop of Philadelphia, introduced the custom to his diocese and following that, it spread throughout our country. At the Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1866, the devotion was approved for all the dioceses of our country.
Following the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, many parishes dropped Forty Hours as well as novenas and other pious practices. The post-Vatican world focused more on the reception of the Eucharist and on the celebration of the Mass. Pious devotions were often but on the back burner. But, in recent years, a resurgence of devotional life has come about again in the Church, as many Catholics miss and yearn for some of the traditional devotions practiced in their youth.
The Forty Hours Eucharistic Devotion is a special period of rather continuous prayer made before the Blessed Sacrament in solemn exposition. It usually begins with a Mass of Exposition and concludes with a procession of the Blessed Sacrament. During Mass, the Sacred Host in the monstrance (golden and elaborate vessel that shows the host through a glass container in the middle of the vessel, often shaped like a sun burst) is reserved in the tabernacle. After Mass, until the solemn conclusion (or each night’s ceremony), it is exposed again for adoration by the faithful, until put away at the end of the day.
While the number 40 is one of the most significant of Biblical numbers, most historians attribute the number of hours to the time that Jesus spent in the tomb after His crucifixion. Pope John Paul II highly recommended this devotion, as well as the procession of the Eucharist on the Feast of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ). Since the Eucharist was called “the source and summit of the Christian Life” (Vatican II), the faithful are urged to pray during these devotions for the grace of God to flow into their lives and that of their neighbors.
Since the Eucharist is understandably the heart of our diocese’s 25th Anniversary celebration, during this entire year each parish will have the opportunity to celebrate, for its particular community, this special devotion. In each place we are asked by Bishop Barbarito to thank God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon our five-county diocese, as well as to make atonement for the various sacrileges and sins committed against
Jesus in the Eucharist, and the various other sins connected with our relationship to our God and our neighbor. The law of God is our guide through life, and each time we disobey God’s law or, worse yet, ignore Him, we place ourselves in difficult straits regarding our salvation in Christ. This week’s Readings try to show us that God’s laws are meant to free us, not hinder us. Jesus tries to teach us that He is here to help save us and from sin, if only we’d believe in His Father’s law of love for all His children. In Scripture, the laws of God are described as perfect, refreshing, giving wisdom to the simple, trustworthy, rejoicing the heart, enlightening the eye, more precious than gold, sweeter than honey, just, right and true.
Not once do we even have a hint that they may be burdensome, difficult, unpleasant, partial or impossible. If only we’d look closer at God’s law, perhaps we would come to appreciate it as the writer of the Psalms did. Then we would look upon it as deserving of more attention than mere human law. May you and your family find peace, nourishment and consolation during these next few days of increased love for Our Lord in the Eucharist!
Very Rev. Canon Tom Skindeleski