The beauty of Forty Hours

While sitting at a Forty Hour devotion, I was saddened to see approximately two hundred people in the church. Then, I realized if I truly did not understand the history or the importance of Forty Hours do others understand this Catholic tradition. With many people not believing in the TRUE PRESENCE of Christ in the Eucharist, then why would we take part in this devotion.

In many dioceses each parish gets a week for Forty Hours. The reason for this tradition is that the Blessed Sacrament would be moved from parish to parish. Most parishes will close the campus meaning that all parishioners will have an opportunity to be part of the devotion. In most dioceses, every parish will have Forty Hours once a year. This allows for the Eucharist to continue to be moved from church to church.

The number forty is profound in the devotion. The number forty is mentioned one hundred forty-six times in the Bible. We use forty hours to represent both events in the Old Testament and the New Testament. We see forty representing Noah’s forty days and nights on the ark. We see forty representing the forty days the Israelites wondering in the desert. In the New Testament, Jesus spend forty days fasting and praying before His public ministry.  Whenever one sees the number forty in the Bible, one should think about trials and tests.

Forty Hours usually means someone needs to stay with the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance. However, most churches will not stay open for 40 hours continuously. Some of these are due to security issues and others are because they cannot staff the late or early hours. There is something peaceful about sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

During those hours, we have the opportunity to just be with Christ. We have the ability to take a retreat without leaving our backyard. We are fed with a reading and a homily from a guest priest. Better yet, we can go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation with a priest not stationed at our parish. We NEED this beautiful devotion. We need to have the ability to have silence. We need to have the opportunity to receive the sacraments. We need to have the time and ability to talk to Christ. We need to have this devotion because we NEED to have a conversation with God.  

The Forty Hours Devotion is calling us to become closer to Christ in the true Presence. We are being asked to give thanks to Christ for the many blessings that He has given us and asking Christ to pour down His blessings on us. However, many of us are not taking advantage of this wonderful devotion. We are scared, nervous, anxious, and a host of emotions sitting in front of the monstrance. Yet, there is nothing to be afraid of during Forty Hours. Those emotions are Christ asking us to step out of our comfort zone.

This special devotion is asking us to grow as a child of God and to grow as a community. Are we losing sight of this wonderful devotion due to our lack of understanding? Are we losing sight of this devotion because the Eucharist is not important anymore to us? Are we losing sight of Forty Hours because we do not want to face our sins in the confessional?

Whatever the reason you stop attending Forty Hours, I encourage you to come back. Come back to Forty Hours and experience the love that God is willing to give us. God does not care why we left. He will just be happy that we came back to this beautiful devotion.