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Holy Hour (Latin: hora sancta) is the Roman Catholic devotional tradition of spending an hour of prayer or meditation on the agony of Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane[1]. Nowadays, the Holy Hour is also done in Eucharistic adoration in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.[2] A plenary indulgence is granted for this practice.[3] The practice is also observed in some Lutheran churches and some Anglican churches.[4]

History[edit]

Between 1673 and 1675, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque stated that she had a vision of Jesus in which she was instructed to spend an hour every Thursday night to meditate on the sufferings of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.[5][6]

"You will also receive Communion every first Friday of the month, and on each night of Thursday to Friday, I will make you participate in the mortal sadness that I have accepted to feel in the Garden of Olives, whose sadness will reduce you, without your being able to understand it, to a kind of agony more difficult to bear than death. And to accompany me in this humble prayer that I then presented to my Father between all my anguishes, you will get up from eleven until midnight, to prostrate yourself during an hour with Me..."[7]

This practice later became widespread and adopted by Roman Catholics with the growth of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.[8]

In 1829, the Archconfraternity of the Holy Hour was established by Père Robert Debrosse at Paray-le-Monial, Burgundy, France.[9] In 1911 it received the right of aggregation for the entire world.[10] A similar society called "The Holy Perpetual Hour of Gethsemani" was formed in Toulouse in 1885 and was canonically erected in 1907. In 1909 it received indulgences from Pope Pius X.[11][12]

The practice of the Holy Hour[edit]

There are no set rules on how to practice the Holy Hour.[13] However, it is traditionally done on a night of Thursday to Friday, from 11:00 pm until midnight, to honour the instructions given to Marguaret Mary Alacoque by Jesus-Christ. It is also regularly performed on first Thursdays of the month, the night before first Fridays of the month, day of another devotion that has its origins in the same private revelations as the Holy Hour.[14]

The Holy Hour can be done while meditating on the agony of Jesus, in adoration, in prayer or while praying the rosary. Margaret-Mary seemed to practice it both in prayer and adoration :

"He told me at that time that every night from Thursday to Friday, I would rise at the hour he would tell me to say five Pater and five Ave Maria prostrated against the ground, with five acts of adoration that he had taught me, to honor him in the extreme anguish he suffered on the night of his Passion."[15]

Some parishes organize an Holy Hour of Eucharistic adoration in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament at various times of the day.[2] The original purpose of this practice is to accompany Jesus in his sufferings on the night of his Passion, and since his apostles fell asleep, keep watch for an hour with him as an act of reparation.[7]

The inspiration for the Holy Hour is Matthew 26:40.[16][17] In the Gospel of Matthew, during the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion, Jesus spoke to his disciples, saying "My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me." (Matthew 26:38) Returning to the disciples after prayer, he found them asleep and in Matthew 26:40 he asked Peter: "So, could you men not keep watch with me for an hour?".[17] He did not ask for an hour of activity, but for an hour of companionship.[18]

Maundy Thursday[edit]

On Maundy Thursday (also known as Holy Thursday), the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church provides for the transfer of the Blessed Sacrament in a procession to a side altar or a sacrament chapel after the Mass of the Lord's Supper. This holy hour, during which the faithful remain in silent worship for "a suitable time", is to last at least until midnight, but be without any solemnity after the dawn of Good Friday.

The Holy Hour on Maundy Thursday commemorates the prayer and vigil of Jesus on the Mount of Olives, when he asked his Father to spare him his suffering in view of his approaching death, as well as the admonition to his disciples "Watch, and pray, that ye enter not into temptation" (Matthew 26).

Catholic Church approval[edit]

In his encyclical letter Miserentissimus Redemptor promulgated on 8 May 1928, Pope Pius XI said about the Holy Hour and the Communion of Reparation that "these pious exercises have been approved by the Church and have also been enriched with copious indulgences".[19]

Slang meaning[edit]

In the Irish Free State and Republic of Ireland, the "holy hour" (Irish: uair bheannaithe) was the term applied to the closing of public houses between 2.30 and 3.30 p.m. on Monday to Saturday in the cities of Dublin and Cork.[20][21][22] It was introduced by Minister for Justice Kevin O'Higgins in the 1920s to curb afternoon drinking by workers.[23] The law only applied to the cities of Dublin and Cork and was removed in 1988; however, public houses throughout the country remained closed from 2 pm to 4 pm on Sundays until 2000.[24][25][26][27] Pubs often merely locked the doors, allowing those in the pubs to continue drinking during the holy hour.[28][29][30][31][32]

See also[edit]

  • Dominicae cenae, apostolic letter of John Paul II on "The Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist"

References[edit]

  1. ^ "L'Heure Sainte - Sanctuaire du Sacré-Coeur Paray-Le-Monial" (in French). 2021-06-25. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  2. ^ a b "Eucharistic Devotion", USCCB
  3. ^ Apostolic Penitentiary. Manual of Indulgences: Norms and Grants. 2006. Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. p. 48.
  4. ^ Saint Augustine's Prayer Book: A Book of Devotion for members of the Episcopal Church. Sowers Printing Co. 1967. pp. 328–361.
  5. ^ The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Spirituality by Gordon S. Wakefield 1983 ISBN 0-664-22170-X page 347
  6. ^ Ann Ball, 2003 Encyclopedia of Catholic Devotions and Practices ISBN 0-87973-910-X page 240
  7. ^ a b Margaret Mary, Alacoque (1915). "Vie et Oeuvres de Marguerite-Marie Alacoque, T.II". p. 72.
  8. ^ Doll, Sister Mary Bernard. "St. Margaret Mary Alacoque." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 19 December 2019 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Paray-Le-Monial". www.newadvent.org.
  10. ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis, III, 157.
  11. ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis, I, 483.
  12. ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Sodality". www.newadvent.org.
  13. ^ "What is a holy hour?". Aleteia — Catholic Spirituality, Lifestyle, World News, and Culture. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  14. ^ "L'Heure Sainte - Sanctuaire du Sacré-Coeur Paray-Le-Monial" (in French). 2021-06-25. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  15. ^ Alacoque, Margaret Mary (1915). Vie et Oeuvres de Marguerite-Marie Alacoque, T.II [Life and Works of Margaret Mary Alacoque] (in French). p. 174.
  16. ^ Matthew 26:40
  17. ^ a b Peter Stravinskas, 1998, Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Encyclopedia, OSV Press ISBN 0-87973-669-0 page 498
  18. ^ Sheen, Fulton J., "The Hour That Makes My Day", Treasure in Clay: The Autobiography of Fulton J. Sheen, (1980, Doubleday & Co.)
  19. ^ "Miserentissimus Redemptor (May 8, 1928) | PIUS XI". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  20. ^ Kelleher, Terry (June 30, 1972). "The essential Dublin". Gill and Macmillan – via Google Books.
  21. ^ Ionnrachtaigh, Seosamh Mac (June 2, 2015). Impreasin na Gaeilge I – Z: (Fuaim na Gaeilge). AuthorHouse. ISBN 9781496984203 – via Google Books.
  22. ^ "Over 55, Hotel Offers, Discounts, Senior Specials and Offers, Midweek Breaks, Weekend Breaks, Golden Hotel Breaks, Senior". www.goldenireland.ie.
  23. ^ "Calling Time On Holy Hour". RTÉ Archives.
  24. ^ "Díosbóireachtaí Párlaiminte: Tuairisc Oifigiúil". Cahill & Company, Limited. June 30, 1988 – via Google Books.
  25. ^ Healy, Mel (March 25, 2016). "Good Friday, the holy hour and the bona fides".
  26. ^ Dunne, Declan (May 8, 2015). Mulligan's: Grand Old Pub of Poolbeg Street. Mercier Press Ltd. ISBN 9781781173497 – via Google Books.
  27. ^ Donohoe, Miriam. "Longer pub opening hours come into operation today". The Irish Times.
  28. ^ "A pub in Galway is bringing back the (in)famous 'Holy Hour lock-in' this coming Easter Sunday". JOE.ie.
  29. ^ "Calling time on the holy hour". independent.
  30. ^ "Irish pubs for dummies- a lesson in decorum". IrishCentral.com. June 2, 2011.
  31. ^ Dolan, T. P. (June 30, 2004). A Dictionary of Hiberno-English: The Irish Use of English. Gill & Macmillan Ltd. ISBN 9780717135356 – via Google Books.
  32. ^ Kearns, Kevin C. (August 1, 1996). Dublin Pub Life and Lore – An Oral History of Dublin's Traditional Irish Pubs: The Recollections of Dublin's Publicans, Barmen and 'Regulars'. Gill & Macmillan Ltd. ISBN 9780717164714 – via Google Books.
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