Forty Hours Devotions

My Dear Parishioners,

We are so blessed. Jesus is so good to us. He has granted us a beautiful beginning to the month of November. He granted us beautiful Masses for the Feast of All Saints and All Souls.

Our Loving Savior, Jesus, gives us these Feasts to remind us, that through Him, with Him, and in Him, and by the power of His Grace, that we already share in the Promise of Heaven. He reminds us this month, in a special way that we already share in the Communion of Saints. How good is Jesus!

Jesus, moreover, reminds us that, through Him, with Him, and in Him, that He gives us a power to continue to love those who have gone on before us. Jesus reminds us that He uses our loving prayers and acts of reparation to help our loved ones on their journey to Heaven. Jesus’s goodness can never be outdone!

His goodness extends to this weekend as we begin Forty Hours Devotions and also welcome seminarian Jason Alvarez for the annual St. Charles Seminary Appeal. It is fitting that both should fall on the same weekend.

St. Padre Pio teaches that the world can exist more easily without the sun, than without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and we cannot have Holy Mass without a priest. This is why St. John Vianney says the priesthood is the heart of the love of Jesus. Jesus continues His work in this world through the hands of priests. Most especially, Jesus continues to use the hands of priests to provide us with the Most Holy Eucharist. How good is Jesus to us!

That is why we always promote vocations to the Sacred Priesthood from our wonderful parish of St. Joseph and from our own families. The last priest to be ordained from our parish is Fr. Steve McDermott in 2003. It is about time that we have a new one! Let us recommit to promoting vocations to the priesthood right here, so that we can always have a priest to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for us. Also, the need for priests is why we continue to support our seminary. The new seminary is a wonderful place with a great spirit among the seminarians and the faculty.           With every visit to the seminary, I feel more confident for the future of our archdiocese. The seminary is worthy of our support. If you are able, please do so.

As we welcome our seminarian this weekend, we will also be beginning our Forty Hours Devotions. Forty Hours Devotions to the Most Holy Eucharist began in our country right here in Philadelphia. Here is a brief history of Forty Hours in the United States:

40 Hours Devotion comes from the 40 hours that Christ’s body traditionally rested in the tomb. 40 is a significant number in the Bible, often tied to trials and/or suffering: the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years, and Christ was tempted in the desert for 40 days prior to the start of his ministry.

The practice of 40 Hours Devotion dates to as early as 1527, introduced by St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria in Milan and Vicenza, and spread by St. Ignatius and the Jesuits.

St. John Neumann, Forth Bishop of Philadelphia, was the first church leader in America to practice the devotion.

At the time, Catholics faced great opposition in his home city of Philadelphia during the Know-Nothing Riots of 1844. Anti-Catholic protesters burned two churches and continued to foster animosity toward Catholics in the city.

Bishop Neumann wanted to institute 40 Hours Devotion, but some of the priests in the diocese were hesitant, believing that it might fan the flames of anti- Catholic sentiment and even result in the desecration of the Eucharist.

Neumann was working late into the night when he fell asleep at his desk with his candle still lit. As he slept, the candle burnt down and the papers on his desk caught fire. Miraculously, he awoke before a large fire broke out and the papers, though charred, were still readable. He knelt to give thanks to God, and then heard the Lord’s voice: “As the flames are burning here without consuming or injuring the writing, so shall I pour out my grace in the Blessed Sacrament without prejudice to My honor. Fear no profanation, therefore: no longer to carry out your design for My glory.”

The first Forty Hours Devotion was held in St. Philip Neri Parish on May 26, 1853, the Feast of Corpus Christi. It then expanded throughout the diocese and beyond, being approved for all American dioceses in 1866. (Compiled by Fr. Kyle Sahd, Diocese of Harrisburg)

This year we welcome Fr. Stephen DeLacy as our homilist. Fr. DeLacy will lead Devotions Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday evening at 6:00 each evening. Sunday and Monday evenings will end with Benediction. Tuesday evening will end with a procession in church and Benediction.

Hopefully, these next few days will refresh and renew us and fill us with the Love of Jesus! Oh Sacrament Most Holy, Oh Sacrament Divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine!

St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, and our Patron, pray for us!

St. John Neumann, pray for us! Fr. Michael J Pawelko, Pastor