Holy Hour
Definition by Father John Hardon
HOLY HOUR. A pious devotional exercise consisting of mental and vocal prayer with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. It draws its inspiration from Christ’s words to the Apostles in Gethsemane: “Can you not watch one hour with me?” It was taught by the Savior to St. Margaret Mary (1647-90) as one of the special practices of the Sacred Heart devotion. In the early nineteenth century a confraternity was founded at Paray-le-Monial, France, to spread the devotion, which has been highly recommended by the popes. If the hour is made publicly it is designated by a priest or the director; if made privately, any hour is suitable but preferably Thursday or Friday evening. The Passion of Christ is the theme during the hour, variously divided into meditation, vocal prayer, and singing. Many religious communities include the devotion as part of the horarium of their day.
The Holy Hour is an invaluable spiritual practice that we as Catholics have access to. By spending a sacred hour with Our Lord, and engaging in silent adoration, meditation, and intercessory prayer, a profound spiritual renewal is possible. With minds and hearts fully focused on Christ’s love and sacrifice, truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament, we are able to more fully enter into the spiritual communion with Our Lord that we are called to. God invites us to spend an hour in His presence to deepen our relationship with Him, and to allow us to, in turn, invite Him into our hearts.
Meditations for Holy Hour
The Holy Hour
Father Gerald had a keen awareness, bordering on mystical experience, of Christ’s abiding presence in the Holy Eucharist. When he drafted the Rule of Life for the Paracletes, he directed that they spend, “A personal Holy Hour daily, spent whenever this is possible in a chapel where Our Blessed Lord is present eucharistically. This is your Holy Hour given with Mary to Jesus.” (Paraclete Customs, p. 10). In his conferences to priests, whether his own Paracletes or others, he returned to the same directive: spend an hour a day before the Blessed Sacrament, besides the Mass and Divine Office. His […]
The Value of Suffering in the Life of Christian Perfection
By Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. Why should we consider this subject? Although we will deal with the subject academically, it is by no means an academic subject, particularly in its relationship to the sanctity to which we all aspire. Suffering by itself is not sanctifying. Many people who are suffering are not necessarily profiting from their suffering. Evidently, then, we should do something with and about the suffering to profit from the experience. Hence the importance of knowing what suffering is and how we can alchemize it from mere pain to sanctity. Moreover, the role of suffering in the […]
Prayer and Suffering
By Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. Christianity is unique among the religions of the world in giving a rational and adequate explanation of suffering. In fact, it goes beyond giving a strong motive for suffering, this motive being the fact that God became man in the person of Jesus Christ. Those who love Christ are to love the whole Christ, the child of Bethlehem and the naked, condemned criminal on Calvary, the Christ in the manger and on the cross. Those who love God, therefore, on Christian terms, do not or should not run away from suffering. If anything, they […]
How to Live in the Presence of God
By Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. The Closing Conference of a Retreat We are first told to pray continually. The first time we meet this injunction of Christ is in the Gospel of St. Luke. Luke, by the way, is the evangelist of the Holy Spirit. The Savior is described by St. Luke as telling His followers to pray continually and never lose heart. Let us think seriously about what we are told. We need, that is we should, which means we are expected to, pray continually. It is a universal duty applying to all believers. To have no doubt […]
Reflection from “The Imitation of Christ”
By Thomas A. Kempis …For You, O Lord, my God! Are the best above all things; You alone most high; You alone most powerful; You alone sufficient; You alone most sweet and most delightful.You alone the most beautiful and the most loving; You alone the most noble and the most glorious above all things; in Whom are perfectly gathered together all goods, and always were and always will be.And, therefore, whatever You give me, which is not Yourself, or whatever You reveal or promise to me concerning Yourself, as long as I do not see You nor fully possess You, […]
Prayer Before the Eucharistic Christ
By Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. I know that numerous popular devotions held in church before the Blessed Sacrament have been swept away as by a tornado. I know that in the laudable effort to highlight the Eucharistic Liturgy and therefore emphasize the altar, the tabernacle has been almost put out of sight, hidden away, as though Christ’s Eucharistic Presence continuing after Mass and between Masses were something to be apologized for. I know there are speakers and writers who say things about the Real Presence which obscure the fact that Jesus Christ is really, truly and substantially present in […]
The Challenge of a Daily Holy Hour
By George Cardinal Francis When a person spends an hour before the Blessed Sacrament, that hour of precious time is absorbed into eternity. Time given to the Lord becomes eternity. For the person who habitually makes a holy hour before the tabernacle, is no longer absorbed with the things of this world. His heart is filled with fire for eternal truth. In fact, the heart is taken out of this world and transformed into an eternal flame for Christ.When we give the Lord, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, one hour of adoration, our hearts and souls are remade by […]
Eucharistic Adoration Is Perfect Reparation
By Stephen Oraze There is a great similarity between the Prayer of the Angel, given to the three Fatima children, and the Chaplet of Mercy, given by Jesus to Sister Faustina in Poland. In both cases, we offer up to Almighty God “the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ.” In these prayers from Heaven, a merciful God has given to His children a formula for perfect reparation. In the Fall of 1916, the Angel of Portugal appeared to the three Fatima children. He was holding a chalice, with a Host above it. Leaving both suspended in mid-air, […]
No Wonder They Call It the Real Presence: Lives Changed by Christ in Eucharistic Adoration
By David Pearson Mal“How many there are who still say,‘I want to see his shape, his image, his clothing, his sandals.’Behold, you do see him, you touch him, you eat him!He gives himself to you not just to be seen,but to be touched, to be eaten, to be received within.”St. John Chrysostom (347-407) While conducting the interviews for this book, I met Job. Or what would you call someone who loses his entire family, one member at a time, over a six-year period – and comes away with an even deeper love for God than he had when times were […]
His Presence That Is … Real
By Fr. P.J. McHughPastor, Nativity Parish Religion becomes real when God becomes Someone whereas up until then God, and all that relates to Him has been SomeThing: a ritual . . . a code . . . an ideology . . . a program, a cultural projection – SomeThing. A parish becomes real when it is centered on a Presence we call Real. The ideal – the glorious paradigm – is that parishioners feel that their church is where the Lord is “at home.” They come to speak to Him on all that is in their minds. They pour out […]