DEVOTION
The Forty Hours Devotion (Quarant'Ore)
A devotion of the Catholic faithful
A solemn period of continuous prayer before the Blessed Sacrament exposed, recalling the forty hours the body of Christ lay in the tomb.
background
The devotion developed in sixteenth-century Italy and was given a fixed form by Pope Clement VIII; it spread throughout the Church as a great act of Eucharistic adoration and reparation.
practice Instructions
Over the course of about forty hours, the faithful take turns in continuous adoration before the exposed Blessed Sacrament, opened and closed with a solemn Mass and procession, uniting the parish in prayer and reparation.
related Prayers
- o-salutaris-hostia
- tantum-ergo