40 Hours Devotion - Quarant'Ore . . .

Our 40 Hours Devotion begins this evening. Opening Mass at 7.30pm. We look forward to welcoming Fr Seán Finnegan who will preside at the Mass of Exposition and preach.

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed on the altar will continue uninterrupted until Thursday morning. 
Our 40 Hours Devotion concludes with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at 9.10am. Weekday Mass follows at 9.30am.

Come and go as you wish; pop in on your way to work or to the shops; before or after the school run. Stay for however long you can - just a few minutes or even a few hours. Our Lord will be waiting for you.

All are very welcome of course. Do please try and come and spend some time with Our Lord during this special time. 

This is a photo taken at a previous 40 Hours Devotion here at St Ann's - just to whet your appetite!

For anyone who may not be familiar with the Forty Hours Devotion, here is a  very brief extract about the history of the devotion . . 

The precise origin of the Forty Hours' Devotion is obscure. St. Charles Borromeo speaks as if this practice of praying for forty hours was very ancient; and he refers it to the forty hours that Christ's Body remained in the tomb. The number 40 is also associated with the rain at the time of the flood of Noah lasting 40 days and nights, the Hebrews wandering in the desert for 40 years on the way to the Promised Land, and Jesus fasting for 40 days before beginning his public ministry.

If you would like to read more on the subject, you will find more information here and here

40 Hours Devotion . . . No words necessary . . .

The final few moments of Adoration this morning before our concluding Benediction . . . 

(Please click on photo to see enlargement)

No words necessary . . .

40 Hours Devotion . . .

Our 40 Hours Devotion has begun.  We were delighted to welcome Fr Peter Edwards, Parish Priest of St Joseph's, New Malden to our parish last night as he celebrated a beautiful Mass to open our devotion.  I'm very grateful to our altar servers who came to serve Mass after school or work, including one of our younger servers - well done!  Fr Peter also preached a very helpful homily on the Blessed Eucharist.

It was encouraging to see a good number present for the Mass and many stayed behind for Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Adoration immediately after Mass. I was also pleased to see a few 'strangers' amongst the congregation also.  All are very welcome to call in at any time.

I always find it very moving to see the steady stream of people coming and going quietly throughout the day . . .  and the night. There is an almost tangible atmosphere of prayer in our simple but beautiful church. We are very blessed here at St Ann's to have so many good and holy parishioners.  God is good indeed!

Adoration continues throughout the day today and throughout the night until the closing Benediction at 9.10am on Thursday morning.  Parish Mass will follow this at 9.30am on Thursday morning.

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament . . .

Another quote from that marvellous little book, 'A Curé of Ars Prayer Book':

When we are before the Blessed Sacrament, instead of looking about, let us shut our eyes and our mouth; let us open our heart: our good God will open His; we shall go to Him, He will come to us, the one to ask, the other to receive; it will be like a breath from one to the other. What sweetness do we not find in forgetting ourselves in order to seek God! The saints lost sight of themselves that they might see nothing but God, and labour for Him alone; they forgot all created objects in order to find Him alone. This is the way to reach Heaven.

We are privileged here at St Ann's to be able to have Eucharistic Adoration on three days of the week. Now that the school holidays are over we have returned to our regular pattern of 3-day Adoration:

Tuesday: 10 am - 8 pm

Wednesday: 10 am - 7 pm

Thursday: 7 am - 8 pm

If you are passing by; out shopping or on your way home after dropping children off at school, do please pop in and 'say hello' to Our Blessed Lord.

My Dear Jesus,

I adore you in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist.

I adore and praise your Most Holy Name.

I adore and worship your Body hidden in the Sacrament.

I adore your humility in veiling your Godhead.

I adore your Most Sacred Heart masked by these shadows.

I adore for ever the Most Holy Sacrament.

Amen.

Adoro te devote latens Deitas . . .

The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ dates back to the thirteenth century. It was established by Pope Urban IV in 1264.

It was faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Eucharist that led to devotion of the Blessed Eucharist outside Mass.

Our Lord and God is in the tabernacle, Jesus is truly present in the tabernacle of every Catholic church throughout the world. Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love. We should not be sparing in the time we spend in adoration but let us come to this many times to make reparation for the offences committed against Him in our world.

Today we should pray acts of love to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and may our adoration of Him never cease.

Thank you, Lord, for remaining with us.

‘O Sacrament most Holy, O Sacrament Divine,
all praise and all thanksgiving,
be every moment thine.’