What Makes an Hour Holy?

And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and He said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the Spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.” -Matthew 26:40-41

Monday, 8/17, at 7pm in St. Bridget Church, the Knights will sponsor a Holy Hour in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This Holy Hour features a pilgrim icon–a replica of the famous 1767 painting of Jesus’ Sacred Heart by Pompeo Batoni. In June, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops consecrated the United States to Jesus’ Sacred Heart. The consecration was not a one-and-done event; it was the beginning of a perpetual special devotion for all U.S. Catholics. This Holy Hour is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on that devotion.

Holy hours date to the earliest days of the Church. Praying at specific hours throughout the day evolved into the “Liturgy of the Hours,” as described by our resident seminarian, Brendan, in last week’s bulletin. The practice of specific holy hours dedicated to the Sacred Heart is rooted in Jesus’ appearance to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1674, asking her to contemplate His Agony in the Garden for an hour each day to make amends for the hour the Apostles failed to stay awake praying with Jesus in Gethsemane.

While the traditional time for a holy hour is Thursday evening from 11pm to midnight on the Thursday before the first Friday of the month, one can make a holy hour anytime, any day, anywhere. At his ordination, Venerable Fulton Sheen vowed to make a holy hour every day of his life. Pope St. John Paul II was known to pray before the Holy Eucharist for an hour every day before saying morning Mass. Any time spent contemplating Jesus’ Agony will produce spiritual benefits.

Join us tomorrow evening to experience the power of a holy hour. There will be scriptural readings and reflections, the Divine Mercy Chaplet and prayers to the Sacred Heart, and time for silent prayer and reflection in Eucharistic adoration. Join us as we endeavor to do what the Apostles could not do in Gethsemane.