40 Hours Devotion

Forty Hours Devotion is a special 40-hour period of continuous prayer made before the Blessed Sacrament in solemn exposition. Affirming our belief in the real presence of our Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, we come to visit and adore the Lord present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. The Forty Hours Devotion begins with a solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament wherein the sacred Host remains on the altar in a “monstrance” like the one seen on the cover of this flyer. During the next 40 hours, the faithful gather for personal or public prayer in adoration of our Lord. All the faithful (adults and youth)are encouraged to sign up to watch and pray for at least one hour during this period. Sign up will be available online and in other ways listed below.

The number forty has always signified a sacred period of time: the rains during the time of Noah lasted 40 days and nights; the Jews wandered through the desert for 40 years, our Lord fasted and prayed for 40 days before beginning His public ministry. The Forty Hours Devotion remembers that traditional “forty-hour period” from our Lord’s burial until the resurrection.