Forty Hours' Devotion

Forty Hours' Devotion, in Italian called Quarant'ore or written in one word Quarantore, is a Roman Catholic exercise of devotion in which continuous prayer is made for forty hours before the Blessed Sacrament in solemn exposition. It commonly occurs in a succession of churches, with one finishing prayers at the same time as the next takes it up.

A celebration of such a devotion is begun by a Solemn Mass or "Mass of Exposition", and ended by a "Mass of Deposition". Each of these masses includes a procession and the litany of the saints being chanted.

The exact period of forty hours' exposition is not in practice very strictly adhered to; for the Mass of Deposition is generally sung at about the same hour of the morning, two days after the Mass of Exposition. On the intervening day a solemn Mass pro pace is offered -- if possible, at a different altar from the high altar upon which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. It is assumed that the exposition and prayer should be kept up by night as well as by day, but permission is given to dispense with this requirement when enough watchers cannot be obtained. In such a case the interruption of the devotion by night does not forfeit the indulgences conceded by the Holy See to those who take part in it.

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.

Devotion to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist increased in reaction to various groups who condemned this idea. The faithful publicly professed their belief by means of popular devotions such as Corpus Christi processions. The Forty Hours' Devotion arose at a time when there were both numerous calls for reform in the Church, and increasing concern regarding the growing strength of the Ottoman Empire.

The practice of reserving the Blessed Sacrament with some solemnity during the Easter Triduum began in the 12th or 13th century. From this the idea grew up of transferring this figurative vigil of forty hours to other days and other seasons. The transference to the carnival tide was very obvious, and is likely enough to have occurred independently to many different people. This seems to have been the case with Father Manare, S.J., at Macerata, c. 1548, but probably the idea suggested itself to others earlier than this.

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