The "Holy Hour" -- How To Do It?

[jmm08]

Last night on EWTN, Father Corapi said he listens to everything the Pope says.

On 2 October 1979, Pope John Paul II said to Archbishop Sheen: “You have written and spoken well of the Lord Jesus. You are a loyal son of the Church.”

Today I borrowed “Treasure in Clay – The Autobiography of Fulton J. Sheen” from the public library. The Epilogue is from Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara (delivered 13 December 1979 in St. Patrick’s Cathedral NYC). I quote a part of it here:

“Whenever he chose to respond to those who asked him the secret of his ability to touch minds and hearts, his answer was always – “the Holy Hour” – when he spoke to God, and listened to God speaking to him. Here his conflicts were reconciled, for he held no opinions lightly; here his anxieties and insecurities were calmed, for he was the most human of men; here his heart was literally set on fire with the drive that made him ever restless to respond totally to God’s call.”

I understand that is how Bishop Sheen spent his earliest hour of each day for more than 60 years.

How can I have a “Holy Hour” each day? It doesn’t seem practical to me yet. I haven’t been to RCIA / RCIC class yet.

As a Catholic, how can you have a “Holy Hour”? Do you? If you do please reply to this thread. Do you get to have a tabernacle in your home? Or do you come to church each morning?

As a Protestant, I knew about having “quiet time” (similar). And that the best way to start was 5 minutes a day and gradually lengthen it until it is an hour.

Perhaps you know of the great Protestant evangelist D. L. Moody of the 1800’s. What you probably do not know is that his mother spent an hour each day in prayer. She already had a large family and gave birth to twins shortly after being widowed. She resisted the pleas of others to split the children and send them into the homes of others. Now you see where D. L. Moody came from.

In the late 1800’s, Upstate New York had a significant spiritual revival (especially Broome County). The economy of Broome County boomed and was quite well – especially during the 1950s through 1970s. Now it suffers.

I believe in my heart that our Country is ready for a new revival – a revival that comes from the Catholic Church. When you are at bottom, there is only one place to look – up. Hopefully we don’t go further down.

I don’t think this “Holy Hour” is any big secret. My parish Priest told me that every Priest observes a daily Holy Hour.

 

[squirt]

jmm08:

As a Catholic, how can you have a “Holy Hour”? Do you? If you do please reply to this thread. Do you get to have a tabernacle in your home? Or do you come to church each morning?

Hi,

Lay people don’t get to have tabernacles in their homes. Even priests need permission from the Bishop to have a ‘Blessed Sacrament’ chapel in their homes.

I try to visit the Blessed Sacrament chapel at my church on the way to work each day. It’s only for 10 or 15 minutes … nowhere near an hour, though.

Upon wakeup, I spend a half hour or so praying the Divine Office and Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, and the Litany to St Joseph.

Although I rarely ‘perceive’ God talking back to me during these times, these two ‘habits’ I’ve developed certainly do help to keep things in perspective.

 

[DJJG]

A “Holy hour” is an hour spent, in prayer, before the Lord.
Usually this is meant as an hour spent, in church, before the tabernacle or the exposed Eucharist, in the monstrance. This time can be spent in private prayer to the Lord, which can be meditative prayer, personal prayer, formal prayers, (Our Fathers, Act of Contrition, Resaries{yes Rosaries} etc.) or even a combination of all. Or it can consist of communal prayer. Once a month we have a formal Holy hour, before the exposed Blessed Sacrement, consisting of Evening prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, prayers to the Sacred Heart, the Rosary, and closing with Benediction.:bowdown:

However, a holy hour can also be a hour spent in prayer, to our Lord, at home. Granted, that a Holy hour in a church, before the Blessed Sacrement, in the tabernacle or exposed, whould be much more desirable and grant more blessing and graces, a holy hour at home, esp. each day, would bring us much closser to God and the graces, from God, would be enormous and more than worth the time spent.

 

[seeker63]

I’m about to enter RCIA and am struggling with all sorts of issues, like the Real Presence. I just learned my Church has expanded its times for Eucharistic Adoration. I’ve been out of work a long time and since I’ve got plenty of free time on my hands I’ve been thinking about going, taking a few little prayer books (I don’t have a Rosary yet), and just seeing what what happens.

My question is–is it, er, kosher, to stay more than an hour, or are you expected to get and out in 60 minutes? I read my Church has a sign-in and sign-out list so the Eucharist is never alone. Do I need to schedule a visit or can I just drop in?

I’m hoping maybe some “face-time” with the Eucharist might help me resolve some of my difficulties.

Finally, I showed up at what I thought was 7:25 this morning for a 7:30 Mass, but it was already well underway. I rushed in, and was so discombobulated I forgot to genuflect in a few places, and got stuck at a back pew that I later learned was apparently reserved for ushers. But in my rush I did notice the tray of Hosts on a little table, uncovered, at the back of the Church by the door I came through. Was that actually supposed to be there? Seemed a little off to me.

 

[Fergal]

A Holy Hour originates from the time Jesus said to those in the Garden with Him “Could you not keep watch with me for even one hour?”
Basically it is an hour of Prayer - petition, thanksgiving, adoration and praise. Sometimes it can be formal and guided by a Priest either with or without music. These prove to be very popular here in our Parish and we are blest to have such dedicated Priests here.

There are many ways to ‘spend’ a Holy Hour. The most effective is in front of the Blessed Sacrament exposed on the Altar.
Bishop Fulton Sheen ‘kept’ a Holy Hour for 60 years. He slept through a lot of them but he kept them and they were valid holy hours. St Therese often slept through hers and when asked why she replied "Well when a child crawls into its fathers arms it is so safe there and so much protected and loved that sleep comes as a real consequence.
The next mose effective is to spend it before the Tabernacle.
Finally if these are not possible you can of course spend an hour in prayer uniting yourself in spirit to Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament in the Church nearest to you. Just visualise the tabernacle as you pray in your home or address the Lord present there att times during your meditations.
of course the Church can make guided Holy Hours if you are lucky enough to have dedicated Priests that value this communal time of prayer, music and silence.
We had one tonight in honour of the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother. Absolutley beautiful. Remember though that Holy Hour’s are always Christocentric (centred on Christ).

I remember reading somewhere only recently I think it was St. Louis De Montfort that if you struggle to fill the hour then spend an hour and a quater. Better to overshoot than to fall short. I mean if you find an hour difficult to fill with prayer how are you going to cope with eternity???

About your dish of hosts at the back door? Some Churches like to have the people place a non-consecrated host in the dish as they enter the church so they can consecrate about the correct amount for communion time. These are brought to the altar just before Mass begins. If 25 people attend and each adds a host for himself / herself then the priest will end up consecrating about 30 hosts as he will always add a few more to be sure to be sure!! Nothing wrong with this at all.
In fact it is a good caution to have as to consecrate too many hosts or too little does cause problems.

God Bless,
Fergal

 

[jmm08]

jmm08:

Perhaps you know of the great Protestant evangelist D. L. Moody of the 1800’s. What you probably do not know is that his mother spent an hour each day in prayer. She already had a large family and gave birth to twins shortly after being widowed. She resisted the pleas of others to split the children and send them into the homes of others. Now you see where D. L. Moody came from.

I didn’t honor Mrs. Moody enough. She kept and raised her large family and depended on God all the while.

squirt: Thanks. Does your daily practice provide you with something in your life that others at your work notice?

**DJJG: So then the time I spend at home is worth it.
And I suppose it will even be more so after I am in full communion.

seeker63:** Me too. I have a good job interview this Wednesday.

Fergal: Thank you. Do you know that Bishop Sheen slept often? Did he write that or say that? Somebody said if you start praying the rosary and fall asleep, the angels will finish it for you. Last night I fell asleep with the rosary in my hand – perhaps praying Hail Marys and not counting or worrying if I got to ten or more (secretly holding the rosary under my wife’s pillow in hope for her benefit). The first few hours of sleep did seem quite spiritually blessed. Not something I’ve experienced before.

Hope to hear from others too.

 

[squirt]

jmm08:

squirt: Thanks. Does your daily practice provide you with something in your life that others at your work notice?

If they have, nobody has mentioned it. My husband says that he’s noticed a big difference. He says I’m more patient than I used to be …

 

[jmm08]

squirt:

If they have, nobody has mentioned it. My husband says that he’s noticed a big difference. He says I’m more patient than I used to be …

Your increased patience reminds me of what St. Peter said in 2 Peter 1:5-11. It is a blessing for you to have increased patience.

When I started reading Bishop Sheen, I found that I really couldn’t want to sin the same way as before for the rest of the day. It changes me somewhat for the rest of the day. And going to Mass has a similar effect.

 

[Cat]

I LOVE my Holy Hour! I hope it is OK to say this (both are sacred)–I literally get as excited about going to meet Jesus in my Holy Hour as I do about meeting my husband in bed. Really, truly!

I try to go everyday if I can. (I have no little children at home, so it’s fairly easy for me.)

I am a convert to Catholicism from evangelical Protestantism. (April 10, 2004). I signed up to do a Holy Hour back in February, before I was confirmed into the Church. I was really scared at first.

I, too, grew up with “Quiet Times,” “Morning Watches,” “Daily Devotions,” etc. I never really got too excited about these times. They were mainly study times and “prayer lists.”

But Holy Hours before the Blessed Sacrament–wow. I knew the first time I ever saw the Exposed Host in the Monstrance that Jesus was present. I don’t know if this will happen to you, but I knew it. It is SO cool to actually be able to see Him, or at least, a veiled Version of Him.

Our church has an actual Adoration Chapel, open 24 hours a day (you have to know the “code” to get in before or after hours). There is perpetual adoration; Jesus is never left alone.

The church keeps all kinds of literature in the pews in the chapel for people to use during their Holy Hour. My husband bought me two little books that will perhaps be helpful to you, too. Both are called “An Hour With Jesus” (Volumes I and II). published by Queenship.

The “Hour With Jesus” books contain all kinds of ideas for a Holy Hour."

I was told that you can do ANYTHING in a Holy Hour, even a secular activity (as long as it is quiet and reverent). Even sleeping. The important thing is, you are doing it WITH Jesus, spending time with Him.

If you can’t stay for a whole hour, you can enjoy a visit with Jesus, just as you would visit a friend. One of my friends stops by just to say “Goodnight” to our Lord.

Here is what I do during my Holy Hour:

I pray for about twenty minutes. I really like a lot of the written down prayers in the Catholic Prayer Books, so I use some of my Holy Hour to recite these prayers and memorize new ones.

I read my Bible, including an Old Testament chapter, a Psalm, a Gospel, and an Epistle. I am trying to read all the DeuteroCanonical books, since I never read them as a Protestant. And I am trying to read the entire New American Bible through–I love this translation, especially the commentaries.

I was kicked out of my evangelical church, and for a year, I would not read the Bible, since I was afraid that I would twist it the way the cruel pastors did who kicked me out. But when I started doing Holy Hours, I realized that Jesus would be right there with me and never allow me to think a wrong interpretation of the Bible.

Finally, I pray a Rosary and dedicate it to one of several people with extraordinary needs (a friend is trying to save his marriage, another friend’s husband has cancer, etc.)

At least one day a week, I spend a Holy Hour reading the Catechism.

I’ ve seen people do all kinds of things during Holy Hour. One woman brings a stack of about a dozen different Devotionals and reads through all of them. Some people just sit quietly.

I saw one woman reading a novel earlier in the week! Oh, well–she’s sharing it with Jesus.

Once, I brought one of the novels I had written and opened it, turned the pages, and asked Jesus to please make sure it was honoring to Him.

Sometimes, but rarely, people cry. I have done so, when I am alone.

I hope you will find as much pleasure in your Holy Hour as I have found in mine!

 

[Toni]

jmm08:

How can I have a “Holy Hour” each day? It doesn’t seem practical to me yet. I haven’t been to RCIA / RCIC class yet.

As a Catholic, how can you have a “Holy Hour”? Do you? If you do please reply to this thread. Do you get to have a tabernacle in your home? Or do you come to church each morning?

Congratulations on your new found faith! Theres always room for more good Catholics. We have an adoration chapel in our parish. But if you do not have one and you can get to a church to sit with Christ. GREAT! But if that is not possible or does not work with your schedule you can pray for an hour in a quiet place in your home or outside. When I could not get to daily holy hour I would sit on my deck in my garden is a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus so I would sit and pray and take some quiet time with God. You can also pray the morning offering and offer your entire day to Christ. Most religious stores have that prayer. Good Luck!