This week we hosted Quarant’ore at our cathedral. The Blessed Sacrament was exposed throughout the week, and clergy and parishioners were present at every hour in reflection and adoration.
Fr Ignatius explained what Quarant’ore means to him: “I am familiar with adoration programmes, but Quaran’tore is a novelty. That notwithstanding, Quaran’tore is an opportunity to commune with God. It offers a period of reflection where I pause and take stock of my relationship with God, his mission for me and how I’m living out my vocation. It is opportunity to move away from the busy schedule and be with the Lord.”
Quarant’ore is an ancient act of devotion, wherein the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, and continuous prayer is carried out before it for forty hours. Forty is a particularly significant number in the Bible: Moses stayed on Mt Sinai for forty days and nights; Jesus fasted for forty days and nights in the desert before his temptation; Jesus’s body lay in the tomb for 40 hours.
Our Quaranto’re mission was spearheaded by our assistant priests, Frs. Ignatius, Churchill, and Basil, with the intention of bringing us closer together as a parish through collective prayer, meditation and reflection. After a long period of restrictions preventing such gatherings, the opportunity to sit with each other in silence and devotion is particularly powerful.
This was a special week for all those who attended and found peace in the presence of Christ. It falls perfectly that today is the Feast of Corpus Christi, celebrating the joy we find in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. This is a joy we experienced first-hand throughout this past week.
A prayer for the end of our Quarant’ore:
Lord Jesus Christ, I have spent this time of adoration and prayer in your Eucharistic presence.
Fill my life with love, joy, peace, and kindness.
Transform me by the power of the Holy Spirit into a living image of your compassionate presence.
May I go forth from this hour of adoration and prayer to be your hands, feet, and heart to all those I meet.
Risen Jesus, may I be surrounded by the radiance of your love.
Amen.
