24 Hours for the Lord

 The purpose of this article is to provide information on 24 Hours for the Lord and links concerning the event, along with official resources for the year (if/when it is made available).

24 Hours for the Lord is an initiative of the Pontifical Council for the Promoting of the New Evangelization encouraged by Pope Francis since 2014 to be held annually in every diocese in the world on the Friday/Saturday preceding the Fourth Sunday of Lent. It is to involve 24 consecutive hours of Adoration of the exposed Blessed Sacrament, in accompaniment with extended periods -ideally 24hrs- of the Sacrament of Confession (Reconciliation) being made available.

This article is updated each year with the relevant information as it is made available. Specific information for this year's (2018's) event is below, scroll down for further general information.

24 Hours for the Lord this Year: 2018

In Pope Francis' 2018 Lenten message delivered at the commencement of the liturgical year (link), he affirms that this event will be taking place once again, has it has since 2014:

One such moment of grace will be, again this year, the “24 Hours for the Lord” initiative, which invites the entire Church community to celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation in the context of Eucharistic adoration. In 2018, inspired by the words of Psalm 130:4, “With you is forgiveness”, this will take place from Friday, 9 March to Saturday, 10 March. In each diocese, at least one church will remain open for twenty-four consecutive hours, offering an opportunity for both Eucharistic adoration and sacramental confession. (1st Nov, 2017)

 This year's Scriptural theme: “With you is forgiveness” (Psalm 130:4)

This year's resources: click here

General Official Information on the Event

Official information for the holding of the "24 Hours of the Lord" is found bellow, drawing from two documents by Pope Francis.

Misericordiae Vultus, Bull of Indication of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy,

(11 April, 2015).

The initiative of “24 Hours for the Lord,” to be celebrated on the Friday and Saturday preceding the Fourth Week of Lent, should be implemented in every diocese. So many people, including young people, are returning to the Sacrament of Reconciliation; through this experience they are rediscovering a path back to the Lord, living a moment of intense prayer and finding meaning in their lives. Let us place the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the centre once more in such a way that it will enable people to touch the grandeur of God’s mercy with their own hands. For every penitent, it will be a source of true interior peace.

Misericordia et misera, Apostolic Letter, 20 Nov, 2016.

A favourable occasion for this [Sacrament of Reconciliation] could be the 24 Hours for the Lord, a celebration held in proximity to the Fourth Sunday of Lent. This initiative, already in place in many dioceses, has great pastoral value in encouraging a more fervent experience of the sacrament of Confession.

The above is written at the end of 2016 ('The Year of Mercy'), and makes the assumption that the 24 Hours for the Lord is and will be a continuing event.

I haven't come across an explicit mention of the annual nature of the 24 Hour for the Lord either by Pope Francis, or the Pontifical Council for the Promoting of the New Evangelization, as such. Yet the above reference in Misericordia et misera is satisfactory for manifesting the intention that this event is to be annual, yet even more clear than this is the continued call of Pope Francis year after year, including in 2018, that the 24 Hours for the Lord ought to be carried out in at least one church in each diocese.

Nothing more need be said but it isn't hard to find all over the internet that the 24 Hours for the Lord was intended to be an annual event from the beginning. For example, the official website of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Whales states the following (2014):

24 Hours for the Lord is for the whole Catholic Church and one of its main aims is to create a powerful tradition.

It's hoped that the initiative will be held annually on the Fourth Sunday of Lent.

(Source here).

In the Context of the New Evangelisation

Spear-headed by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, the 24 Hours for the Lord is a prayerful initiative of the New Evangelisation which has the Eucharist as its source and summit.

A truth expounded by Pope Saint John Paul II in Ecclesia Eucharistia (2003, 22).

From the perpetuation of the sacrifice of the Cross and her communion with the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, the Church draws the spiritual power needed to carry out her mission. The Eucharist thus appears as both the source and the summit of all evangelization, since its goal is the communion of mankind with Christ and in him with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

-------------------------------------Archive-------------------------------------

 

24 Hours for the Lord - 2017

The official website of the Pontifical Council for the Promoting of the New Evangelization makes the following statement:

Following the enthusiasm of past year, the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization proposes the 24 hours for the Lord also for the Lent of 2017, on March 24-25.

(Source here)

The theme of 2017's event: "I desire mercy" (Mt 9:13).

Official Poster for the 24 Hours for the Lord: 2017

 JPEG: http://www.novaevangelizatio.va/content/dam/nvev/images/Eventi/24ore2017/Manifesto%20EN.jpg

 PDF: http://www.novaevangelizatio.va/content/dam/nvev/Documenti/Manifesto%20EN.pdf

Infirmus: A Recasting of Henley's Invictus

The following famous poem is by William Ernest Henley called Invictus (Latin for 'unconquerable' or 'undefeated') I will share it here before proceeding.

Out of the night that covers me,

      Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

      For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

      I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

      My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

      Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

      Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

      How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

      I am the captain of my soul.

In reading again William Ernest Henley’s poem Invictus, I was at once in marvel at the raw brilliancy of the poem—powerful, emotive, and an expression of the resilient human spirit in its fierce and mesmerizing autonomy. Yet at the same time, not to slight the plight of health and sincere expression of Henley that arose from this state, I was struck by how false I perceived the poem to be—I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul.

These words have the illusion of truth, and they resonate because they touch something at the core of us, but they only touch upon a fragment of the truth whilst missing the point completely. These very lines above all, and the entire poem upon closer inspection, seemed to embody the complete antithesis of the Truth which is revealed in the Scriptures, and which flips human rationale on its head (or on its feet, as it flips a disordered thinking the right way up!) —and the truth is this: that true nobleness, power and glory resides not in the triumphalism of human strength over weakness, but in human weakness yielded to God, which because of the Incarnation and Redemption of Christ on the Cross, has become the locus for divine transcendence. An indwelling or habitation, if you will, for the Divine Glory, Strength, and Power; as opposed to a stepping stone to mere human conquering which may have its day, and can speak fine heroic words, but which is ultimately vain as it will perish in the grave.

It is true that having free will, and thus the power to choose, we are in some ways the masters of our fate and the captains of our souls. Yet not really, because we are creatures, and therefore contingent beings upon a higher power—and so such mastery is mere illusion at best. It is conditional, and therefore not true mastery at all. After all, we are not gods, but are vulnerable creatures prone to sickness, deception, and death, which one fell swoop of mother nature can crush at the blink of an eye. So much for gods.

The very notion that freedom and autonomy is fulfilled by means of asserting our mastery, and taking the helm of the ship of our soul as its captains, is perhaps the greatest lie of all. A lie which Satan fed to Eve so long ago, and which he perpetuates to this day. Since if we are creatures with a mastery which is illusionary and subject to stronger forces which can rip the wheel from our hands and toss us about, to and fro, eventually unto the grave; then asserting this mastery by becoming the captain of our souls will bestow no more than a contingent, temporary and imperfect freedom and autonomy—a freedom and autonomy subject itself, to at the very last, sink in the final storm.

Thus in the truest sense, this isn’t freedom or autonomy at all. For a finite and limited captain cannot steer a ship into infinite and unlimited horizons. He can try, but he'll die trying in vain. An infinite and unlimited captain is needed for this—and by yielding oneself, one’s ship, to such a captain, one will sail on the waters of true and unbounded liberty, and will be truly autonomous, because one’s free will which is limited in its scope of realisation, once yielded to this captain, will share and acquire the limitless scope of this captain’s unbounded will. This captain is none other than God Himself, and happy is the soul who freely bows her head to His mastery, the mastery of His Divine Will, which sets one free, simply at the cost of pride—a brilliant price to pay.

The following poem adopts the form of Henley's Invictus, and not so much parodies but recasts his poem as it were in the Light of the Gospel. The poem, titled Infirmus, is inferior to Henley's, but it rings more true.

***

Within this night that covers me,

      Dark as cavernous Pluto’s pole,

I thank my God—sweet loving He,

      For frail my vulnerable soul.

On stage where plays the vehement scenes

      I’ve stood bold, trembled, cried aloud.

Under the thorny crown and beams,

      My head bloody, but freely bowed.

Beyond this field of tears and shame

      Shines through the pain an untouched dawn.

And thus the years like moon that wane,

      I gladly welcome as the morn.

It matters not how thin the gate,

      How black with sins that judging scroll;

I’ve yielded up to Him my fate,

      He is the captain of my soul.

15/02/2017

Novena to St. Raphael for Healing

Guarigione di Tobia, Antonio de Bellis (attributed).

A private prayer, prayed for nine consecutive days.

St. Raphael—O Mighty Archangel,

And beloved instrument of God’s grace and healing designs—

We humbly invoke thy patronage

And beseech thee to come to our aid

On this day and throughout our days,

And to the aid of all our benefactors,

Just as thou didst come to the aid of Tobias, Sarah and Tobit

In diverse ways, according to their various plights and needs.

Drive far from us the influence of the Evil One;

Sustain us in God’s purity,

Arrange in advanced all the meetings God so wills us to have,

And offer our actions to the Virgin Mary for the glory of God.

Trusting in thy intercession,

And thy gift of healing, O dispenser of the Medicine of God,

We especially ask of thee for the favour of healing [mention name]

In mind, body and soul, especially in the particular ailment [mention ailment]

That plagues him/her, and that all complications of health in this regard

Would be resolved in the best possible manner, for God’s greater glory,

And for the consolation of this dear child of God.

Amen.

St. Francis De Sales on Spiritual Dryness

St. Francis de Sales

 Today is the memorial of St. Frances de Sales (1567-1622), Doctor of the Church - referred to as Doctor Caritatis - 'the Doctor of Love.' His writings are exemplary - lucid, rich with insight, and beautiful - bordering on poetic. He is known to have won over the Calvinists, not so much with the rigour of his logic, nor with threats of brimstone, but with his gentleness and love, which was none other than the gentleness and love of Christ.

The Introduction to the Devout Life is one of his works, and is considered a master piece of Christian literature. Bellow is a brief extract from this work, under a chapter titled: "Of Spiritual Dryness and Barrenness."

So you shall act in times of spiritual consolations. But these bright days will not last for ever, and sometimes you will be so devoid of all devout feelings, that it will seem to you that your soul is a desert land, fruitless, sterile, wherein you can find no path leading to God, no drop of the waters of Grace to soften the dryness which threatens to choke it entirely. Verily, at such a time the soul is greatly to be pitied, above all, when this trouble presses heavily, for then, like David, its meat are tears day and night, while the Enemy strives to drive it to despair, crying out, “Where is now thy God? how thinkest thou to find Him, or how wilt thou ever find again the joy of His Holy Grace?”

[Finally, Philothea,] amid all our dryness let us never grow discouraged, but go steadily on, patiently waiting the return of better things; let us never be misled to give up any devout practices because of it, but rather if possible, let us increase our good works, and if we cannot offer liquid preserves to our Bridegroom, let us at least offer Him dried fruit—it is all one to Him, so long as the heart we offer be fully resolved to love Him. In fine weather bees make more honey and breed fewer grubs, because they spend so much time in gathering the sweet juices of the flowers that they neglect the multiplication of their race. But in a cold, cloudy spring they have a fuller hive and less honey. And so sometimes, my daughter, in the glowing springtide of spiritual consolations, the soul spends so much time in storing them up, that amid such abundance it performs fewer good works; while, on the contrary, when amid spiritual dryness and bitterness, and devoid of all that is attractive in devotion, it multiplies its substantial good works, and abounds in the hidden virtues of patience, humility, self-abnegation, resignation and unselfishness.

Some people… fall into the great mistake of imagining that when we offer a dry, distasteful service to God, devoid of all sentiment and emotion, it is unacceptable to His Divine Majesty; whereas, on the contrary, our actions are like roses, which, though they may be more beautiful when fresh, have a sweeter and stronger scent when they are dried. Good works, done with pleasurable interest, are pleasanter to us who think of nothing save our own satisfaction, but when they are done amid dryness and deadness they are more precious in God’s Sight. Yes indeed, my daughter, for in seasons of dryness our will forcibly carries us on in God’s Service, and so it is stronger and more vigorous than at a softer time. There is not much to boast of in serving our Prince in the comfort of a time of peace, but to serve Him amid the toils and hardness of war, amid trial and persecution, is a real proof of faithfulness and perseverance. The blessed Angela di Foligni said, that the most acceptable prayer to God is what is made forcibly and in spite of ourselves; that is to say, prayer made not to please ourselves or our own taste, but solely to please God;—carried on, as it were, in spite of inclination, the will triumphing over all our drynesses and repugnances. And so of all good works;—the more contradictions, exterior or interior, against which we contend in their fulfilment, the more precious they are in God’s Sight; the less of self-pleasing in striving after any virtue, the more Divine Love shines forth in all its purity. A child is easily moved to fondle its mother when she gives it sweet things, but if he kisses her in return for wormwood or camomile it is a proof of very real affection on his part. (Part IV, Chp. 14).