Why forty hours of adoration? We know that 40 refers to the number of days of rain during the Flood; the number of years the Israelites spent in the wilderness; the number of days after which Our Lady was purified following the birth of Our Lord – after those same 40 days Jesus was presented at the Temple; the 40 days Our Lord fasted before starting his public ministry; and also, the 40 hours that Our Lord’s body remained in the tomb.
The late, great Vivian Stanshall, founder of the surreal Bonzo Dog Doo- Dah Band, wrote in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End that Beethoven was a terrible dancer; rats can’t be sick; and, there is no name for the back of the knee.
In a similar vein, it is a little-known fact, that it has been said that St Philip Neri couldn’t count. The counting house in Chiesa Nuova was a sight to behold. ‘One, two, three, four, …, forty’; ‘thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, …, forty’; ‘121; 122; 123; …, 40’. Around 1550 St Philip Neri established in Rome the Forty Hours
devotion for the Archconfraternity of the Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims in the Church of the same name. The Sacristan was a little concerned about the prospect of setting up and igniting hundreds and hundreds of candles. So, he asked St Philip how many should be put up. ‘Forty’, he replied. Next came the tricky question as to how long the devotions would last. Yet again the Sacristan played a cunning game. St Philip asked, How long are the Benedictines conducting their devotions? The Sacristan replied, 60 hours – 5 times a twelve-hour cycle. Umm – what about the Jesuits? They are having difficulty defining an hour, and are still arguing about what is meant by devotion. So far, they’ve been going for 100 hours The Franciscans – what are they up to? Well, they can’t afford a clock, and so they are still at it after 120 hours. The Dominicans? Ah, going very strong with all that preaching at a good 200 hours! St Philip thought, and pondered whilst scratching his half beard, and finally said, We mustn’t be out done by the others. We will go for much, much more. Let it be forty hours! The Sacristan breathed a sigh of relief!
The Welsh poet George Herbert has several of his poems and hymns in the appendix to the Divine Office. One which oddly isn’t there is King of Glory, King of Peace. The last verse is … Seven whole days, not one in seven, / I will praise thee; In my heart, though not in heaven, / I can raise thee. Small it is, in this poor sort / To enrol thee; E’en eternity’s too short / To extol thee. No matter how long you may spend in adoration during these holy, precious forty hours, with mind wandering and filled with all the complex cares and distractions of life, some advice from Michael Ramsey might be useful. He was once asked how long he prayed each day. ‘Two minutes, but it takes 28 to get there!’
Finally, these Forty Hours are not to be confused with that devotion established by St Hedwig, whose feast we kept last month, … the forty owls! We could learn a thing or two from owls – owls are very devout birds … … … being birds of prey!
By Dr. David Woolf