The citizen., 1902-02-28
FORTY HOURS DEVOTION.
Picturesque Description of the
Services Held at st. Johns
Church This Week.

beautiful devotion of the "Forty
Hours" was begun with the usual
impressive solemnities in the
presence of large congregation.
The ceremony takes its name
IRON the forty hours during which
our Lords body laid in the Sepul-
chre. The devotion was begun
at Milan in 1884, and was intro
dnced into Rome by st. Philip
Neri in 1918 1t owes its origin
to Father Joseph, "a Capuchin
friar at Milan. In the year 1884
the city of Milan was suffering all
the miSerieS attendant on war,
and was reduced almost to des-
pair, when FIR. Joseph called the
citizens to raise their eyes from
the miSeries around them and
look up to heaven for succour,
assuring them on the part of God
that if they would give them
selves to fervent prayer for Forty
Hours, their city and country
would be liberated from the de-
vaStatiOnS of their enemies. The
citizens Obeyed the call, and
heaven did not delay to fulfil the
assurance given 10y the holy monk !;
for in short time the Emperor
Charles v, and Francis, King of
France were seen at the gate of
Milan arranging the articles of
the Peace. The tradition has
ever since been faithfully kept by
means of the so called Forty
Hours devotion, not only by the
inhabitants of Milan, but by the
Catholic Church.
The purpose of the practice,
however. as existing in the
Church, is not to commemorate
any historical event, but simply
to encourage and stimulate devo-
tion. For this purpose the con
Secrated Host is exposed to the
view of the people in an ostenSo-
rum of precious material, richly
ornamented. 1t is carried in pro
cessiOn in the midst of hymns and
chants, with the swining of cen.
serS and the scattering of flowers.
1t is then placed upon a throne
above the alter, where it remeinS
for approximately forty hours.
During the three days over whic h
the Forty Hours of alteration are
spread, the congregation devote
themselves by prayer fasting and
alteration. At the end of the
Forty Hours, the Host is again
carried in procession as before,
and replaced in the tabernacle.
On Sunday, Rev. Joseph Smith,
S. j. celebrated the Mass of EX-
position in st. Johns. During
the Mass several hymns were
sung by the Novices and ScholaS-
tics, accompanied by one of their
members on the grand organ. At
the close of the Mass, the process
sion moved through the aisles of
the church, after which the Bless
ed Sacrament was placed upon
the throne provided for the occa
sion. Owing to the circumstances
of this country, the ceremonies of
this annual feast day cannot be
carried out their full, but in
Catholic countries the scenes
about the churches on the Occa
sion of this feast are beautiful.
There the gardens are shorn of
their fairest blooms, the steeples
are reeling with the clang of
bells, the cannon are booming in
the mountain gorges, the pomp of
armies salutes the King of Kings.
The ceremony ended at st.
Johns on Tuesday morning with
a repetition of Sundays pro
gramme. During the three days
sermons were preached by the
Reverend Rector of the Novitiate,
Father j. ii. O'Rourke, by
Father Gaffney, Father McNitf
and Father Keelen Holy Com
munion was given to nearly 400
person. AT almost all hours of
the day the church was thronged
with earnest worshippers.
For many years the devotion
of the Forty Hours has been car
ried out annually by every church
in the Archdiocese of Baltimore,
and in none has it been celebrat-
ed with more beauty of ritual and
devotional solemnity than by the
Congregation of st. Johns, Fred
erick, under the Fathers OF the
Society of Jesus. This is in all
probability the last time it will be
held under their direction, as
next year they will take up their
abode at the new house being
erected for them on the Hudson
river, in New York State.
Gen. John M. Hood, for many
years the efficient president of the
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