The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-10-14
Nocturnal Alteration in Notre Dame.

1t may not be generally known
among the student body that one night
q month, while they are resting after
The more or less difficult day, the
Young men at the seminary are spend
Ing, by watches of one hours duration
zach, the long night in alteration be-
fore the Blessed Sacrament. Such is,
however the case, says the Notre anne
Scholastic.
The exercise of nocturnal alteration
is an old one. especially here at Notre
Dame. Perhaps pious Christians have
practised il ever since that. memor-
able night when the Savior COM
planned, could you not watch one
hour with Me- to His disciples. Ger
tain il is that during the ages of per
secution it was only under cover of
night that the faithful could assem-
Die, usually in The rough hewn cata-
combs, to worship at the Divine Mys-
teries.
The practice of-nocturnal alteration
was Introduced at Notre Dame in the
early dfies but later was. for certain
reasons, discontinued. 1t was always
held at Holy Cross seminary, at that
time known as the Novitiate; and ii is
at the seminary that the devotion has
been revived and is continued at the
present day. Expos ton Of the Blessed
Sacrament starts after confessions at
9 p. IN. on the third "Wednesday OF
every month and concludes at the Mass
on the following morning. During the
night the seminarians rise in divisions
and spend an hour of alteration in the
Divine Presence. In former years the
college students We're allowed to take
part in this exercise Of devotion. and
10 this day those who participated in
r1f he blessed
periences of their lives. No later than
a few months ago Father Elliott, {.
:. p. possibly the greatest missionary
of our times. when questioned on this
subject wrote:
The nearest contact / had with the
Novitiate' was ia the visits Of the
Nocturnal Alteration aeeletyi ef9whfeh
] was, happily, a member. Once
month after supper we journeyed TO
ST Aloysius' House. There we made
our confession and watched by turns
through the night before the Blessed
Sacrament. placed i'm exposition, ant
received Holy Communion in the morn
ing. When l entered The house I felt
as though / had passed within the veil
OF the Holy of holes, the place was so
silent and the silence was so religious.
The hour of absolute recollection
somewhere around midnight or just
before dawn was a time of the most
powerful divine influence. Forty-nine
years have passed since those visits,
and / still enjoy their spiritual fruits
It seems to me that every essential vir-
tue of religion struck the deepest roots
in my soul during these hours of de-
vout alteration.
Both i'm consideration Of various
testimonies like this. gathered from
many sources and for other reasons
as well. ii has been decided again to
admit college students to participation
in this devotion; if is understood. Of
course. that particular permission to
attend it is to be got from the rectors
OF their respective halls. 1t is earn
estly to be desired that those who will
thus watch the one hour may be as
numerous, as sincere and as faithful
as those great sons -Notre Dame has
mothered in the past, who are now her
glory.