A special 40 hours Lenten devotion stretching back at least 80 years at Holy Cross in Minneapolis is ready to roll again this year from March 18-20.
“We always look forward to a full church and there’s space for guests as well,” said Father Spencer Howe, pastor. “It’s a great tradition that goes back many, many years at Holy Cross.”
Father Spencer Howe
This year will be marked by two significant happenings: Celebrating a special feast day Mass for the solemnity of St. Joseph at 9 a.m. March 19; and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams, ordained and installed Jan. 25, will preside at a special 4 p.m. March 20 closing liturgy for the 40 hours devotion, marking his first visit to the parish since his installation as bishop.
Between Masses and into each evening the church will be open for eucharistic adoration, a major part of the 40 hours devotion, as well as normal evening times for confession March 19, said Father Howe and Sam Backman, the parish’s director of sacred music, in a segment of “Practicing Catholic” set to debut 9 p.m. March 11 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Often a Lenten practice, the 40 hours devotion can be held any time of year, Father Howe told Patrick Conley, host of “Practicing Catholic.” While the number 40 is symbolic of the 40 days of Lent, the devotion actually recalls the 40 hours Christ was in the tomb from the afternoon of Good Friday to his resurrection from the dead Easter morning, Father Howe said.
“It’s an invitation into the Lord’s eucharistic presence,” Father Howe said. “We don’t come to the dead body of Christ, but we come to his living body.”
Sam Backman
The 40 hours devotion at Holy Cross is marked by a solemn, yet celebratory atmosphere, Father Howe said.
“We’re in the Lenten season, but we do kind of cheat a little bit, you might say, both with the decoration of the altar as well as with the use of the organ and the care of the music. It’s going to be a beautiful closing liturgy,” he said.
As Catholics, Backman said, the faithful believe that Christ became flesh for the sake of all people, “and wishes to manifest himself to all of our senses. And part of this devotion is that we want to make a physical reality, a kind of physical manifestation of our praise as well. So, certainly, the music is intended to reflect that.”
“So, it’s both somber and victorious, in that sense,” Backman said.
To hear more about the 40 hours devotion and its practice at Holy Cross, tune into “Practicing Catholic,” which also airs at 1 p.m. March 12 and 2 p.m. March 13.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Jesuit Father Christopher Collins, vice president for Mission at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, who discusses charitably navigating social media; and Dr. Jack Lane, neuroradiology consultant from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and Roland Millare, Ph.D., vice president of curriculum and director of Shepherd’s Heart for the Houston-based St. John Paul II Foundation, who describe how Catholic health care professionals work to provide ethically sound care and counsel.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at
soundcloud.com/PracticingCatholic
tinyurl.com/PracticingCatholic (Spotify)
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