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| (St. Vincent Ferrer Parish, NYC) |
“The holy hour in
our modern rat race is necessary for authentic prayer. Our world is one of
speed in which intensity of movement is a substitute for lack of purpose; where
noise is invoked to drown out the whisperings of conscience; where talk, talk, talk
gives the impression that we are doing something when really we are not; where
activity kills self-knowledge won by contemplation…
There seems to be so little in common between our involvement with the news of the world and the Stranger in whose Presence we find ourselves. The hour means giving up a golf game or a cocktail party, or a nap…
Sometimes it is
hard, especially during vacation when we have nothing to do. I remember once
having two hours between trains in Paris.
I went to the Church
of Saint Roch to make my
holy hour. There are not ten days a year I can sleep in the daytime This was
one. I was so tired, I sat down at 2:00p.m.--too tired to kneel--and went to
sleep. I slept perfectly until 3:00p.m. I said to the Good Lord: "Did I
make a holy hour?" The answer came back: "Yes! That's the way the
Apostles made their first one." The best time to make a holy hour is in
the morning, early, before the day sets traps for us. By being faithful to it,
and letting nothing interfere with it, we use it as the sign and symbol of our
victimhood. We are not called to great penances, and many would interfere with
our duty, but the hour is our daily sacrifice in union with Christ.”
(Venerable Fulton
J. Sheen)
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