St Thomas More Church in Coventry holds ancient Church practice
From Thursday 5th October to Sunday 8th October 2023 St Thomas More, a Catholic church in Coventry, hosted a Quarant’ore – an ancient Church practice, consisting of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for forty hours.
The Quarant’ore started with Mass and finished with Benediction on Sunday. Quarant’ore is believed to have begun in Italy during the 16th century in honour of the forty hours during which the Body of Our Lord rested in the tomb.
The Forty Hours Devotion invites us to watch before the Lord, and in this extended period of adoration to offer in his presence our prayer for the Church and its mission.
The Quarant’ore was interspersed with ‘themed’ Holy Hours, the Divine Offices and the Holy Rosary. The altar had more than 100 votive candles for intentions that were placed around the Blessed Sacrament for the Forty Hours.
Speaking with Fr Simon Baker, Parish Priest:
“I suppose the saying ‘there’s no time like the present’ was in mind and the first Sunday in October seemed as good a time as any to hold the Quarant’ore,” said Fr Simon Baker, prish priest at St Thomas More.
“We had an excellent response of people coming to church to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Together with our own parishioners and parishioners from within the deanery parishes, it was good to welcome others from Great Barr, Sutton Coldfield, Lichfield and Stafford.
“It was interesting to watch people come and go and to see such a wide age range of people to spend time in prayer especially our younger members.
“This has been a blessed time for us as a parish and indeed for all those who came to spend time with the Lord. Our thanks to everyone who took the time to come along and we look forward to welcoming you again next year for the Quarant’ore.”
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