40 Hours of Adoration
For many years, dating back to as early as 1849, the Congregation had the practice of uniting across the world to keep constant vigil and prayer before our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. It was one of the spiritual devotions closest to the heart of our founder, Blessed Basile Moreau.
To mark the 150th anniversary of his entry into eternal life, the Congregation of Holy Cross united for 40 hours of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The Holy Cross community at Notre Dame de Sainte-Croix Church in Le Mans, France, initiated the period of Adoration on January 19 at 8:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. UTC).
“Among the practices of piety in use in our Congregation, there is one which I cannot recommend strongly enough because its faithful practice is the richest source of divine blessings for us and for our houses. I refer to the perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament." - Blessed Basile Moreau
Although each house and apostolate was encouraged to pray for its local needs, the Congregation lifted up four particular intentions:
- the canonization of our founder, Blessed Basile Moreau
- vocations to the Holy Cross family
- discernment of the 2022 General Chapter’s call to a new mission territory
- ongoing conformity to Jesus Christ as bearers of the hope of his Cross
Over 100 local communities and apostolates participated in the 40 hours devotion, including several that signed up for multiple hours. In addition, many individual religious and collaborators of the Congregation joined in for the time of prayer.
View a photo gallery of an international sampling of the apostolates and communities that were a part of the Eucharistic Adoration. To see a complete list of those Holy Cross communities and apostolates who signed up for the 40 hours, see the following chart.