What is the Holy Hour?
Prayer is relevant anytime and anywhere. But when we make it one of our weekly or daily routines, we achieve much more.
The Holy Hour is a routine we received from Jesus.
Jesus’s Request
The practice of the Holy Hour started when Jesus appeared to Saint Margaret Alacoque in 1674 during her hour of prayer. This was not the first time Jesus appeared to her. However, on this particular occasion, Christ asked her to spend an hour meditating on His sufferings every Thursday and Friday night. According to St. Margaret, the Holy Hour was to be observed between 11pm to 12am. During this period, St. Margaret was sharing the agony and sufferings of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Basically, the practice of the Holy Hour stands on 3 principles:
- The union with the suffering of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
- The remedial prayer
- The gestures of self-humiliation.
The Concept and the Garden
The concept of the Holy Hour is based on the Gospel of Matthew during Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane just before his crucifixion. This is how the Gospel of Matthew 26:38-40 captures the events that took place that night:
38 “Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”
39 “And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
40 “And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?”
According to St. Margaret, Jesus made it clear that He wishes His faithful friends to become partakers of that sorrow unto death which he suffered in the Garden of Olives.
His followers should also join with Jesus in the humble prayer which He prayed to His Father at the time.
His followers should also join with Jesus in the humble prayer which He prayed to His Father at the time.
Modern Tradition
The Holy Hour remained strictly confined within the worship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 1911, it received the right to aggregation for the whole world and is now encouraged in the Catholic tradition. Also, Mother Teresa practiced the Holy Hour as a daily routine. According to her:
“Every Holy Hour we make so pleases the Heart of Jesus that it will be recorded in Heaven and retold for all eternity.”
We, The Salvation Garden, offer you the chance to send your urgent prayer requests for any reason. Allow us to pray for you! Send your Urgent Prayer Requests now.
Our dedicated team members will personally take your urgent prayer requests to a Church of your choice in the Holy Land and then offer them to our Lord. After we bring your prayer requests to your chosen Holy Church, we will send you videos or pictures to assure you.
