Giving thanks: 40 Hours Devotion for Vocations

40 Hours Adoration at St. Martha's, Lethbridge

The American Jesuit priest, writer, and Servant of God Fr. John Hardon once said, “[I]n God’s ordinary providence, vocations are the fruit of prayer…We mistakenly assume that some people just receive the grace of vocation and always respond to it. Not so. Vocations are the result of prayer twice over.” 

Yesterday, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, known commonly as Good Shepherd Sunday, marked the 61st World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Jesus Christ tells us that praying for vocations is not an option but a must: “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest” (Matt. 9:37-38).

On Ash Wednesday of this year, Bishop McGrattan reminded us of the need to pray for vocations by issuing a letter introducing the 40 Hours Devotion for Vocations into the Diocese of Calgary. The Bishop wrote, “It is my hope that every parish in the Diocese will participate in the Devotion, taking turns holding it on the successive weekends throughout the year, so that it becomes a perpetual tradition in our Diocese.”

So far, eight parishes in our Diocese have held the 40 Hours Devotion for Vocations- five parishes in Calgary (St. Mary’s Cathedral, St, Anthony’s, St. Luke’s, St. Bonaventure, Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, Holy Spirit Parish, St. Michael’s) and two outside of Calgary (St. Martha’s, Lethbridge and St. Mary’s, Brooks). Other parishes are scheduled to hold the Devotion in the coming weeks. St. Anthony’s Parish, Calgary holds 40 hours of Eucharistic Adoration for Vocations once a month.

The response to the 40 Hours Devotion has been extraordinary. During the last month and a half, more than a thousand parishioners have come to adore Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and pray for vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. In one parish, as many as 378 people signed up for the adoration, and many more came who had not signed up. A parishioner remarked, “No issues came up, all went smoothly…Calm, peaceful, holy.” 

At one parish, besides praying for vocations, parishioners prayed for other important intentions as well, such as peace in the world, peace in families, an end to abortion and euthanasia, and the conversion of sinners.

An important part of the 40 Hours Devotion is overnight adoration.  Getting up in the middle of the night is a sacrifice, but precisely for that reason, the spiritual fruits of nocturnal adoration are immense. Particularly noteworthy, therefore, is the number of people who have come out to adore the Blessed Sacrament during the night. One parish reported having an average of 14 persons in the church from 12 am to 6 am.  In a testimony submitted to the Office of Vocations, a young person from another parish writes:

Getting up in the middle of the night and driving to Adoration for 3 am was an amazing experience.  While meditating on the actual presence of Christ right before my eyes, I was struck by how more acute and aware my senses and attention were at this dark hour. It occurred to me that there was no better time to spend time before God himself…It also occurred to me that the more people would attend adoration, the more graces they will receive to become stronger in their belief in the true presence of Christ, and this will have a greater impact on our society.”

40 Hours Devotion for Adoration at St. Luke's, Calgary

The next 40 Hours Devotion will be held at St. Cecilia’s Parish, Calgary from Friday, April 26 at 6 am to Saturday, April 27 at 10 pm. For a list of all parishes currently scheduled to hold the Devotion in the coming weeks, please click here.  

Let us continue praying to the Lord of the harvest, present in the Eucharist, that he may send many holy labourers into his harvest (Matthew 9:38).

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To host the Devotion in your parish, please contact Fr. Derek at [email protected].