St. Stanislaus' New 40 Hours Banner

St. Stanislaus’ New 40 Hours Banner

by Fr. William Rock, FSSP

When the faithful entered through the main doors of St. Stanislaus Parish, the FSSP apostolate in New Hampshire, during the recent 40 Hours Devotion (February 13-15, 2025), they were greeted by a Eucharistic banner hanging over the doors between the narthex and the nave. For those unfamiliar, the 40 Hours Devotion is when the Blessed Sacrament is solemnly exposed and then continuous adoration is held over the course of three days for approximately 40 hours. There is an opening and closing Mass, both Votive Masses of the Blessed Sacrament if the calendar allows. At the end of both of these Masses, there is a Eucharistic Procession and a recitation of the Litany of the Saints, but the order of the Procession and Litany is different depending on if the Mass is the opening or closing one. There is also a special Mass said on the intervening day. For those who are interested, additional information about this devotion can be found in the “Forty Hours Devotion” article in the Old Catholic Encyclopedia.

The general instructions of Clement XII for conducting the 40 Hours Devotion indicates that “a sign (e.g., a shield) or banner should be placed over the door of the church, bearing a symbol of the Blessed Sacrament, that people may see that the Forty Hours are being held there.”¹ As the parish did not have such a banner or sign, the Altar Guild undertook to make one. The first step was to find out what one of these should look like. Not able to find any images online, Mr. Shawn Tribe, of the Liturgical Arts Journal blog, was contacted. He was able to provide a photograph of one in use at a parish in Malta, which was then used as the pattern for the one made for St. Stanislaus Parish. When it was completed, the new banner was hung for the Devotion, as was indicated above, over the doors between the narthex and the nave. It was hung inside rather than outside over the main doors because of the danger of it being damaged or destroyed by New England winter weather.

Thinking that our readers would be interested, I have provided images below of the banner in its various stages of construction and use for your viewing pleasure.