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The
Sunday Holy Hour
IN LIGHT OF THE PRESENT CRISIS in the church, our Christian duty to pray for our priests assumes a greater importance today than in any time in history. As such, Our Lady has instructed Veronica to hold a Holy Hour of reparation every Sunday for the intention of the Holy Father and the fallen hierarchy in the church, as well as to atone for the profanation of the day of the Lord. The requested hour of reparation has faithfully been kept since its initiation in 1970, as the faithful gather at the sacred grounds each and every Sunday between the hours of10:30 a.m. and noon to offer the 15 decade Rosary, a litany, and to sing devotional hymns to Our Lady. (The original time given by Our Lady was 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. but was changed when we moved in 1975 from the original site of St. Robert Bellarmine Church to our present open-air site. See Background Story below.) For over three decades, the Sunday Holy Hour has stood as a pillar of dedication to the cause of the sacred priesthood--a dedication which, to our knowledge, can not be found anywhere else in the world today. For it is here on these sacred grounds that those of true faith are praying with true charity and purpose, bearing the harshest, elements that nature can dish out so that priests everywhere might be given that grace and fortitude to rise above the world and remain true to their vows as representatives of God.
The weather can be brutal in New York, and during the course of a year the pilgrims will endure a, whole spectrum of climatic conditions from a humid 99'F, to a wind chill of -20'F, to a driving rain or snow. It has truly been said, that our priests will only be as holy as we pray them to be. Our Lady Herself has said that the clergy do not have a special passport to Heaven (Wisdom 6:5,6), but must merit their way to the kingdom by carrying their cross and remaining ever true to their vocation. We urge you to begin your own Sunday Holy Hour (call your local organizer) and, if possible, to unite yours with ours because it is far more efficacious. St. Louis de Montfort in 77th Secret of the Rosary states: "Somebody who says his Rosary alone only gains the merit of one Rosary, but if he says it together with thirty other people he gains the merit of thirty Rosaries. This is the law of public prayer. . . . It is very easy [for Satan] to break a single stick, but if you join it to others to make a bundle it cannot be broken." Consider that you would be gaining the merit, on the average, of 150 rosaries. Plus, the added benefit stated by Our Lady (see excerpt above).
This preeminent Marian Saint adds: "Public prayer is far more powerful than private prayer to appease the anger of God and call down His Mercy, and Holy Mother Church, guided by the Holy Ghost, has always advocated public prayer in times of public tragedy and suffering." May the Bayside Holy Hour serve as a model and incentive for all concerned Catholics today, that they, too, will pray and take up their defense for the priesthood which is now being attacked with a ferocity that only Lucifer and his agents could contrive. © |
