Archbishop Bernard Hebda has invited priests and others in the community to a Holy Hour of Reparation and Prayers for Healing 11 a.m. Sept. 15 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
Archbishop Hebda will preside over the Holy Hour, which will include exposition of the Eucharist and the praying of the penitential psalms.
The penitential psalms — Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143 — are those in which the psalmist acknowledges his sin and asks for God’s forgiveness and mercy. Praying these psalms together dates has a long history in the Church; St. Augustine is said to have prayed them in the fifth century. Prior to the Second Vatican Council, they were part of the Church’s liturgical and sacramental tradition.
Archbishop Hebda announced the Holy Hour Aug. 31 in a statement on the current scandals in the Church.
“Mindful of Pope Francis’ recent call for prayer and fasting, I invite our priests, and all others, to join me for a Eucharistic holy hour of reparation and prayers for healing at the Cathedral of Saint Paul on the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, Saturday, September 15 at 11 a.m.,” he wrote.
The memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows is a Marian feast day that recognizes Mary’s suffering foretold by Simeon in Luke 2:35, when he said a sword would pierce her heart, and confirmed in John 19:26-27, when Jesus speaks to his mother from the Cross. The memorial has been commemorated in the Church since the 12th century.
