Forty Hours devotions -- or Quarant'ore -- are traditionally done during the period before Lent, often from Quinquagesima Sunday to the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It is during this period of preparation that the Blessed Sacrament would be exposed for an extended period in parish churches.
The reason I note this is because approximately one year ago, LAJ was contacted by the FSSP parish of St. Stanislaus in New Hampshire who inquired about a Clementine instruction around quarant'ore, the Instructio Clementina, in which mention was made of a special banner being hung over the church door. You can read the entire account from The Missive, but here is the relevant excerpt:
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.” [See: Fortescue, The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described, ch,. 27 -- LAJ] 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.
Now the aforementioned instruction was specific to the churches of the city of Rome I should note, but as is often the case, customs and traditions in Rome tend get replicated elsewhere. Indeed, I knew if anyone might have preserved this as a living tradition, it was likely to be the Maltese -- who, at this point, seem to be more Roman than even the Romans themselves, at least where these sorts of traditions are concerned. I reached out to some of our Maltese contacts who were able to provide this example of just such a banner in use:
Since 2024, I came across what might be another example of this type of banner -- once again, from Malta -- given its strong Eucharistic themes (the IHS, the clusters of grapes, the Lamb and Pelican in Her Piety, and the banner with the words "Let us Worship.")
At any rate, one can well understand the motive of Pope Clement XII here. A banner such as this effectively acts as an advertisement to Roman passers-by, announcing that Eucharistic adoration is taking place in the place, which would thus encourage the faithful to stop in, even if only briefly, for a moment of quiet prayer and adoration.
Turning back to St. Stanlislaus, their altar guild produced a replica of the Maltese banner. The Missive provides various photos of the process of the construction of the banner, but here it is completed and seen in use:
While most of our readers and parish priests may not be in Rome proper, perhaps this is a Roman tradition that your parishes may wish to claim as your own.
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