Quarant'ore at Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral will be open for Quarant'ore - 40 hours devotion in front of the Blessed Sacrament - starting this evening. The devotions begin with 5.30pm Mass celebrated Bishop Alan Hopes. They end with Mass on Friday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart, at 5.30pm, when the celebrant will be Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. Quarant'ore is a tradition which is believed to have begun in Italy during the 16th century in honour of the 40 hours during which the Body of Our Lord rested in the tomb. It was introduced by Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria in Milan and Venice in 1527, and was spread to many places in Italy by the Capuchin, Joseph of Fermo, before being introduced into Rome and Germany by Jesuits under Saint Ignatius.