Three Hours' Agony

The Three Hours' Agony (also known as the Tre Ore, The Great Three Hours, or Three Hours' Devotion) is a Christian service held in Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist churches on Good Friday from noon till 3 p.m. to commemorate the three hours of Christ's hanging at the cross.^[1]

Front page of the Devocion a las tres horas by P. Alonso Messia SJ.

The Jesuit priest Alphonsus Messia (died 1732) is said to have devised this devotion in Lima, Peru. It was introduced to Rome around 1788 and spread around the world to many Christian denominations.^[1] In 1815, Pope Pius VII decreed a plenary indulgence to those who practise this devotion on Good Friday.^[2]

References

1. The United Methodist Book of Worship: Regular Edition Black. United Methodist Publishing House. 2016. p. 365. ISBN 9781426735004.
2. Raccolta – Jesus Crucified

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

• Good Friday Tre Ore Worship Service: The Seven Last Words of Jesus from the Cross, given at St. John's Lutheran Church, Missouri
• The three hours' agony of Our Lord Jesus Christ: given at the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, New York, Good Friday
• English text: "The devotion of the three hours' agony on Good Friday"
• Spanish text: Devoción a las tres horas de la agonía de Cristo nuestro Redentor..., 1782
• Italian text: Divozione alle tre ore dell'agonia di Gesù Cristo nostro redentore...