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 The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

churches on

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

from noon till 3p.m. to commemorate the three hours of Christ's hanging at the cross. The

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest Alphonsus Messia (died 1732) is said to have devised this devotion in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, Peru. It was introduced to Rome around 1788 and spread around the world to many

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

s. In 1815, Pope Pius VII decreed a plenary

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...

to those who practise this devotion on Good Friday.Raccolta – Jesus Crucified
/ref>

References

External links

Good Friday Tre Ore Worship Service: The Seven Last Words of Jesus from the Cross, given at St. John's Lutheran Church, MissouriThe three hours' agony of Our Lord Jesus Christ: given at the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, New York, Good FridayEnglish 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...
Holy Week Crucifixion of Jesus Catholic liturgy Lutheran liturgy and worship Methodist texts Anglican liturgy {{Christianity-stub