The Holy Hour that Saved the World

Connie Anderson remembers “Good Pope John," Vatican II, and the Cuban Missile Crisis — and the meaning of a very special Holy Hour. 

On First Friday, November 2, 1962, I was kneeling with my eighth-grade class in the back of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Along with the student body, faculty, priests, many family members, and parishioners, we were attending the most important Eucharistic Holy Hour of our lives. The Cuban Missile Crisis, which had ended four days earlier on Sunday, October 28, was the closest our country had ever come to full-scale nuclear war. In the quiet, darkened church, we thanked Our Lord for saving us and our world from imminent destruction.  

1962's world-shaking events were to mark my belief indelibly in Our Lord's Real Presence. On October 4, I turned thirteen. It was also the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, and the day "Good Pope John" (John XXIII) made his first pilgrimage to Assisi and Loreto. A Third Order (Secular) Franciscan, Pope John wanted to entrust the Second Vatican Council at shrines dedicated to Saint Francis and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pope John would later encourage efficacious Holy Hours against the power of evil.  

A call to work for peace 

One week later, on October 11, Vatican Council II began, with 2,500 cardinals, patriarchs, and bishops attending. On the Council's second day, Pope John graciously greeted visiting ambassadors. In the Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo's magnificent painting, The Last Judgment, Pope John exhorted his distinguished guests to work together for peace. Subsequent events would soon make this meeting prophetic. 

For the next ten days, the world, the Council, my classmates, and I were blissfully unaware that the Cuban Missile Crisis had begun. On October 16, security advisors alerted John F. Kennedy, our country's first Catholic president, to the presence of medium-range ballistic missiles on the island. Five days later, after confirming the sites and confronting Soviet officials, the escalating danger forced Kennedy to make an urgent television and radio simulcast. Kennedy knew our situation was grave. A nuclear war could wipe out a third of the world's population, including much of the United States.  

As part of National Civil Defense, schools across the country mandated student fingerprinting, dog tags or IDs, and evacuation drills. My Dad, a WWII veteran and an ESSO (EXXON) chemical engineer, knew Louisiana's petrochemical industry made Baton Rouge a prime target. Many children, including me, suffered from chronic nightmares. 

Behind the scenes, the Holy Spirit was at work. Kennedy discreetly reached out to Pope John, who received the message late Wednesday, October 24. The Pope, who was devoted to Holy Hours, took time to pray. The following day, he made an inspired Vatican Radio address, calling for peace. 

Mounting tensions during the crisis

On Friday, October 26, Pope John's plea was front-page news in leading newspapers throughout the world, including the Soviets' Pravda. On "Black Saturday," October 27, three heart-stopping events almost derailed the peace process. Off Cuba, the captain of a Soviet submarine thought the war had begun and almost launched a nuclear-armed torpedo against an American naval ship.  

On the other side of the world, American interceptors armed with missiles scrambled to escort an American U-2 plane from Soviet airspace without incident. However, the most electrifying of the day's incidents was Cuba shooting down USAF Major Rudolf Anderson's spy plane, resulting in Anderson's death. 

Mounting tensions and bold talk spurred negotiators to work throughout the night. Khrushchev, who realized he was losing control in Cuba, made the first move. The next morning, Sunday, October 28, Khrushchev publicly announced over Radio Moscow that the Soviet Union would cease building weapon sites and dismantle the missiles. One hour later, despite overwhelming opposition from his senior advisors, Kennedy quickly accepted Khrushchev's offer. The crisis was over. 

A Holy Hour in thanksgiving for peace

I do not remember being afraid during this very dangerous time. What I do remember is feeling peace and seeing peace on the adults' faces during my school's First Friday Holy Hour. The beautiful hymn, "Tantum Ergo," still explains my 8th-grade experience most clearly: "Down in adoration falling, this great Sacrament we hail ..." 

The USCCB's National Eucharistic Revival plans to renew our Eucharistic devotion. Let us remember "Good Pope John's" words of wisdom, which undoubtedly inspired him during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  

To keep me from sin and straying from Him, God has used devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. My life vows destined to be spent in the light irradiating from the tabernacle, and it is to the Heart of Jesus that I dare go for the solution of all my problems. (Pope John XXIII, Journal of a Soul) 

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Copyright 2024 Connie Anderson
Images: Soviet missile, Wikimedia Commons; Stained glass: QH Productions, licensed by author, all rights reserved; Pope John XXIII: De Agostini Editore, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.