3 o' clock prayer (partially found Filipino prayer habit interstitial; 1980s-2000s)

The Flashing "Get that 3 O' Clock Habit" graphic.

Status: Partially Found

The 3 o'clock Prayer is a daily Catholic prayer habit in the Philippines of praying at 3 o'clock. It was developed by a Christian group, the Divine Mercy Say a Little Prayer Movement.

In the 1980s, networks including BBC 2, PTV 4, and RPN 9 aired a daily 3 o'clock Prayer.

Premise

The segment begins with the clock in the 3 o'clock position that flashes "Get that 3 o' Clock Habit" on the screen while the voiceover signals the few seconds before the hour and every day, the image of Divine Mercy appears while the words "JESUS I TRUST IN YOU" zooms in, then the text "The 3-O'Clock Prayer" appears over the image. The voiceover overviews 3 o'clock called "The Hour of Great Mercy" set on a red background. The voiceover then informs the viewers to get the leaflets ready and the prayer is recited on screen. It is said to look like this:

In a few seconds from now and everyday at 3:00 in the afternoon, we invite you to join us in a minute of prayer, for the forgiveness of sins, and for peace in our country and the whole world. We hope that this becomes a daily habit with you. 3:00 in the afternoon is the Hour of Great Mercy, at this time our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross and redeemed the world. Let us now get our prayer leaflets ready, so we will pray altogether the 3:00 Prayer.

The prayer ends with a voiceover that says the entire nation is starting a beautiful prayer habit. It is also said to have the following lines:

We are just, as one nation, started a beautiful 3:00 Habit. We have just prayed to our Lord Jesus Christ for peace in our country and the whole world. We fervently pray and hope that we started in you this 3:00 Habit, for you to keep and offer a few seconds of your time each day, to talk to Jesus and pray for forgiveness of sins and world peace.

Broadcast

First Version

The first version (broadcasted in 1986 or 1987) lacked background music, images during the "The Hour of Great Mercy" portion, and random images during the end segment and the Sister Faustina prayer. The picture of the Divine Mercy was frozen after the "JESUS I TRUST IN YOU" words are zoomed out which is followed by a Divine Mercy SLPM contact information plug.

Second Version

In the second version, the same opening segment flashes the text "Get that 3 o'clock habit" phrase and the image of the Divine Mercy remains the same, however, during "The Hour of Great Mercy" segment, the image of Jesus Christ crucified on the cross appears on screen (in the late 90s-early 2000s version aired on ABS-CBN, the image was replaced with different images of Jesus including the close up of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane) and in the final segment, the images shown were prisoners holding prayer leaflets, a little girl reciting the prayer while seeing the poster, a group of female school students holding the prayer leaflets and the rosary, a group of families reading a prayer booklet, and an image displayed while the entire family reciting the prayer at home are shown.

The segment ends with the graphic regarding the free booklet information with the telephone number and the address of the Divine Mercy Say a Little Prayer Movement appearing on the screen, followed by a plugging of the Divine Mercy Charity Hospital and Information Center. The plugging was said to look like this:

Be an act of Mercy! Give life, Save Souls. Help build the Divine Mercy Charity Hospital and Information Center.
When I was sick, did You comfort me?

The segment also ends with a quote from the Diary of Sister Faustina along with the image of Saint Faustina appearing on screen. The quote was said to look like this:

Words of Our Lord to the Blessed Sister Faustina: "Souls who spread the honor of My mercy, I shield through their entire lives as a tender mother her infant, and at the hour of death, I will not be a Judge for them, but the merciful Savior."

Third Version

The third version of the prayer segment aired between the 1990s and early 2000s has been revised with the ending segment cutting some scenes of prisoners holding prayer leaflets, and a little girl reciting the prayer while seeing the poster, while the priest and brethren in charge of the voiceover, Bro. Don de Castro, plugs information about the message of Divine Mercy, with pictures of a talk, the set of materials, and the images of the Divine Mercy Say a Little Prayer Movement headquarters, along with the same image of the proposed Divine Mercy Hospital and Information Center and the Words of Our Lord to the Blessed Sister Faustina from the first version was reused. The information plug and the hospital promotion are said like this:

For a free talk or film showing or for a free booklet on the devotion to the Divine Mercy, write or call the Divine Mercy Say A Little Prayer Movement, 803 Aurora Blvd. or 19th Spencer St. Cubao, Quezon City. With telephone numbers 722-8324 and 721-4350.

Do an act of mercy. Save lives, save souls. Help build the Divine Mercy Charity Hospital and Information Center.

“When I was sick did you comfort me?”

Fourth Version

The fourth version of the prayer segment aired between the mid to late 2000s with a different BGM and Bro. Don says the entire Philippines pauses for a brief moment of prayer. The opening looked like this:

Each day at Three o'clock in the afternoon, the Philippines pauses for a brief moment of prayer, for peace and forgiveness of sins

The ending segment restored the scenes of prisoners holding prayer leaflets, and a little girl reciting the prayer while seeing the poster. The closing plug has a plugging regarding the Divine Mercy Say a Little Prayer Movement contact numbers along with the promotion of the now-defunct Divine Mercy Channel which was available on Global Destiny Cable and online via the JumpTV web-streaming service.

Availability

It is said to be aired on BBC 2, RPN 9, and PTV 4. The second version of the prayer segment was shown on ABS-CBN between the early 1990s until 2002 when the network launched its own version of its prayer segment in the same year (although Divine Mercy SLPM was still involved in the production corporation of the segment until 2015). However, in the 1st quarter of 2000, ABS-CBN aired the Faustina Kowalska prayer segment after the third version of the prayer segment. The fourth version was aired in the mid to late 2000s on NBN 4.

However, the first, second, and third versions of the interstitial have not yet resurfaced on the web.

Trivia

• The music used in the second and third versions was actually The Hour Has Come from the 1965 film The Greatest Story Every Told.

Gallery

The fourth version of the prayer segment with the opening words saying the entire Philippines pauses a brief moment of prayer, along with the images of prisoners and a little girl are restored.