Recently in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Category

Among a certain crowd of priests, religious and laity you will hear that Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is no longer an appropriate method of prayer: "Vatican II changed all that..." or they'll say "That's ol'time religion." One priest even told me that Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is cookie worship. Really? Giving praise to God is outdated? Adoration of the Holy Name is no longer in vogue? The God who created you is not worship and made known? None of this reflects my Catholic faith!

I am somewhat certain that those who claim Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament neither know the Commandments (to worship God), the Tradition of the Church, the documents of the Second Vatican Council nor the post Conciliar work of Popes Paul, John Paul and Benedict. It is safe to say that these people who reject the the practice of a Holy Hour are the same who who haven't had a good formation in the faith or the Lex Orandi tradition.

Perhaps we all should recall what the Servant of God Pope Paul VI said in Mysterium Fidei, 

The Catholic Church has always displayed and still displays this latria that ought to be paid to the Sacrament of the Eucharist, both during Mass and outside of it, by taking the greatest possible care of consecrated Hosts, by exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and by carrying them about in processions to the joy of great numbers of the people (56).

In Pope Saint Pius X we have an ardent supporter and leader in devotion to the Christ Lord known to us in the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Today, take the opportunity to spend some time, even if it is 5 minutes, in front of the Blessed Sacrament saying nothing to the Lord; just being there in friendship and humble adoration is enough. And ask Saint Pius X to beg the Holy Spirit once again to place in our hearts a fervent love for the Lord in the Eucharist and the grace to live in communio with the Trinity and our neighbor.

Saint Pius wrote of the place Eucharistic worship in our Catholic lives:

Wherefore, works of this kind which have been already set on foot must be ever more zealously promoted; old undertakings must be revived wherever perchance they may have fallen into decay; for instance, Confraternities of the holy Eucharist, intercessory prayers before the blessed Sacrament exposed for the veneration of the faithful, solemn processions, devout visits to God's tabernacle, and other holy and salutary practices of some kind; nothing must be omitted which a prudent piety may suggest as suitable. But the chief aim of our efforts must be that the frequent reception of the Eucharist may be everywhere revived among Catholic peoples. For this is the lesson which is taught us by the example, already referred to, of the primitive Church, by the decrees of Councils, by the authority of the Fathers and of the holy men in all ages. For the soul, like the body, needs frequent nourishment; and the holy Eucharist provides that food which is best adapted to the support of its life. Accordingly all hostile prejudices, those vain fears to which so many yield, and their specious excuses from abstaining from the Eucharist, must be resolutely put aside; for there is question here of a gift than which none other can be more serviceable to the faithful people, either for the redeeming of time from the tyranny of anxious cares concerning perishable things, or for the renewal of the Christian spirit and perseverance therein. To this end the exhortations and example of all those who occupy a prominent position will powerfully contribute, but most especially the resourceful and diligent zeal of the clergy.

Pope Saint Pius X, Mirae Caritatis (1902)

After a 40-year absence, the practice of perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament has returned to the Archdiocese of Boston. This is another positive response to Pope Benedict's calling for a Year of the Priest and a desire to intimately know the Lord.

In Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Pope John Paul told us that:

It is pleasant to spend time with him [Christ], to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf. Jn 13:25) and to feel the infinite love present in his heart. If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the "art of prayer", how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament? How often, dear brother and sisters, have I experienced this, and drawn from it strength, consolation and support!  This practice, repeatedly praised and recommended by the Magisterium, is supported by the example of many saints. Particularly outstanding in this regard was Saint Alphonsus Liguori, who wrote: "Of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us". The Eucharist is a priceless treasure: by not only celebrating it but also by praying before it outside of Mass we are enabled to make contact with the very wellspring of grace. A Christian community desirous of contemplating the face of Christ in the spirit which I proposed in the Apostolic Letters Novo Millennio Ineunte and Rosarium Virginis Mariae cannot fail also to develop this aspect of Eucharistic worship, which prolongs and increases the fruits of our communion in the body and blood of the Lord.

In Mane Nobiscum Domine we read: "Our faith in the God who took flesh in order to become our companion along the way needs to be everywhere proclaimed, especially in our streets and homes, as an expression of our grateful love and as an inexhaustible source of blessings." So the liturgical practice of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament deepens the heart's desire "to cultivate a lively awareness of Christ's real presence" (18).

Get the point? Adoration of the Eucharistic face of the Lord awakens in us something new, something beautiful.

Officially Boston's Eucharistic adoration begins with the Sacrifice of the Mass on August 15 celebrated by Cardinal Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap.

Visit website for the Saint Clement Shrine

"O taste and see the goodness of the Lord." (Psalm 34)

In some places it's now catching-on that Thursday is a fitting day for Eucharistic adoration with the intention of reparation, perhaps replacing Fridays if one had to make a choice or either-or. I tend to think that Thursday is a more apt for Eucharistic adoration on a stable basis in one's life and perhaps in parish life since as Catholics our center is Eucharistic and the identification the Church makes with events that happened on Holy Thursdays and Corpus Christi. Some theologians and spiritual writers today are advocating this move for just this reason: Do this in memory of me. Whatever the case is, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is clearly a return to "the Cenacle, there to relive in adoration and joy the gift and mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist."

Thinking about what Pope Benedict XVI has said regarding the Lord's Supper, "the Church commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, the ministerial priesthood and the new commandment of charity, left by Jesus to his disciples." In another place he said that there is a "...renewed invitation to render thanks to God for the supreme gift of the Eucharist, to be received with devotion and to be adored with lively faith. Because of this, the Church encourages, after the celebration of Holy Mass, watching in the presence of the Most Holy Sacrament, recalling the sad hour that Jesus passed in solitude and prayer in Gethsemane, before being arrested and then being condemned to death." We therefore adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, either following Mass or at another time to live in the graces of what happened at Mass. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament extends the graces of the Mass even after Mass has ended.

What better day than to work on this invitation to live in a spirit of renewal with the Eucharist, the ministerial priesthood and the theology of the Mass. The gift of sanctification (holiness) promised us by the Lord is made real in the bond we have with the Eucharistic Lord. Our lives depend on it because a strong Eucharistic spirituality centers our heart in the heart of the Church.

Little more than a year my friend Fr. Mark at Vultus Christi initiated a plan of prayer for the priesthood, particularly in reparation for sins committed by priests. This plan of prayer was inspired by a letter from Cardinal Claudio Hummes, OFM to the world's bishops encouraging them to designate people, including priests, whose "ministry" it would be to pray for the priesthood in the wake of the sex abuse crisis. The point of the letter was to begin to think about and work for a renewal of the priesthood. Today begins a novena inspired by Saint Peter Julian Emyard who in 1857 began his own renewal of the priesthood adoration movement. Let's be united in prayer for the intentions of our priests.

Fr. Mark has also developed a program of prayer called Thursdays in Adoration and Reparation for Priests which keeps the Holy Thursday event of Our Lord forming the priesthood and giving us the gift of His Eucharistic Presence.

There are many opportunities to spend time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in parishes today (more now than a few years ago). And there religious orders who make it a point to adore Christ in the Blessed Sacrament regularly, if not daily, for example, the Dominican nuns in North Guilford, CT and Linden, VA to name two monasteries, the pink sisters found in cities such as Philadelphia, St. Louis, Lincoln and Corpus Christi; the monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey and Newark Abbey have the daily practice of adoration prior to the Divine Office, the monks of Saint Mary's Abbey (Morristown, NJ) have adoration and confession on the second Friday of the month for vocations and for the priesthood, the monks of Belmont Abbey (Belmont, NC) have recently dedicated an adoration chapel in the center of their college campus in honor of Saint Joseph where monks, students and other interested people gather with the Eucharistic Lord.

What better time than in Epiphanytide to develop a habit of prayer in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament?