Devotion for today: Can You Not Watch One Hour With Me?

So far in this Year of Faith, we have journeyed through an in-depth look at the Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Today we will begin an intriguing aspect of the Catholic Faith: Eucharistic Adoration. This is firmly based on the belief that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament, and that we, as Catholics, have the unique experience of being in the presence of Jesus Christ when we come before Him in Eucharistic Adoration. We believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and that He remains with us in the Eucharist. Just as we believe the curtain between heaven and earth was torn in two at the  crucifixion, we can truly believe that although Jesus is in heaven, He is also present in the Eucharist for us to adore and worship. He kept His promise. He did not leave us orphaned, but remains with us today.

So what is adoration?

“Adoration, in the first place, is creation’s highest act of worship. It is giving to God what belongs to him alone, He who alone is holy! It is the supreme form of reverence, glory and honor. But adoration is also creation’s attempt to reach out, with the help of God’s invitation and grace, to become holy in the presence of God.” http://www.opusangelorum.org/oa_spirituality/four_directions_docs/Adoration.html

Though we speak much we cannot reach the end,
And the sum of our words is: "He is all."
Where shall we find strength to praise him?
For he is greater than all his work.
Terrible is the Lord and very great,
And marvelous is his power.
When you praise the Lord exalt him as much as you can;
For he even surpasses that.
When you exalt him, put forth all your strength,
And do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough. (Sirach 43: 27-30)

Blessed John Paul II tells us: “The worship given to the Trinity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit... must fill our churches also outside the timetable of Masses…This worship must be prominent in all our encounters with the Blessed Sacrament… Adoration of Christ in this sacrament of love must also find expression in various forms of Eucharistic devotion: personal prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, hours of adoration, periods of exposition – short, prolonged, and annual (Forty Hours) - Eucharistic benediction, Eucharistic processions, Eucharistic Congresses… Let us be generous with our time in going to meet him in adoration and in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease.” http://www.pjp2ea.org/pjp2ea/WhatisEA.asp

In our study, we will look at the various forms of Eucharistic Adoration, the purpose of it, and the beautiful results of time spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

Adoration Prayer

    I adore you, O Jesus, God of Love, truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I adore you Who has come to Your Own but were not received by them. I adore you, Whom the majority of mankind rejected and despised. I adore you, Whom the impious incessantly are offend by their sacrileges and blasphemies. I adore you, Who are grieved by the coldness and indifference of a vast number of Christians. I adore you, O Infinite Goodness, Who has wrought so many miracles, in order to reveal Your love to us. I adore you, with all the angels and saints, and with those chosen souls that are now already the blessed of Your Father and are all aglow with burning love for you. I adore you with all Your friends, O Jesus! With them I prostrate myself at the foot of the Altar, to offer you my most profound homage, to receive Your Divine Inspiration, and to implore Your grace. Oh, how good it is for me to be here with you! How sweet to hear the Voice of my Beloved! O Victim of Divine Love! A piercing cry breaks forth from Your Heart here on the Altar, as it once did on Calvary; it is the cry of Love; "I thirst," You call to You children, "I thirst for your love! Come all, whom I love as My Father has loved Me; come and quench the thirst that consumes Me!

     Lord Jesus, behold I come. My heart is small, but it is all Yours. You are a prisoner in our Tabernacles, You the Lord of Lords! And love it is, that holds you here as such! You leave the Tabernacle only to come to us, to unite Yourself with the faithful soul and allow Your Divine Love to reign within. O King of Love! Come, live and reign in me. I want no other law but the law of Your Love! No, no, I henceforth desire to know nothing, neither of this world nor of what is in it, nor of myself; Your Love alone shall rule in me eternally.

     O Jesus, grant me this grace! Break all my fetters, strip me of all that is not of Yourself, in order that Your Love may be my life here below, and my happiness and delight in eternity, Amen.

Decree of S. Congregation of indulgences, May 30th, 1908.
Approved, Cleveland, May 1st, 1923.
Joseph Schrembs, D. D., Bishop of Cleveland.