1 Samuel 3:10: The Lord
came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel!
Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is
listening."
There are several ways
to find a way to adore Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. As we have seen, it
is very simple to stop into a church and place yourself before the tabernacle.
In many parishes across the globe, Perpetual Adoration is offered in Blessed
Sacrament Chapels. This is where a parish offers continual Exposition of the
Eucharist, and people sign up for a Holy Hour usually at the same time every
week. My husband, for example, has a Holy Hour in Perpetual Adoration at 4 a.m.
every Monday morning. He has been doing this for over 20 years, and can attest
to the power of this commitment in his life. You can check your diocesan
website to find parishes where Perpetual Adoration is occurring, and stop in to
adore any time of the day or night. There is a beauty in the commitment of a
certain hour every week. You will find yourself preparing in advance, planning
your prayer time and collecting prayer requests from family and friends. Coming
into the chapel at that precious time every week is similar to visiting a
physician or a therapist; here is Jesus, truly present to you, who is waiting
to hear your ailments and comfort you in your trials – every week! Other parishes offer weekly Holy Hours, where
the Eucharist is exposed and venerated, followed by benediction, prayers, a
short homily, singing adoration songs such as Tantum Ego and O Salutaris,
recitation of the rosary, confession, and praying of the Divine Praises. Many
Holy Hours are offered on the same night of the week, every week and can even
include a novena to Mary. Still other
parishes will expose the Eucharist on a special day every month, say on the
First Friday of the month. Once the Eucharist is exposed, the church is quiet
and people come to spend an hour in quiet prayer.
Maybe you aren’t sure
what to do in a silent Holy Hour. Johnnette Benkovic offers this advice in her
book, “Full of Grace”:
First and foremost, a Holy Hour is a time of prayer. As with
any prayer time, we must first recollect ourselves, aware of what we intend to
do (pray) and of whose Presence we are in. Next, we engage in the prayer
itself. If we are unaccustomed to spending an entire hour in prayer, we may
find it helpful at first to structure our Holy Hour….We might divide our hour
into four equal parts spending fifteen minutes on each of these intentions:
adoration, contrition, thanksgiving, and supplication. But as we grow
comfortable in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament, our time in prayer should
gradually give over to a contemplation. A time of simply gazing into the face
of the One who we love. Just sitting quietly before the Radiant Splendor of
Jesus Christ, allowing the rays of His love to penetrate into all areas of our
hearts, offering our hearts to Him in quiet exchange for the One which He offers
us, letting His presence transform us into His image and likeness – this should
eventually make up the bulk of our time with Him. Our disposition should be one
of listening, the ears of our hearts fastened to the mouth of God, ready to
hear all that He has to say. “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,”
should be the words of our lips.
Prayer While
Visiting The Most Blessed Sacrament
by St. Alphonsus Liguori
by St. Alphonsus Liguori
My Lord Jesus Christ, for the love which You bear to men, You remain night and day in this Sacrament full of compassion and of love, awaiting, calling, and welcoming all who come to visit You. I believe that You are present in the Sacrament of the Altar: I adore You from the abyss of my nothingness, and I thank You for all the graces which You have bestowed upon me and in particular for having given me Yourself in this Sacrament, for having given me your holy Mother Mary for my advocate, and for having called me to visit You in this chapel. I now salute
Your most loving Heart: and this for three ends:
1. In thanksgiving for this great gift;
2. To make amends to You for all the outrages which You receive in this Sacrament from all Your enemies;
3. I intend by this visit to adore You in all the places on earth in which You are the least revered and the most abandoned.
My Jesus, I love You with all my heart. I grieve for having so many times offended Your infinite goodness. I promise with Your grace never more to offend You in the future.
Now, miserable and unworthy though I be, I consecrate myself to You without reserve;
I give You my entire will, my affections, my desires, and all that I possess. From now on dispose of me and of all that I have as You please. All that I ask of You and desire is Your holy love, final perseverance, and the perfect accomplishment of Your will. I recommend to You the souls in purgatory; but especially those who had the greatest devotion to the most Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin Mary. I also recommend to You all poor sinners.
My dear Savior, I unite all my affections with the affections of Your most loving Heart; and I offer them, thus united, to Your eternal Father, and beseech Him in Your name to vouchsafe, for Your love, to accept them.
Amen.
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