Eucharistic adoration
Eucharistic adoration is a devotional practice primarily in Western Catholicism and Western Rite Orthodoxy, but also to a lesser extent in certain Lutheran and Anglican traditions, in which the Blessed Sacrament is adored by the faithful. This practice may occur either when the Eucharist is exposed, or when it is not publicly viewable because it is reserved in a place such as a tabernacle.
Adoration is a sign of devotion to and worship of Jesus Christ, who is, according to some Christian traditions, present in body, blood, soul, and divinity, under the appearance of the consecrated host, that is, sacramental bread. From a theological perspective, the adoration is a form of latria, based on the tenet of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
Christian meditation performed in the presence of the Eucharist outside Mass is called Eucharistic meditation. It has been practised by saints such as Peter Julian Eymard, Jean Vianney and Thérèse of Lisieux. Authors such as Concepción Cabrera de Armida and Maria Candida of the Eucharist have produced writings recording their Eucharistic meditations.
When the exposition and adoration of the Eucharist is constant, it is called perpetual adoration. In a monastery or convent, it is done by resident monks or nuns and, in a parish, by volunteer parishioners since the 20th century. Pope Benedict XVI instituted perpetual adoration for the laity in each of the five sectors of the Diocese of Rome.
Practice and context
Eucharistic adoration may be held both when the Eucharist is exposed for viewing and when it is not. It may take place in the context of the liturgical rite of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament or an informal "visit" to pray before the tabernacle. Writer Valerie Schmalz notes that:Since the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic church has made Eucharistic exposition and benediction a liturgical service in its own and exercised more direction over its practice; it draws its primary meaning from the Eucharistic celebration itself. The vicariate apostolic of Kuwait describes the purpose of Eucharistic adoration as thus: "By worshiping the Eucharistic Jesus, we become what God wants us to be! Like a magnet, The Lord draws us to Himself and gently transforms us."
At the beginning of the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, a priest or deacon removes the sacred host from the tabernacle and places it in the monstrance on the altar for adoration by the faithful. A monstrance is the vessel used to display the consecrated Eucharistic Host, during Eucharistic adoration or benediction.
The adoration may also take place when the Eucharist is not exposed but left in a ciborium, which is likewise placed on an altar or in an enclosed tabernacle so that the faithful may pray in its presence without the need for volunteers to be in constant attendance.
The "Instruction on Eucharistic Worship", issued by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on the Feast of Corpus Christi, 25 May 1967, reads in pertinent part, "The exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, for which either a monstrance or a ciborium may be used, stimulates the faithful to an awareness of the marvelous presence of Christ and is an invitation to spiritual communion with Him. It is therefore an excellent encouragement to offer Him that worship in spirit and truth which is His due."
Speaking to a gathering in Phoenix Park, during a three-day visit to Ireland, from 29 September – 1 October 1979, Pope John Paul II said:
As to the manner in which Eucharistic adoration is conducted, the "Instructions" state: "Even brief exposition of the Blessed Sacrament should be so arranged that before the blessing with the Blessed Sacrament reasonable time is provided for readings of the Word of God, hymns, prayers, and silent prayer, as circumstances permit." While psalms, readings and music are part of the liturgical service, in common practice silent contemplation and reflection tend to predominate.
Where Eucharistic adoration is done by an individual for an uninterrupted hour, this is known as a Holy Hour. The inspiration for the Holy Hour is Matthew 26:40, when in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion, Jesus asks Peter: "So, could you not keep watch with me for one hour?".
Some Christian denominations that do not subscribe to transubstantiation consider Eucharistic adoration unfounded and even bordering on idolatry. However, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, exposition "serves to deepen our hunger for Communion with Christ and the rest of the Church."
History
Early history
While the keeping of the Blessed Sacrament outside Mass seems to have been part of the Christian practice from the beginning to administer to the sick and dying, the practice of adoration began somewhat later.One of the first possible references to reserving the Blessed Sacrament for adoration is found in the life of St. Basil. Basil is said to have divided the Eucharistic bread into three parts when he celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the monastery. One part he consumed, the second part he gave to the monks, and the third he placed in a golden dove-shaped container suspended over the altar. This separate portion was probably to reserve the sacrament for distribution to the sick who were unable to attend the liturgy.
The earliest explicit reference to Eucharistic adoration comes from an eighth century vita of St. Victorian of Asan. According to James Monti: "In a medieval biography of the Italian-born abbot Saint Victorian written probably in the eighth century, we find what constitutes the earliest extant, explicit account of prayer before the reserved Eucharist outside of Mass. After describing Victorian’s devotion in celebrating Mass as a hermit-priest living in northeast Spain, the biographer tells of a chapel Victorian built adjoining his hermitage, “far off from every loud noise of the world,” and how he spent his time there: “In this , more frequently and fervently, he poured forth his prayers before that indescribable Sacrament of divine goodness and commended to God the health of the whole Church; and in this holy exercise he consumed almost the entire day.” This account lends credence to the extraordinary claim of the Spanish city of Lugo that perpetual adoration of the Eucharist has existed in the city since the late sixth century."
Another early example of Eucharistic adoration is in the life of St. Wenceslaus the Martyr : "St. Wenceslaus, Duke of Bohemia, although tired with the business of the day, would nevertheless spend whole nights before the tabernacle in supplication for his people… On the coldest winter nights he would arise from his bed in order to visit Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament; and so inflamed with divine love was his soul that it imparted heat to his very body.” According to Alphonsus Liguori: "...tender indeed was the devotion to the Most Blessed Sacrament St. Wenceslaus, Duke of Bohemia. This holy king was so enamored of Jesus there present that he... even during the winter... used to go at night to visit the church in which the Blessed Sacrament was kept."
St. Ulrich of Augsburg is also reported to have practiced adoration in the form of Eucharistic processions: "...the biographer of St. Ulrich speaks of a procession, "hallowed by tradition", with the Eucharist to the church of St. Ambrose, returning to the church of John the Baptist on Easter morning."
Eucharistic adoration in the form of processions, has existed since the 10th century in England and Cluny: "By the tenth century, a solem procession for bringing the Eucharist to the sick and the dying had emerged in the monasteries: the tenth-century Regularis concordia, a directory for England's monasteries attributed to Saint Æthelwold of Winchester, speaks of the Blessed Sacrament being carried with incense in procession to the rooms of ill monks. The French Benedictine customary of Cluny known as the Liber tramitis directs that when the priest carrying the Viaticum enters the home of the invalid, all present should kneel before "the Body of the Lord", including the invalid himself, if he is able to do so."
Eucharistic adoration has also been reported, by some authors, among the saints of the British Isles: "Of this devotion Fr. Bridgett gives a long list of saintly examples – Cuthbert, and Guthlac and Ulfric, Herbert and Godric, and besides them many holy women." According to Lawrence George Lovasik: "The Anglo-Saxons gave the highest worship to that which the ciborium or pyx contained. They called it "the adorable Host of the Son of God." They gave every sign of outward reverence to the church that contained it and to the altar on which it was offered."
In Eastern Christianity, the adoration which developed in the West has never been part of the Eastern liturgy which St. Basil celebrated, but a liturgy for adoration does exist among the Eastern Catholic Churches involving psalms and placing a covered diskos with the sacred species on the altar. This is befitting the Eastern custom of veiling from human eyes those things deemed sacred.
Middle Ages
The theological basis for the adoration was prepared in the 11th century by Pope Gregory VII, who was instrumental in affirming the tenet that Christ is present in the Blessed Host. In 1079, Gregory required of Berengar of Tours a confession of belief:This profession of faith began a "Eucharistic Renaissance" in the churches of Europe.
Lanfranc of Canterbury started the tradition of Eucharistic processions during the Liturgy in Canterbury cathedral, and the people would bow in adoration of the Sacrament. The Franciscan archives credit Saint Francis of Assisi for starting Eucharistic Adoration in Italy. It then spread from Umbria to other parts of Italy.
In 1264 Pope Urban IV instituted the feast of Corpus Christi with the publication of the papal bull Transiturus. He asked the Dominican theologian Thomas Aquinas to write the texts for the Mass and Office of the feast. This included such famous hymns as Panis angelicus and Verbum Supernum Prodiens, the last two strophes of which form the Benediction hymn O Salutaris Hostia. The last two verses of Pange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium are sung as the hymn Tantum Ergo, also used at Benediction.
Beginning in the 14th century in the Western Church, devotions began to focus on the Eucharistic gifts as the objective presence of the risen Christ and the Host began to be elevated during the liturgy for the purpose of adoration, as well as to be seen by the congregation since the priest stood facing the same direction in front of the altar.