Eucharistic Adoration

Eucharistic Adoration has a significant impact on the spiritual vitality of a parish, and provides parishioners with a great opportunity for prayer. “Our Sunday Visitor”, a Catholic publication, described Eucharistic Adoration as “the act of worshiping God as He is present in the consecrated Eucharist.” It stated, “Spending time before the Blessed Sacrament, in prayer and devotion, is exactly the same as spending time before the living God.”

Among the many ways we can participate in Eucharistic Adoration, the publication recommends the following:

· Meditate using Scripture: Choose a passage from the Bible, and let the passage speak to you.

· Read the life of a saint and pray with him or her: Many of our saints had a great devotion to Our Lord in the Eucharist.

· Pour your heart out to Christ and adore Him: Speak to Jesus and listen to His response.

· Ask for forgiveness and intercede for others: Ask God to forgive you for all the times you have neglected or hurt someone else. Bring before the Blessed Sacrament all those who have asked you to pray for them.

· Sit quietly and just “be” in the presence of God.

The following “Adoration Prayer” from “Catholic Online” reflects the spirit of Eucharistic Adoration.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that You are really present here in this Sacrament. Night and day You remain here compassionate and loving. You call, You wait for, You welcome everyone who comes to visit You. I thank You, Jesus my Divine Redeemer for coming upon the earth for my sake And for instituting the Adorable Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in order to remain with us until the end of the world. I thank you for hiding beneath the Eucharistic species Your infinite majesty and beauty, which Your Angels delight to behold, so that I might have courage to approach the throne of Your mercy. I thank you dear Jesus, for having become the priceless victim, to merit for me the fullness of heavenly favors. Awaken in me such confidence in You that their fullness may descend ever more fruitfully upon my soul. I thank You for offering Yourself in thanksgiving to God for all His benefits, spiritual and temporal which He has bestowed on me. Grant me grace and perseverance in your faithful service. Amen.

I invite you all to prayerfully consider to spend some time in the presence of Our Lord during Eucharistic Adoration each first Friday.