Image from http://www.catholicargos.com
Dwells God
The Beauty of Eucharistic Adoration
A Frenchwoman named Madam Bire became blind in February 1908 due to atrophy of the papilla. In this situation, the optic nerve had become withered to the point that it enters the eye making it impossible for one to see. On August 5, 1908, Madam Bire received Communion at the Grotto of Lourdes. That day, at around 10:15, the priest processed the Blessed Sacrament around the area. The moment he passed by Madam Bire, she immediately saw the statue of the Blessed Virgin in that grotto. Doctors examined her afterwards, including those who were atheists. She was able to see perfectly but the optic nerve was still withered! Dr. Alexis Carrel, one of the atheist-doctors, left the place a convert.
As Catholics, we believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The miracle just recounted, could only be explained by this Real Presence, for she regained eyesight the moment that the Blessed Sacrament passed by her. As a matter of fact, the miracle proves the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist—Body Blood, Soul and Divinity. No natural processes could make a withered optic nerve functional yet with Jesus, everything is possible. In the Eucharist is our God, the Divine Healer, present among us, for He promised, “ I am with you until the end of time.” (Mt 28:20)
We will not discuss in the present discourse the teachings of the Church regarding the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Here we assume that the reader is a believer of the Real Presence. We will discuss, however, the development of the practice of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament outside Mass and the reasons why the Church encourages this.
In early monasticism, monks received the privilege of carrying the Eucharist with them (to work places or voyages). In these cases, the Eucharist is placed in a small receptacle called chrismal or in a little bag called perula and hung around the neck under their clothes. This was for greater availability for communion and protection against hazards of travel. In the 1st Century, St. Comgall was saved from beating of some pietists when they saw St. Comgall wearing the chrismal. The pietists said that they were afraid of some divine revenge because St. Comgall was carrying his God around his neck. St. Basil in the 1st century divided the Eucharistic bread in three parts when he celebrated mass at the monastery. One part he consumed, the second part he gave to the monks and the third he placed in a golden dove suspended over the altar. In the 2nd Century, popes sent the Eucharist to other bishops as a pledge of unity. At the middle of the 3rd Century, early hermits reserved the Eucharist in their cells and carried the Eucharist wherever they go.
It was under the papacy of Pope Gregory VII that the Church made a definitive statement about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This caused the Churches of Europe to begin what has been called the Eucharistic Renascence. This involves the procession of the Blessed Sacrament, legislation of prescribed acts of adoration, encouragement of the visitation of Christ in the pyx, making of windows through the Church so the lay faithful could see the tabernacle from outside, and many others.
The earliest records of perpetual adoration were in the 4th Century when newly baptised Catholics adore the Blessed Sacrament continuously for eight consecutive days. King Loius VII of France started a perpetual adoration in 1226 in his country after their victory over the Albigensians. After the Council of Trent in the 16th Century, perpetual adoration grew to a world-wide scale. In 1592, Pope Clement VIII issued a document called the Quarant Ore. It is forty hours of continual prayer before the Blessed Sacrament taken out of the tabernacle and exposed. Gradually, the forty hours of worship in front of the exposed Blessed Sacrament spread throughout the Catholic Church. In the 20th Century, the new Code of Canon Law stated: “It is recommended that there be held each year a solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for an appropriate, even if not for a continuous time so that the local community may more attentively meditate on and adore the Eucharistic Mystery.”
Now we ask the question, “Why Eucharistic Adoration?” The answer may be obvious, but we will express it: “It’s God!” A sceptic once said, “I don’t understand you Christians, you believe in the presence of your God in the host, yet you only receive Him once a week and very seldom visit Him in the sanctuary where you keep Him!” Now it leads us to question ourselves: “If I really, firmly, and wholeheartedly believe that my God is present in the Blessed Sacrament, what am I doing here [far away from Him]?”
In Eucharistic Adoration, we allow the love of Christ to persuade us to love Him back. Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament is the same Christ who is recorded in the Gospels. In the Gospel account on the rich young man, we were told that “Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him…” (Mk 10:21). It is the same Jesus that looks at us and loves us everytime we spend time in front of Him in the Blessed Sacrament. It is this look of love that will compel us to love Him back.
On the Cross, Jesus’ heart was pierced for us. As we dwell in the mystery of His Passion and contemplate in His wounds, we find ourselves wounded in love also, and our hearts become pierced as well, opening it in love for our God, as His heart was opened for the love of us. Meditating upon our God who is crucified, we realize that it is our sins that nailed Him on the cross, but it is His love for us that kept Him there. Through Eucharistic Adoration, we see that Christ is present in the Eucharist for our sake, and for our own gain. St. Francis de Sales once said regarding Jesus in the Eucharist: “ Gaze upon Him… where He is present for your happiness. Welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His presence.”
Because of His great love for us, He desires union with us. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus exclaims just before His passion, ”I have longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer…” (Lk 22:15). Similarly, in the Gospel of John, He said as He hung on the Cross: “I thirst.” Jesus thirsts for us. God became man because He longs to be united to us, or rather, us to be united to Him. This thirst for union becomes even more displayed when He willingly gave up His life on the cross for our salvation. It even goes further that after His resurrection, He willed to be present with us and give Himself to us in the Eucharist. As we become more and more aware of this deep thirsting in God for us, our thirst for Him in return is awakened. St. Francis of Assisi pleaded for reverence for Jesus in the Eucharist in these words: “See brothers the humility of God, keep nothing of yourselves for yourselves, so that He may possess you entirely, who has given Himself wholly for you.” Moreover, St. Bernard of Clairvaux asked Jesus once: “Jesus, what made You so small? LOVE!”
The thirst for our union with Him leads us to the thirst of becoming united in Him, even to His death on the Cross. We find within ourselves a desire to surrender everything so that we would be completely united to the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross for the salvation of souls. The Holy Mass makes present this once and for all sacrifice of Jesus to the Father, and Eucharistic Adoration prolongs it. As we bathe in His love, we become drawn in union with this self-offering. We allow ourselves to be broken as He was broken so that we may love as He loves. We also allow ourselves to die as He had died so that we may live as He lives. We become more selfless and self-sacrificial. We are then reminded of the beautiful prayer of St. Marie Therese de Couderc, the founder of the Cenacle Sisters: “Here I unite myself to Your everlasting love and selfless act of oblation. So that in Your love Dearest Lord Jesus, I may die, and that in Your love, I may live… Let every beat of my heart be a sign of Your infinite love.”
Jesus in his earthly life called his disciples ‘friends’. Outside the circle of disciples, He also had intimate friendships with people such as Lazarus, Mary, and Martha of Bethany. These people he must have visited quite often for the purpose of ‘just being with them’, as what friends do. Just as He did before, he also longs to spend time with us, whom He calls His friends. In Eucharistic Adoration, we stand at the foot of Christ, gazing upon Him intently, and in wordless expressions of the heart, we become more and more like Him. As His friends, he longs to have a heart-to-heart exchange of love with us. It is like Mary of Bethany, content in listening to the Lord at His feet and John the Beloved, resting upon the Master’s chest in all gentleness, experiencing His love. We are invited to be mindful of Christ’s real presence in the Blessed Sacrament, just as He was present in front of Mary of Bethany and John, and stay with him and let ourselves be loved. As St. Alphonsus Ligouri said, “Do not think that Jesus is forgetful of you, since he has left you, as the greatest memorial and pledge of his love, Himself in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.”
In the 17th Century, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque received a series of revelations from Jesus concerning His Sacred Heart. In one of these revelations, Jesus asked her to give Him her heart, which she generously did. Then she described how she saw her heart engulfed in the fire of love in Jesus’ heart: “He let me see it there, a tiny atom being completely burned up in that fiery furnace.” Jesus then gave her back her heart, burning ablaze with the fire of God’s love. In Eucharistic Adoration, we experience the same dynamic. It could be that dramatic as well, if we would only allow Jesus to do it! If we let Him, He could make our hearts burn with the fire of His love. So that just as St. Margaret Mary described it, the new fire of love in us becomes almost too much to bear. With this, we would want nothing more but to share it. It gives us the fire to have a deep conviction and awareness of the truth of God’s love and gives us the zeal to spread this love to other souls.
Consequently, we also acquire the heart to pray for those who do not believe in God. Blessed John Paul II in his 1996 Letter to the Bishop of Liege on the feast of Corpus Christi wrote: “Through adoration, the Christian mysteriously contributes to the radical transformation of the world and to the sowing of the Gospel. Anyone who prays to the Saviour draws the whole world with him and raises it to God. Those who stand before the Lord are fulfilling an eminent service. They are presenting to Christ all those who do not know him or are far from him; they keep watch in His presence on their behalf.”
We could go in an infinite discussion regarding he benefits one could have in Eucharistic Adoration, yet everything still comes down to the one simple point that “It is God!”. The ultimate end of a human being, of course, is his union to God in heaven. How marvellous it is to ponder that this union is possible now on earth! Jesus, who is present in the Blessed Sacrament exists inseparably with the Father and the Spirit, and therefore the Holy Trinity is there, and where the Holy Trinity dwells, there is heaven. Adoration Chapels are literally “Heaven on Earth”! This leads us back to one of the first questions we asked: “What am I doing here [far away from Him]?”
In real life, we could not discount the fact that it could be difficult to stay an hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament. We have spoken about Jesus’ sacrifice for us yet we could also speak of a different sacrifice in our part when we choose to stay amidst all the distractions and pains of “staying”. We are not oblivious to the fact that we may have times that we say, “This is not going anywhere” or “I’d rather be somewhere else”. Yet we are called to make a sacrifice in the simplest meaning of the word sacrifice. It would be more correct, actually, to say that we must seek sacrifice. We are called to seek the Holy Face (Sacra-Facio) and in it we will find rest. In this Sacra-Facio, we find peace. More and more of our Protestant brethren are having a growing interest in the Shroud of Turin. Books, documentaries, and other scientific researches are being done or participated in by our Protestant Brethren to prove the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin. In a latest documentary on the Shroud by the History Channel, scientists in all Christian denominations reconstruct the Face of the Man in the shroud using all the latest scientific equipments, facilities and methods in the area. It just shows how Christians are in deep longing on seeing the Face of Christ. As Catholics, whether or not the Shroud is the real burial garment of Jesus, we need not look at it to see the Face of Christ, for we have the Blessed Sacrament. How blessed we are!
One of the brothers in the Congregation of Blessed Charles de Foucauld took a photo of the Blessed Sacrament once and what came out was a photo of the Child Jesus in prayer. Whether or not this is an authentic miracle, it somehow tells us how the Lord asks us to approach Him in the Blessed Sacrament. He becomes our model in prayer, teaching us that we are to approach Him and the Father as a child. “Let the children come to me and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs.” (Lk 18:16). We are invited by Jesus to approach Him with the attitude of a child, ever-trusting, ever-humble, and ever-willing to believe in His love and His presence. We are called to trust in the same way that a child trusts the words of his father that he will come home after work. Jesus, our eternal God, promised us that He will be with us until the end of time. As children of God, we believe in the promise of God Who never lies. Despite our withered souls in all its imperfections, we are able to clearly see that God is with us in the Eucharist. As children of God, we approach the Blessed Sacrament with fervent and open hearts, ready to be consumed in God’s love, for we believe that in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, there dwells God.
--Written by A.do.bo
The Beauty of Eucharistic Adoration
A Frenchwoman named Madam Bire became blind in February 1908 due to atrophy of the papilla. In this situation, the optic nerve had become withered to the point that it enters the eye making it impossible for one to see. On August 5, 1908, Madam Bire received Communion at the Grotto of Lourdes. That day, at around 10:15, the priest processed the Blessed Sacrament around the area. The moment he passed by Madam Bire, she immediately saw the statue of the Blessed Virgin in that grotto. Doctors examined her afterwards, including those who were atheists. She was able to see perfectly but the optic nerve was still withered! Dr. Alexis Carrel, one of the atheist-doctors, left the place a convert.
As Catholics, we believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The miracle just recounted, could only be explained by this Real Presence, for she regained eyesight the moment that the Blessed Sacrament passed by her. As a matter of fact, the miracle proves the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist—Body Blood, Soul and Divinity. No natural processes could make a withered optic nerve functional yet with Jesus, everything is possible. In the Eucharist is our God, the Divine Healer, present among us, for He promised, “ I am with you until the end of time.” (Mt 28:20)
We will not discuss in the present discourse the teachings of the Church regarding the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Here we assume that the reader is a believer of the Real Presence. We will discuss, however, the development of the practice of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament outside Mass and the reasons why the Church encourages this.
In early monasticism, monks received the privilege of carrying the Eucharist with them (to work places or voyages). In these cases, the Eucharist is placed in a small receptacle called chrismal or in a little bag called perula and hung around the neck under their clothes. This was for greater availability for communion and protection against hazards of travel. In the 1st Century, St. Comgall was saved from beating of some pietists when they saw St. Comgall wearing the chrismal. The pietists said that they were afraid of some divine revenge because St. Comgall was carrying his God around his neck. St. Basil in the 1st century divided the Eucharistic bread in three parts when he celebrated mass at the monastery. One part he consumed, the second part he gave to the monks and the third he placed in a golden dove suspended over the altar. In the 2nd Century, popes sent the Eucharist to other bishops as a pledge of unity. At the middle of the 3rd Century, early hermits reserved the Eucharist in their cells and carried the Eucharist wherever they go.
It was under the papacy of Pope Gregory VII that the Church made a definitive statement about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This caused the Churches of Europe to begin what has been called the Eucharistic Renascence. This involves the procession of the Blessed Sacrament, legislation of prescribed acts of adoration, encouragement of the visitation of Christ in the pyx, making of windows through the Church so the lay faithful could see the tabernacle from outside, and many others.
The earliest records of perpetual adoration were in the 4th Century when newly baptised Catholics adore the Blessed Sacrament continuously for eight consecutive days. King Loius VII of France started a perpetual adoration in 1226 in his country after their victory over the Albigensians. After the Council of Trent in the 16th Century, perpetual adoration grew to a world-wide scale. In 1592, Pope Clement VIII issued a document called the Quarant Ore. It is forty hours of continual prayer before the Blessed Sacrament taken out of the tabernacle and exposed. Gradually, the forty hours of worship in front of the exposed Blessed Sacrament spread throughout the Catholic Church. In the 20th Century, the new Code of Canon Law stated: “It is recommended that there be held each year a solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for an appropriate, even if not for a continuous time so that the local community may more attentively meditate on and adore the Eucharistic Mystery.”
Now we ask the question, “Why Eucharistic Adoration?” The answer may be obvious, but we will express it: “It’s God!” A sceptic once said, “I don’t understand you Christians, you believe in the presence of your God in the host, yet you only receive Him once a week and very seldom visit Him in the sanctuary where you keep Him!” Now it leads us to question ourselves: “If I really, firmly, and wholeheartedly believe that my God is present in the Blessed Sacrament, what am I doing here [far away from Him]?”
In Eucharistic Adoration, we allow the love of Christ to persuade us to love Him back. Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament is the same Christ who is recorded in the Gospels. In the Gospel account on the rich young man, we were told that “Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him…” (Mk 10:21). It is the same Jesus that looks at us and loves us everytime we spend time in front of Him in the Blessed Sacrament. It is this look of love that will compel us to love Him back.
On the Cross, Jesus’ heart was pierced for us. As we dwell in the mystery of His Passion and contemplate in His wounds, we find ourselves wounded in love also, and our hearts become pierced as well, opening it in love for our God, as His heart was opened for the love of us. Meditating upon our God who is crucified, we realize that it is our sins that nailed Him on the cross, but it is His love for us that kept Him there. Through Eucharistic Adoration, we see that Christ is present in the Eucharist for our sake, and for our own gain. St. Francis de Sales once said regarding Jesus in the Eucharist: “ Gaze upon Him… where He is present for your happiness. Welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His presence.”
Because of His great love for us, He desires union with us. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus exclaims just before His passion, ”I have longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer…” (Lk 22:15). Similarly, in the Gospel of John, He said as He hung on the Cross: “I thirst.” Jesus thirsts for us. God became man because He longs to be united to us, or rather, us to be united to Him. This thirst for union becomes even more displayed when He willingly gave up His life on the cross for our salvation. It even goes further that after His resurrection, He willed to be present with us and give Himself to us in the Eucharist. As we become more and more aware of this deep thirsting in God for us, our thirst for Him in return is awakened. St. Francis of Assisi pleaded for reverence for Jesus in the Eucharist in these words: “See brothers the humility of God, keep nothing of yourselves for yourselves, so that He may possess you entirely, who has given Himself wholly for you.” Moreover, St. Bernard of Clairvaux asked Jesus once: “Jesus, what made You so small? LOVE!”
The thirst for our union with Him leads us to the thirst of becoming united in Him, even to His death on the Cross. We find within ourselves a desire to surrender everything so that we would be completely united to the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross for the salvation of souls. The Holy Mass makes present this once and for all sacrifice of Jesus to the Father, and Eucharistic Adoration prolongs it. As we bathe in His love, we become drawn in union with this self-offering. We allow ourselves to be broken as He was broken so that we may love as He loves. We also allow ourselves to die as He had died so that we may live as He lives. We become more selfless and self-sacrificial. We are then reminded of the beautiful prayer of St. Marie Therese de Couderc, the founder of the Cenacle Sisters: “Here I unite myself to Your everlasting love and selfless act of oblation. So that in Your love Dearest Lord Jesus, I may die, and that in Your love, I may live… Let every beat of my heart be a sign of Your infinite love.”
Jesus in his earthly life called his disciples ‘friends’. Outside the circle of disciples, He also had intimate friendships with people such as Lazarus, Mary, and Martha of Bethany. These people he must have visited quite often for the purpose of ‘just being with them’, as what friends do. Just as He did before, he also longs to spend time with us, whom He calls His friends. In Eucharistic Adoration, we stand at the foot of Christ, gazing upon Him intently, and in wordless expressions of the heart, we become more and more like Him. As His friends, he longs to have a heart-to-heart exchange of love with us. It is like Mary of Bethany, content in listening to the Lord at His feet and John the Beloved, resting upon the Master’s chest in all gentleness, experiencing His love. We are invited to be mindful of Christ’s real presence in the Blessed Sacrament, just as He was present in front of Mary of Bethany and John, and stay with him and let ourselves be loved. As St. Alphonsus Ligouri said, “Do not think that Jesus is forgetful of you, since he has left you, as the greatest memorial and pledge of his love, Himself in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.”
In the 17th Century, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque received a series of revelations from Jesus concerning His Sacred Heart. In one of these revelations, Jesus asked her to give Him her heart, which she generously did. Then she described how she saw her heart engulfed in the fire of love in Jesus’ heart: “He let me see it there, a tiny atom being completely burned up in that fiery furnace.” Jesus then gave her back her heart, burning ablaze with the fire of God’s love. In Eucharistic Adoration, we experience the same dynamic. It could be that dramatic as well, if we would only allow Jesus to do it! If we let Him, He could make our hearts burn with the fire of His love. So that just as St. Margaret Mary described it, the new fire of love in us becomes almost too much to bear. With this, we would want nothing more but to share it. It gives us the fire to have a deep conviction and awareness of the truth of God’s love and gives us the zeal to spread this love to other souls.
Consequently, we also acquire the heart to pray for those who do not believe in God. Blessed John Paul II in his 1996 Letter to the Bishop of Liege on the feast of Corpus Christi wrote: “Through adoration, the Christian mysteriously contributes to the radical transformation of the world and to the sowing of the Gospel. Anyone who prays to the Saviour draws the whole world with him and raises it to God. Those who stand before the Lord are fulfilling an eminent service. They are presenting to Christ all those who do not know him or are far from him; they keep watch in His presence on their behalf.”
We could go in an infinite discussion regarding he benefits one could have in Eucharistic Adoration, yet everything still comes down to the one simple point that “It is God!”. The ultimate end of a human being, of course, is his union to God in heaven. How marvellous it is to ponder that this union is possible now on earth! Jesus, who is present in the Blessed Sacrament exists inseparably with the Father and the Spirit, and therefore the Holy Trinity is there, and where the Holy Trinity dwells, there is heaven. Adoration Chapels are literally “Heaven on Earth”! This leads us back to one of the first questions we asked: “What am I doing here [far away from Him]?”
In real life, we could not discount the fact that it could be difficult to stay an hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament. We have spoken about Jesus’ sacrifice for us yet we could also speak of a different sacrifice in our part when we choose to stay amidst all the distractions and pains of “staying”. We are not oblivious to the fact that we may have times that we say, “This is not going anywhere” or “I’d rather be somewhere else”. Yet we are called to make a sacrifice in the simplest meaning of the word sacrifice. It would be more correct, actually, to say that we must seek sacrifice. We are called to seek the Holy Face (Sacra-Facio) and in it we will find rest. In this Sacra-Facio, we find peace. More and more of our Protestant brethren are having a growing interest in the Shroud of Turin. Books, documentaries, and other scientific researches are being done or participated in by our Protestant Brethren to prove the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin. In a latest documentary on the Shroud by the History Channel, scientists in all Christian denominations reconstruct the Face of the Man in the shroud using all the latest scientific equipments, facilities and methods in the area. It just shows how Christians are in deep longing on seeing the Face of Christ. As Catholics, whether or not the Shroud is the real burial garment of Jesus, we need not look at it to see the Face of Christ, for we have the Blessed Sacrament. How blessed we are!
One of the brothers in the Congregation of Blessed Charles de Foucauld took a photo of the Blessed Sacrament once and what came out was a photo of the Child Jesus in prayer. Whether or not this is an authentic miracle, it somehow tells us how the Lord asks us to approach Him in the Blessed Sacrament. He becomes our model in prayer, teaching us that we are to approach Him and the Father as a child. “Let the children come to me and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs.” (Lk 18:16). We are invited by Jesus to approach Him with the attitude of a child, ever-trusting, ever-humble, and ever-willing to believe in His love and His presence. We are called to trust in the same way that a child trusts the words of his father that he will come home after work. Jesus, our eternal God, promised us that He will be with us until the end of time. As children of God, we believe in the promise of God Who never lies. Despite our withered souls in all its imperfections, we are able to clearly see that God is with us in the Eucharist. As children of God, we approach the Blessed Sacrament with fervent and open hearts, ready to be consumed in God’s love, for we believe that in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, there dwells God.
--Written by A.do.bo