Eucharistic devotion

This Tuesday we have been called to pray for palliative care. Sister Maggie, in her announcement in Mass today, asked parishioners to sign up for one hour of adoration of the blessed sacrament. So, what does this mean?

Eucharistic devotion is an extension of the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament which occurs in every Mass: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.” Jesus Christ is present in the bread that we place with care in the tabernacle and the tabernacle is located in a worthy place in the in the church so that it emphasizes the truth of Christ’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament. The church, the house of God, in the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, if the proper place for liturgical prayer of the parish community and can be a priviledged place for more intense personal prayer.

Holy hours are the Roman Catholic devotional tradition of spending an hour in Eucharistic Adoration in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. As Saint John Paul II stated in Dominicae cenae: “The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease.”

References: 1) United States Conference of Catholic Bishops webpage on Prayers and Devotions (http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/eucharistic-devotion/index.cfm).
2) Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1995.