"The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the best time you will spend on earth. Each moment that you spend with Jesus will deepen your union with Him and make your soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in Heaven, and will help bring about everlasting peace on earth," - Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
What is Adoration?
It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to His Church in this unique way. Since Christ was about to take His departure from His own in His visible form, He wanted to give us His sacramental presence; since He was about to offer Himself on the cross to save us, He wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which He loved us "to the end," even to the giving of His life. In His Eucharistic presence, He remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave Himself up for us, and He remains under signs that express and communicate this love:
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 (Catechism Catholic Church; 1380).
What to do in Adoration?
Sometimes we can be intimidated to go to Adoration. It is not because we fear being with Jesus in prayer but rather we have never been taught what to do in an extended period of prayer. Is it alright to read, pray a Rosary, or reflect upon the Scriptures? Or do I have to sit there- not moving or making a sound, staring at a gold monstrance with a Host inside? While visiting our Lord in Eucharistic Adoration, we can pray in a variety of different ways. Here are some suggestions:
1. Pray the Psalms or the Liturgy of the Hours Whether you are praising, giving thanks, asking for forgiveness or seeking an answer, you'll find an appropriate psalm. The ancient prayer of the Church called the Liturgy of the Hours presents an excellent way to pray through the Book of Psalms throughout the year.
2. Recite the "Jesus Prayer" Say "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner," repeatedly as you quiet your heart and mind . 3. Meditate using Scripture Choose a passage from the Bible. Read the words and ask God to let the passage speak to you. Pay special attention to anything that strikes you and asks God what He wishes for you to draw from that message.
4. Read the life of a saint and pray with him or her Most holy men and women have had a great devotion to Our Lord in the Eucharist. Therese of Lisieux, Catherine of Siena, Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, Peter Julian Eymard, Dorothy Day, Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Baroness Catherine de Hueck are just a few. Read about them and pray their prayers before the Blessed Sacrament.
5. Pour out your heart to Christ and adore Him Speak to Jesus, aware that you are in His presence, and tell Him all that comes to your mind. Listen for His response. Pray the prayer that St. Francis instructed his brothers to pray whenever they were before the Blessed Sacrament: "I adore You, O’ Christ, present here and in all the churches of the world, for by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world."
6. Ask for forgiveness and intercede for others Think of those who have hurt you and request a special blessing for them. 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. Ask the Lord to address their concerns.
7. Pray the Rosary Pope John Paul II reminds us, "...is not the enraptured gaze of Mary as she contemplated the face of the newborn Christ and cradled him in her arms that unparalleled model of love which should inspire us every time we receive Eucharistic communion?" (The Church and the Eucharist, 55) Ask Mary to join you as you gaze on Christ in the Eucharist and as you pray the Rosary.
8. Sit quietly and just "be" in the presence of God Think of a visit to the Blessed Sacrament as coming to see your best friend. Sit quietly and enjoy being in each other's company. Instead of talking to the Lord, try listening to what He wants to tell you.
Taken from: http://www.uga.edu/cc/liturgy/adoration.htm
Holy Hour. What’s that? The purpose of this special hour is to spend time in prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. We can do many things during a Holy Hour. Venerable Fulton Sheen tells us that with each Holy Hour we do, in a way, we undo the first failed Holy Hour of the disciples when our Lord said to them: “Could you not keep watch one hour with me?” In our Holy Hours, we keep vigil with the Lord. Here are some steps to help you prepare for a Holy Hour:
Step 1: Prep-work We need to remember that like much else in life we need to prepare for the event. If we are on our way to the church to pray, do we have the music going with the latest hit or are we beginning to focus on Jesus Christ? We need to “pray before we pray.” It sounds funny but praying that God would bless our prayer and dispose us by removing distractions and anxieties is key.
Step 2: Enter in When we get to the place where we have gone to pray we need to give ourselves over to the time with Jesus. It is time to focus. At this time, it is helpful to offer the time with our Lord for an intention, whether it is for our family, friends, the Church, or a distress of our times.
Step 3: Practice Prayer We need to practice things to become good at them. Sometimes prayer seems distasteful or difficult. If there is difficulty in a type of prayer you are practicing, to the point where you cannot focus, then move on to another type of prayer. If you are meditating on Scripture and keep getting distracted, then maybe it is time to start praying for the people in your family.
Step 4: Thank God As the time concludes for this prayer, we need to collect mentally all of the graces and experiences we have received and thank God for them. Then we can end the time with an Our Father or Hail Mary.
Step 5: Remember As we go about our lives, let’s keep in mind those graces in prayer we were given and revisit them in future prayer times. It is important to not view our prayer as individual moments that have nothing to do with each other. Prayers, like life, build and have a starting point and a point where they are going to bring us.
Twelve Biblical Reasons for Wanting to Spend One Hour with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
1. He is really there! 2. Day and night Jesus dwells in the Blessed Sacrament because of His Infinite love for you! 3. The specific way that Jesus asks you to love Him in return is to spend one quiet hour with Him in the Blessed Sacrament. 4. When you look upon the Sacred Host, you look upon Jesus, the Son of God. 5. Each moment that you spend in His Eucharistic Presence will increase His Divine Life within you and deepen your personal relationship and friendship with Him. 6. Each hour you spend with Jesus will deepen His Divine Peace in your heart. 7. Jesus will give you all the graces you need to be happy! 8. Jesus is infinitely deserving of our unceasing thanksgiving and adoration for all He has done for our salvation. 9. For peace in our country! 10. Each hour you spend with Jesus on earth will leave your soul everlastingly more beautiful and glorious in heaven! 11. Jesus will bless you, your family, and the whole world for this hour of faith you spend with Him in the Blessed Sacrament. 12. Each moment you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament brings joy, pleasure, and delight to His Sacred Heart!
Prayer of Adoration of the Eucharist
My Lord Jesus Christ, I adore you in all the tabernacles of the world. I offer you my life in reparation for the sins against the Blessed Sacrament, the unworthy communions, disrespect, lack of reverence in your churches, and countless other sins against your most Holy Body and Blood. Please, my Lord, increase my faith in your Eucharistic presence so that my devotion may be fanned into a flame of love of you and that I may go into the world to proclaim your kingdom. I ask this of your mercy in your Holy Name. Amen. Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, pray for us!
A MEDITATION BEFORE JESUS IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
Come Visit Me In The Blessed Sacrament: Won't You, Please?
MY CHILD, you need not know much in order to please Me: only love Me dearly. Speak to Me as you would talk to your mother if she had taken you in her arms. Have you no one to recommend to Me? Tell Me the names of your relations, of your friends: after each name add what you wish Me to do for them. Ask a great deal: I love generous hearts that forget themselves for others.
TELL Me about the poor whom you want to help, the sick whom you have seen suffer, the sinner whom you would convert, the persons who are alienated from you, and whose affections you wish to win back. For all recite a fervent prayer. Remind Me that I have promised to grant every prayer that comes from the heart, and surely the prayers are heartfelt which we say for those whom we love, and who love us.
HAVE you no favors to ask for yourself? Write, if you like, a long list of all your wishes - all the needs of your soul - and come and read it to Me. Tell Me simply how self-indulgent you are, how proud, how touchy. how selfish, how cowardly, how idle; ask Me to help you to improve. Poor child! Do not blush! There are in heaven many saints who had the same faults as you; they prayed to Me, and, little by little, they were cured.
DO not hesitate to ask for the goods of body and mind - for health, for memory, for success. I can give everything, and I always give when the gifts would make souls more holy. What do you want today, My child? Oh, if you knew how I long to do you good!
HAVE you no plans to interest you? Tell me about them. Do they concern your vocation? What do you think of? What would you like? Are you planning some pleasure for your mother for your family, for your guardian? What do you wish to do for them?
AND have you no thoughts of zeal for Me? Are you not anxious to do a little good for the souls of your friends, for those whom you love, and who, perhaps, forget Me? Tell Me who interests you, what motives urge you, what means you wish to take.
CONFIDE to Me your failures. I will show you the cause. Whom do you wish to see interested in your work? I am the master of all hearts, My child, and I lead them gently where I please. I will place about you those who are necessary to you; never fear!
HAVE you nothing to annoy you, My child, tell Me your annoyances with every detail. Who has pained you? Who has wounded your self-love? Who has treated you contemptuously? Tell Me all, and then say that you forgive and forget, and I will give you My blessing.
DO you dread something painful? Is there in your soul a vague fear which seems unreasonable, and yet torments you? Trustfully in My providence. I am here, I see everything; I will not leave you. ARE there about your friends who seem less kind than formerly, who neglect you through indifference or forgetfulness without your having consciously done anything to wound them? Pray for them, and I will restore them to you if their companionship is good for you.
HAVE you no joys to tell Me? Why not confide to Me your pleasures? Tell Me what has happened since yesterday to console you, to make you look happy, to give you joy. An unexpected visit has done you good: a fear has been suddenly dispelled: you have met with unlooked-for success; you have received some mark of affection - a letter, a present; some trial has left you stronger than you supposed. All these things, My child, I obtained for you. Why are you not grateful? Why do you not say 'I thank you'? Gratitude draws benefits, and the benefactor loves to be reminded of his bounty.
HAVE you no promises to make Me? You know I read the very bottom of your heart. Men are deceived, but not God: be frank.
ARE you resolved to avoid that occasion of sin, to give up the object which leads you astray - not to read the book which excites your imagination, to withdraw your friendship from that person who is irreligious, and whose presence disturbs the peace of your soul? Will you go at once and be kind to that companion who annoyed you?
WELL, My child, go now and resume your daily work. Be silent, be honest, be patient, be charitable: and tomorrow bring Me a heart even more devoted and loving. Tomorrow I shall have new favors for you.