The question today is: "Do we adore Him whom we receive into our heart in Holy Communion?" The clear, specific, and unmistakable way in which Christ has consistently and repeatedly pleaded with humanity to adore Him is through appreciation of the gift of His total presence among us in the Blessed Sacrament. Are we willing to spend time with Him in prayer who is really, truly, bodily and personally present in the Blessed Sacrament?

The Spiritual Centre

At the height of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI wrote a prophetic encyclical entitled Mysterium Fidei. In the encyclical the Pope states that the Eucharist is reserved in our Church as the "spiritual centre" of the parish. In this encyclical he also writes: "Anyone, therefore, who approaches this august Sacrament with special devotion and endeavours to return generous love for Christ's own infinite love, experiences and fully understands ... how great is the value of converse with Christ, for there is nothing more consoling on earth, nothing more efficacious for advancing along the road to holiness."

Pope Paul said he wrote this encyclical "so that the hope aroused by the Council that a new era of eucharistic piety pervade the whole Church - be not frustrated." He pleaded with pastors and bishops to "tirelessly" promote devotion to the Blessed Sacrament so that a new era of eucharistic piety pervade the whole Church.

The Life of our Souls

Pope John Paul II, in his letter On the Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist, (1980), wrote: "The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic adoration. Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of His love. Let us be generous with our time of going to meet Him in adoration and contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease."

The Holy Father put his words into action by beginning perpetual adoration, with the Blessed Sacrament exposed, on December 2nd, 1981. Since Dec. 2nd there has been uninterrupted, continuous adoration in the little chapel at St. Peter's in the Vatican. In the prayer to open this chapel, the Pope prayed for every parish in the world to have perpetual adoration.

Over 2,500 parishes around the world now have perpetual adoration. About 500 of these are in the Philippines. Cardinal Sin has asked every parish in the Archdiocese of Manila to have perpetual adoration. The United States has about 1,100 chapels of perpetual adoration; the Republic of Ireland has about 150 chapels; Bishop John McGee of Clone diocese, the only man to be secretary to three Popes, has personally established 17 of these chapels, and South Korea, with a Catholic population of less than one percent, has 70.

There are only 168 hours in a week. The vast majority of parishes have two, three or four times more people than there are hours in the week. The practical advantage of perpetual adoration is that it opens up all 168 hours of the week. This makes it very easy for anyone to choose one of the hours during the week to make a holy-hour of prayer.

When each hour is covered it also makes the Blessed Sacrament available to anyone at anytime. When people know that they have an opportunity to visit Our Blessed Lord any time they desire, it is extraordinary how many people respond to this opportunity.

Everyone today experiences a deep need for personal prayer. The hunger for prayer increases with the many trials and heartaches which many encounter in family life or the business world.

A Room in the Inn

Many wonderful pastors have found ways to make our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament completely available to the people, even though they lock the church doors. Some of these pastors make a Blessed Sacrament chapel somewhere in the body of the church, while keeping the rest of the church locked. This is done by converting a baptistry in the back, or a sacristy in the front into a perpetual adoration chapel. Some pastors have even built a new chapel when no place could be found for perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. God bless them a hundredfold! We spend so much money on so many things for the parish that it is tragic not to spend whatever it takes to provide a little place where the People of God can come to adore Our Lord and receive the "living waters" of His grace and love.

There is a direct connection between the sharp decline in Eucharistic adoration during the last 25 years, and the sharp decline in vocations and church attendance. Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the answer to all the ills in the Church and human society. From the Lamb flows the river, crystal clear, which provides the healing and the medicine for all the nations (Rev. 22:1-3).

A priest who comes to the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament "knows" Him personally with a living faith. To know Him is to love Him and want everyone else to love Him also. A priest who makes a daily holy-hour is a priest who wants Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament to be adored perpetually.

The purpose of this article is to appeal to those priests and laymen who "know" the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and want to proclaim Him "Lord of Lords and King of Kings" through perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. What I do is speak at all the Masses on Sunday on the value and spiritual benefits of spending a quiet, personal, holy-hour of prayer in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. After the homily each person is given an invitation. Those wanting to participate in perpetual adoration by willing to spend an hour a week with Our Lord, sign their name and give their telephone number.

The invitation includes a request for a committee to help organise all the hours so that each hour is covered and Jesus is never let alone. A meeting of these people is held in the parish, to teach them how to organise perpetual adoration, in a smooth effective way that will last for years to come. Because of the faith of the laity and the hunger for prayer, enough people almost always make themselves available for perpetual adoration.. If there are vacant hours, these hours are advertised; and committee members approach people to volunteer. Also, a smaller parish may combine with another.

When asked "What will save the world?" Mother Teresa replied: "My answer is prayer. What we need is for every parish to come before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in Holy-Hours of prayer.”

Hostility and Terrorism

Some think it is dangerous to make adoration in the middle of the night. Never once has anyone been harmed while either coming to or going from Eucharistic adoration. Sacre Coeur in Paris has had perpetual adoration for over 100 years without a single incident.

St. Joseph's parish (Bakersfield, California) has perpetual adoration. Since it was established, the Parish Priest has been astonished by the total lack of vandalism and crime, as it is a very rough area.

Recently, a request for perpetual adoration came from a missionary in Guatemala. He was inspired to have perpetual adoration because of the church of San Marcus. San Marcus has perpetual adoration and not a single priest or parishioner has been harmed during the terrible war there. In the four surrounding parishes, the priests have been killed and the villages wiped out.

In the 1940's a priest in the U.S. started perpetual adoration in his parish to pray for the safety of the men in the parish who had gone to war; not one of these men were killed. As a result, a neighbouring parish, which had already lost twenty men in the war, decided to start perpetual adoration; afterwards, not one man died.

The Eucharist is Our Risen Lord with all the power of His resurrection flowing out to all who come to His Eucharistic presence. His words are the same today as ever: "Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid!" (Mark 5:50).

Personal Testimonies of Priests

"I was pastor of St. Boniface. As a pastor I had a problem to solve: How do I feed all these hungry sheep?. I searched and prayed. A series of events led me to a solution: perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In the past, I tried periods of exposition in the parish, but with limited success. I really didn't think it would work for any extended period. I was wrong. Now, after 10 years experience, I realise that my doubts were
unfounded". (Fr. M Eivers, U.S.A.)

"I have 350 parishioners spending one full hour each week in prayer. The parish is at prayer 24 hours a day. If you know of a better way to prompt that much prayer I will adopt it today. The people have a great desire for prayer and we have a great responsibility to help them. Perpetual Exposition of Our Lord offers a proven means to fulfil their genuine spiritual desires" (Msgr. F. Bognano, U.S.A.)

"I believe in the power of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament because it has changed my life. This is why I have made Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament available to the people in my parish through Perpetual Adoration. I want everyone to experience what I have experienced, the power and love of Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament!" (Fr. E. Fonseca, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, India).

"What the Church needs today is a new evangelisation. Evangelisation through the Eucharist, in the Eucharist and from the Eucharist." (Pope John Paul II, Eucharistic Congress, Spain, 1993)

If you would like to know more, with the intention of developing a strong and lasting programme of Eucharistic Adoration in your parish please contact:

Fr. Doug Harris
St. Bernadette's Catholic Church
Cnr Leeder & Jugan Streets
Glendalough WA 6016
Ph: 08 9444 6131
Email: fr.doug@myrealbox.com