The Blessed Sacrament
Kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament and remaining there for a time is one of the most powerful moments in our Christian lives. Yet we don't always know exactly how to go about it. "We don't need to say much to pray well. We know God is there, in the holy Tabernacle. We open our hearts to Him, we delight in His presence. That is the best prayer," explains St. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars. Delighting in His presence is certainly the key to a fruitful adoration. But in our hectic lives, it's not always easy to quiet our interior selves enough to simply sit and adore the Blessed Sacrament. What if we treated this time as a moment of meditation? We offer you some keys to address your questions.
Quieting Your Thoughts
First and foremost, it's necessary to take time to create calm within. If we're agitated, if our thoughts are multiple, confused and filled with the day's disturbances, we'll benefit less from this time of adoration. Let's not be mistaken: Christ will love our visit. But if we seek to be renewed in His presence, then we must begin by going to make silence within ourselves.
For this, we can rely on guarding the heart, as proposed by the Church Fathers from the earliest centuries. This consists of observing our heart, and allowing only what bears good fruit to remain. This means letting negative thoughts pass by, along with any thought that might distract us.
Our mind is like the sky: clouds pass, and the sky remains. Let thoughts pass without trying to chase them away ourselves; watch them depart in complete serenity just as we watch clouds dissipate. Then the blue sky returns, and we're ready to let ourselves be loved by Jesus.
Becoming Aware of Christ's Real Presence
When we come to adore the Blessed Sacrament, it's essential to become aware of Christ's real presence. We must make an act of faith here. We know He is there. Sometimes we can feel Him tangibly. But other times, we only know He's there because we're intimately convinced of it. Whether we feel Him or not, let's be conscious that He is there. Let's keep in mind that we're not alone before the Blessed Sacrament: He is there, with us.
This isn't some kind of interior monologue, but truly an exchange. "I look at Him, and He looks at me," said one of St. John Vianney's parishioners. And this is exactly what's happening when we're recollected before the Blessed Sacrament: we're there to adore Him, but He is there too, loving us deeply. Adoration doesn't happen in one direction. It's mutual. Let's keep this in our hearts each time we settle in for adoration.
Praying Before the Blessed Sacrament
Loving Christ
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament doesn't necessarily require spoken prayer. It can be satisfied with a feeling of deep love. Settle before the Blessed Sacrament and give it all your love. Feel all the love you have for Jesus, and offer it to Him. In all simplicity, without seeking anything more.
Speaking to Christ as to a Friend
Loving Christ also means trusting Him. We can come here and offer Jesus all our sufferings and weaknesses - particularly, perhaps, this difficulty in remaining fully present, fully aware of His real presence, this difficulty in not letting ourselves be drawn into our human concerns during this adoration.
Prayer of the Heart
As some Orthodox still practice much today, we can practice the prayer of the heart, called the Jesus Prayer, which consists of repeating a phrase, "ruminating" on it, until it becomes fully part of us.
Traditionally, this phrase is: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." It was brought back into fashion by John Main, for whom meditation means: standing at the center of ourselves, that is, in God. For his part, he proposes repeating the word "maranatha," which means "Come, Lord Jesus."
It's also not forbidden to take any Bible verse and chew on it in the same way, or even to use your own words to speak to Jesus in this way. You can even sing inwardly - everything is possible, the only rule being to offer your prayer, whatever its form, to Jesus, and to love Him deeply. It's quite simple, all in all: put into your prayer all the love a child puts into the flower - or the stick, or the stone, or the drawing - that they offer to their mother.
Chaplet of the Blessed Sacrament
If you desire a more structured prayer, then you'll likely find satisfaction in praying the Chaplet of the Blessed Sacrament - we offer two on Hozana.
Rosary
Finally, isn't Mary our purest model? Wasn't she the first to adore Jesus? So too, praying the Rosary - and even more so, a full rosary - allows you to meditate on the mysteries of Christ's life and feel all the closer to Him.
Adoring the Blessed Sacrament on Hozana
On Hozana, the possibilities are numerous. Any prayer is good to experience when placed in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Join a community that guides you in
through biblical themes. You can also unite in prayer with a community calling you to .
