For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch
“The Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." "The other sacraments,
and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the
Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch." (CCC 1324)
The sacredness and the importance of the Eucharist to the Catholic Church and Her practices cannot be denied. The Catechism explains all aspects of the faith, even the other sacraments, are dependent on the Eucharist. St Euphrasia said “To speak of the Blessed Sacrament is to speak of what is most sacred.
How often, when we are in a state of distress, those to whom we look for help leave us;
or what is worse, add to our affliction by heaping fresh troubles upon us. He is ever there,
waiting to help us.” Because of the sacredness and importance for the faithful to always have
access to the Eucharist, especially in times of distress, the Code of Canon Law has put codes into place to regulate and ensure the practice of Eucharistic adoration. Those canons are as followed:
Canon 941. §1 In churches or oratories which are allowed to reserve the blessed Eucharist, there may be exposition, either with the pyx or with the monstrance, in accordance
with the norms prescribed in the liturgical books.
§2 Exposition of the blessed Sacrament may not take place while Mass is being celebrated in the same area of the church or oratory.
Canon 942. It is recommended that in these churches or oratories, there is to be 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.
This exposition is to take place only if a fitting attendance of the faithful is foreseen, and the
prescribed norms are observed.
Canon 943. The minister of exposition of the blessed Sacrament and of the eucharistic blessing is a priest or deacon. In special circumstances the minister of exposition and deposition alone, but without the blessing, is an acolyte, and extraordinary minister of holy communion, or another person deputed by the local Ordinary, in accordance with the regulations of the diocesan Bishop.
Canon 944. §1 Wherever in the judgment of the diocesan Bishop it can be done, a procession
through the streets is to be held, especially on the solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, as a public witness of veneration of the blessed Eucharist.
§2 It is for the diocesan Bishop to establish such regulations about processions as will provide
for participation in them and for their being carried out in a dignified manner.
Belief in the real presence of Jesus has been an essential teaching of the Church,
beginning with the Apostles and Saint Paul. Saint John wrote extensively in his Gospel regarding the Eucharistic. He even recalls one encounter Jesus had with his disciples. "many of His disciples withdrew and no longer went about with Him." Seeing this, Jesus asked the Twelve,"Do you also want to leave me?" Simon Peter did not understand any more than those who left Christ, but his loyalty was more firm. "Lord," he answered, "to whom shall we go?" (John 6:66-68).
There was a natural draw to Jesus felt by those who truly believe in him. Paul's letter to the Corinthians rebuked them for making the Agape, which should have been a beautiful sign of unity, into an occasion of discord. He reminded them that the Eucharist is no ordinary food.
It is actually the Body and Blood of Christ according to "the tradition which I handed on to you that came to me from the Lord Himself" (1 Corinthians 2: 23-26). Even early Church hermits and those who resembled what we now know as the monastic life preserved the Eucharist in their cells and monasteries. It was a way for them to draw closer to the Lord in prayer and to give themselves the Blessed Sacrament when traveling to Mass with the Bishop was hard to do.
Father John A. Hardon, S.J. wrote in his book “The History of Eucharistic Adoration:
Development of Doctrine in the Catholic Church” “Not only did they have the Sacrament with them in their cells, but they carried it on their persons when they moved from one place to another.
This practice was sanctioned by the custom of the fermentum, that certainly goes back to as early as 120 A.D. The rite of fermentum was a particle of the Eucharistic bread (sometimes dipped in the chalice) transported from the bishop of one diocese to the bishop of another diocese. The latter would then consume the species at his next solemn Mass as a token of unity between the churches. It was called a fermentum not necessarily because leavened bread was used but because the Eucharist symbolized the leaven of unity which permeates and transforms Christians, so that they become one with Christ.”
The Eucharist has always been a unifying branch between members of the Church separated by large geographical distances. The reverence for Christ in the Eucharist can be traced back to at least the 4th century.
Father John Hardon, S.J., tells us: “As early as the Council of Nicea (325) we know that the Eucharist began to be reserved in the churches of monasteries and convents…. naturally its sacred character was recognized and the place of reservation was set off from profane usage.” Although we can assume this practice was to offer viaticum to the dying, it established a safe practice of keeping the Eucharist in Churches for people to see.
It took until the Council of Trent to truly define and see law promulgated regarding the real presence and exposition of the Eucharist. The Council of Trent was the backbone of the counter-reformation and was called because of the spread of the Protestant Reformation. Protestants see the Eucharistic celebration merely as a remembrance or symbol of the Last Supper but do not accept or acknowledge the real presence.
Chapter One of Session XIII of the council states “In the first place, the holy Synod teaches, and openly and simply professes, that, in the august sacrament of the holy Eucharist, after the consecration of the bread and wine, our Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man, is truly, really, and substantially contained under the species of those sensible things.
For neither are these things mutually repugnant,-that our Saviour Himself always sitteth at the right hand of the Father in heaven, according to the natural mode of existing, and that, nevertheless, He be, in many other places, sacramentally present to us in his own substance, by a manner of existing, which, though we can scarcely express it in words, yet can we, by the understanding illuminated by faith, conceive, and we ought most firmly to believe, to be possible unto God.”
The fathers of this great council make note that Jesus is present to us sacramentally. It did not take long for the inspiration of this council to bear fruit in the Church.
Pope Clement VIII in 1592 issued a historic document on what was called in Italian
Quarant' Ore (Forty Hours). This document instituted a devotion of forty hours of continual prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. “A solemn high Mass, "Mass of Exposition", is sung at the beginning, and another, the "Mass of Deposition", at the end of the period of forty hours; and both these Masses are accompanied by a procession of the Blessed Sacrament and by the chanting of the litanies of the saints.” (New Advent).
We see from this practice the source of Canons 941 and 942 which recommend every year a solemn exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in a suitable Church or oratory. Section two of Canon 941 tells us Mass and exposition cannot be celebrated simultaneously in the same area of the Church. This is consistent with a decree by Pope Clement XIII who issued rules for the forty hour devotion, one of them stating “No Masses are to be said at the altar of exposition.”
In Cathedrals and Basilicas with multiple side altars, the canon and decree by the late Pope are not clear whether low Mass can be offered on a side altar separate from the high altar. Father Peter once told me “Once while in South America I saw adoration in a church while Mass was being celebrated on a different altar of that same church. Gave me a different sense of that canon!”
We continue to wait on clarification but for now it does not read that it would be improper to do so. The Feast of Corpus Christi, or Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, was instituted in 1264 by Pope Urban IV. It celebrates the Real Presence of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the elements of the Eucharist. “Moreover we know that, while we were constituted in a lesser office, it was divinely revealed to certain Catholics that a feast of this kind should be celebrated generally throughout the Church.
Therefore, to strengthen and exalt the Catholic Faith, we decree that, besides the daily memory that the Church makes of this Sacrament, there be celebrated a more solemn and special annual memorial. Then let the hearts and mouths of all break forth in hymns of saving joy; then let faith sing, hope dance, charity exult, devotion applaud, the choir be jubilant, and purity delight. Then let each one with willing spirit and prompt will come together, laudably fulfilling his duties, celebrating the Solemnity of so great a Feast.” (Transiturus de hoc mundo)
Pope Urban IV saw the need for greater recognition of the Eucharist besides our Sunday obligation. Although the Eucharist is the focal point of every sacrifice of the Mass, it is often a subject overlooked in the homily. We see a tendency to focus on the readings and the impact they have in our Christian lives. This is good, but fails to always remind us why after hearing this we feed upon the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus. Having one solemn day a year set aside to proclaiming the truth of the real presence and showing the world that God is still alive and moving about or frail existence is essential to the people of God.
Saint Thomas Aquinas was tasked with writing the hymns for this feast day. He wrote five Eucharistic hymns: Lauda Sion ("Sion, Lift Up Thy Voice And Sing"), Pange Lingua ("Sing, My Tongue, The Saviour's Glory"), Panis Angelicus ("Bread of Angels"), Verbum Supernum (“The heavenly Word proceeding forth”), and Adoro te devote (“Humbly We Adore Thee”). Saint Thomas’ Verbum Supernum and Pange Lingua are used today in the traditional benediction rite of the Church as prescribed in the proper liturgical books. It is customary at the end of the Corpus Christi Mass to have a Eucharistic procession.
The Eucharist is displayed in a monstrance and is carried by the priest. He is covered by a canopy and is led by altar servers or assisting clergy with candles and a thurible. According to section two of canon 984, it is the local Bishop who regulates these processions. Guidelines are traditionally published through the office of worship prior to Corpus Christi.
Before the forty hour devotion and Corpus Christi, there was perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The term "perpetual adoration" is broadly used to designate the practically uninterrupted adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
In the “Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist outside Mass” document published by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, general directives are given. no. 90, states that, according to their constitutions and regulations, some religious communities and other pious groups have the practice of perpetual eucharistic adoration or adoration over extended periods of time. Permission from the local ordinary is necessary. The liturgical text always makes it clear that it is desirable that the Eucharist is never alone and two adorers are recommended.
According to an article from Catholic News Agency, “the first recorded perpetual adoration was in Avignon in 1226. On September 11th, King Louis VII asked to expose the Blessed Sacrament as a way to celebrate victory over the Albigensians, a sect that flourished in southern France in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Holy See later ratified this perpetual adoration, which was maintained uninterruptedly until 1792, when it was stopped by the chaos of the French Revolution.
It was resumed in 1829, thanks to the efforts of the Grey Penitents, a group of several confraternities.” This one example shows the significance role the Eucharist plays in our lives. An entire country, who during this period of time, faced revolutions, war, famine, economic stability, found their strength and courage in the Eucharist. I think it is important to note that the directions didn’t come from a priest or a devout layperson, but rather, the ruler of the country.
Entire religious institutions and societies were now being founded around adoration of
the Blessed Sacrament. Cloistered monastic groups were beginning to take vows of perpetual
adoration like the Benedictine Nuns of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
“In this life of adoration Christ reveals himself in the charity, warmth and unity of a community formed by a common vision of faith. Nourished by the Eucharist, we recognize his presence in the “breaking of the bread” and the fellowship of our common table.” (Constitution of the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration)
Although it is easier for them who live cloistered with all like minded sisters to achieve this, this mentality should be one of the entirety of the Body of Christ because the Code of Canon Law allows for us to do so. This community is not the only active one still. Sisters of Perpetual Adoration founded in 1807 in Rome continue to preach the practice and benefits of Eucharistic Adoration.
The sisters establish and still regulate the "Pious Union" of Secular Adorers. Lay faithful pledge to pray everyday before the Blessed Sacrament for: The Pope, combat atheism, unite and promote perpetual adoration, and more. With the declining number of consecrated religious vocations, these secular orders are becoming increasingly more important to do the work we use to rely so heavily on the monastics to do for us, which is continuous prayer before Christ for the world.
St. Peter Julian Eymard once said “In the presence of Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament, all greatness disappears, all holiness humbles itself and comes to nothing. Jesus Christ is there!" Because of the work of the Bishops and countless religious, this understanding can continuously be brought and promoted to everyone.
Eucharistic Congresses began to form to reach even more people regarding the importance of Eucharistic adoration and promotion of the real presence. The first international Eucharistic congress was held in Lille in 1881.
This congress was not the inspiration of aPope or a renown Catholic figure, but rather a French laywoman. Marie-Marthe Tamisier was so devoted to the Eucharist, she would lead pilgrimages to Eucharstic miracles thus sparking international congresses. There have been 52 to date with the 53rd scheduled for next year in Ecuador. These congresses have been the catalysis for conversions, vocations, and a testimony to the power of the Church united under Her head present in the Eucharist.
With the decline in vocations and Mass Attendance plaguing the United States, the
Bishops of the country have heard the call to the “new evangelization” and launched the National Eucharistic Revival. “The National Eucharistic Revival is a movement to restore understanding and devotion to this great mystery here in the United States by helping us renew our worship of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.” (NER Website). This movement began in the parishes and local celebration in the Diocese and culminated in a national event in 2024 in Indianapolis.
Pew Research Center shows 69% of self claiming Catholics do not believe in the real presence of the Eucharist. If we as a Church have gotten away from believing and understanding the core teaching to our faith, how are we going to grow our faith? This is why Canons 941-944 are essential to the people of God. They give us an opportunity to encounter Jesus in a real and present tangible way and to bring others face to face with the Lord. Through proper implementation and use of these canons, the Church can begin to evangelize in all corners of the world. It can pour out an unfathomable amount of grace upon a dark and sinful world. “Take, eat; this is My body.” (Matthew 26:26)
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