Tag: Prayer

14 min read

Prayer

Why the Rosary, Why Now?

Gretchen R. Crowe

May 10, 2022 7:12 am May 10, 2022

14 min read

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14 min read

It’s easy for Catholics to take the Rosary for granted. We tend to purchase them as souvenirs, or carry them around with us, or even wear them — but we…

It’s easy for Catholics to take the Rosary for granted. We tend to purchase them as souvenirs, or carry them around with us, or even wear them — but we forget the immense power that they have when we actually pray them. And that’s really too bad, because a devotion to the Rosary can be the answer to so many struggles in our 21st-century world.

Our society today faces growing secularism and the disappearance of faith from the public square. We find ourselves confronting a world awash in the spread of evil and terrorism, war and violence. We are plagued by broken families, abounding distractions and a general lack of drive for holiness.

But the Rosary can help. And we know this because Mary herself told us this 100 years ago in Fátima, Portugal, when she appeared six times to three shepherd children once a month from May to October 1917. She told them repeatedly: “Recite the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.”

We also know the great value of the Rosary because it has manifested its power time and time again in the lives of men and women of faith throughout history. This, of course, isn’t because the Rosary is magical; it’s because it brings us to Jesus. As the late Cardinal Francis E. George, archbishop of Chicago, said at the conclusion of the Year of the Rosary in 2003: The Rosary “brings us to the heart of the Gospel.” Here’s how.

Break through the Noise

In today’s typical lifestyle, it is easy to become distracted and overwhelmed by all of the “noise.” Technology is constantly demanding our attention. We sit in front of screens and, at the same time, look at smaller screens. We are drawn in by the lure of social-media alerts and use texting as a primary form of communication. We have developed an “always on” or “always available” mentality, and noise no longer knows any boundaries. A Nielson report issued in June 2016 said that Americans, on average, spend more than 10 hours a day looking at some type of screen. It’s easy for us to tell ourselves we’re being productive and that this abundance of “screen time” is necessary, but the reality is that all that noise is damaging to our relationship with God.

This is not just a 21st-century problem, although it has become more pronounced in recent decades. In 1973, Cardinal Albino Luciani — then-archbishop of Venice who would go on to become Pope John Paul I — gave a homily that identified a “crisis of prayer” in the world — adding that part of the reason was due to the fact that “noise has invaded our existence.”

If he thought that life was noisy in 1973, what would Papa Luciani think of 2017?

We also face an abundance of internal noise. We are distracted by interior barriers to prayer that often manifest themselves in the form of pride and self-centeredness. In all of these moments of difficulty, we can turn to the Rosary. The meditative quality of the devotion can help focus us and break through the external noise. At the same time, by praying this simple prayer frequently, faithfully and with humility, we can break down our internal barriers.

In his homily recounted in the book “Why the Rosary, Why Now?”, Cardinal Luciani gives a beautiful and passionate defense of the Rosary — one that is just as relevant in 2017 as it was in 1973.

A Deeper Devotion to the Church

One of the intellectual, spiritual and even media giants of the 20th century was Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. Archbishop Sheen also had a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother, and he dedicated a book to her called “The World’s First Love, Mary, Mother of God.”

He also spoke much about her in public. In a talk titled “The Woman I Love,” Archbishop Sheen indicated how Mary and the Church were intertwined because “as we discontinue our devotion to the Blessed Mother, there is always a decline in the love of the Church.” Fascinating, isn’t it? The less we pray to and venerate Mary, the less we are connected to the Church. It would follow, then, that the opposite also is true. The more we honor and pray to Mary, especially in her signature prayer of the Rosary, the more our love for and devotion to the Church will increase.

And this is a devotion that we desperately need today. Catholics in the 21st century are experiencing a massive decline of love of the Church. The country is experiencing a massive decline of love of the Church. The country is experiencing a rise in the religiously unaffiliated, or “nones.” It also is facing a large — and growing — gap between the moral teachings of the Church and the evolution of our secular society, which can be seen in recent developments such as the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015, the growing acceptance of abortion and the growing support for physician-assisted suicide. All are at odds with Church teaching, which means that Church teaching is increasingly at odds with the laws of the land. Part of the problem is widespread lack of faith formation, particularly for many adult, cradle Catholics.

Again, the Rosary can play a huge role in helping individuals grow in their love of and appreciation for the Church. Through developing a greater love of Mary through the Rosary, we come also to a deeper appreciation for her son — and through Him, the Church.

Strengthens Families

Many of you are probably familiar with Father Patrick Peyton, known also as “the Rosary Priest.” He’s the one who coined the phrase, “The family that prays together, stays together.”

But he didn’t just make up the phrase one day; he had been educated and formed on the immense value of the Rosary from birth.

Father Patrick Peyton. CNS photo/Family Theater Productions

Father Peyton was so used to praying the family Rosary every night, for example, that when he left home for the first time to work and was staying with another Catholic family, he was shocked and distressed when they all went to bed without gathering to pray first.

“While I pretended to sleep, I prayed my own Rosary and felt the pangs of homesickness, the bitterness of being among people whose ways were different from my own, whose sense of values failed to measure up to what all my training and experience had told me was normal,” he wrote.

This was clearly a pivotal experience for Father Peyton — one in which he realized he couldn’t take the faith given to him by his family for granted. And this is why, when tragedy struck later in his life, as he was preparing for priesthood, Father Peyton was able to turn to Mary. Through his devotion to her, Father Peyton was miraculously healed from a debilitating disease. And in response, he dedicated his life to spreading devotion to Mary. As he said, “The merit and the glory of every action I would ever perform would be hers and hers alone.”

Father Peyton went on to form the Family Rosary Crusade, making use of radio, film, outdoor signage and more than 260 rallies on six continents to promote family prayer to millions of people.

The excerpt describing this chapter in Father Peyton’s life included in “Why the Rosary, Why Now?” comes from Father Peyton’s biography and chronicles his life-threatening illness and his remarkable recovery — as well as the devotion to Mary and the Rosary that did not forsake him.

An Increase in Christian Discipleship

I think it’s safe to say that each of us, somewhere along the path of life, has come across someone of deep prayer or faith whom we greatly admire and perhaps even envy. I know that I have. This kind of witness is a gift, and it’s a reminder to each of us that we are called to establish our own close, loving relationships with Jesus.

To do this, we must encounter — a word that, in the Pope Francis era, has become a bit of a buzzword, but which is no less vital — Him Encountering Christ means getting to know him intimately, fully and without reservation. It means emptying one’s self so that we may be filled instead with the Holy Spirit.

There are many ways to encounter Christ in our daily lives: through prayer, the sacraments and, of course, the Eucharist. But a less-trod path to encountering Jesus is by developing a relationship first with His mother. After all, it was she who knew Him best, having carried Him in her womb. Mary lived with her eyes fixed on her son, watching over Him and learning from Him. She treasured each moment she had with Him and, as St. Luke’s Gospel says, pondered each in her heart.

The beloved St. John Paul II wrote in Rosarium Virginis Mariae, an apostolic letter on the Rosary, that the devotion is “one of the traditional paths of Christian prayer directed to the contemplation of Christ’s face.” When we pray the Rosary, we meditate on different moments of Jesus’ life, all through the lens of His holy mother. This contemplation leads to a personal encounter, which sets us on the path to Christian discipleship.

There is a startling dearth of Christian discipleship in the world today, mostly because it is not easy to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him, as we are instructed to do. As Christian disciples, however, we are called to set aside ego, selfishness and pride, and to instead prioritize others. It’s a countercultural life, but one which Mary and the Rosary can help to achieve.

Brings Peace to the World

One of my favorite Scripture verses comes from St. Paul’s letter to the Christian community at Philippi in which he counsels them on everyday living: “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7).

Toward the end of 2014, Bishop Doeme had a vision in which Jesus appeared to him and handed him a sword. But when he reached out to take it, the sword turned into a Rosary. Jesus then spoke saying “Boko Haram is gone” three times.

St. Padre Pio

“It was clear that with the Rosary we would be able to expel them,” the bishop said. While this is a remarkable testimony to the power of the Rosary when it comes to fighting evil, it’s not unique.

Many other stories and holy people outline the protections that the Rosary can give, from the Battle of Lepanto, which saved the Christian West from Ottoman invasion, to St. Padre Pio, who called the Rosary “the weapon against the evils of the world today.”

In the included text, written in September 1951, Venerable Pope Pius XII put forth that the Rosary is an antidote to the evils facing the world at the time, such as the nuclear age, communism and the Korean War.

We find ourselves in different, but no less difficult, situations today with almost perpetual war in the Middle East, terrorism at home and abroad, and the persecution of Christians around the globe.

Pope Pius’ words about evil are just as applicable now as they were almost 70 years ago, and the Rosary continues to be the weapon we have to fight it.

Combats Secularism

A recent study performed by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., indicated that 13 was the typical age at which people were leaving the Faith. When asked if they would ever consider returning to the Church, that number raised its ugly head again — with, this time, only 13 percent of young people responding in the affirmative.

Both statistics are disturbing, but they unfortunately present an accurate picture of where we stand today in terms of widespread faith in our culture. We are losing it. In its place, our society is facing a rapid spread of secularism. In an address to U.S. bishops in January 2012, Pope Benedict XVI warned of the pervasiveness of secularism in American society saying, “It is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and culture spheres.”

But Pope Benedict was hardly the first pope to speak out against secularism. Pope Leo XIII, who reigned from 1878 to 1903, was plagued by politics and the drama of atheist humanism during his time as successor of Peter. In several portions of an astounding 11 encyclicals on the Rosary (Pope Leo was known as the “pope of the Rosary”) — one of which is included in “Why the Rosary, Why Now?” — Pope Leo spoke out about the dangers of a world without belief. His words were strong and prophetic and are just as relatable now as they were then. Pope Leo believed strongly in the power of the Rosary to fight these growing troubles — and he was right. Praying the Rosary can help our world rediscover faith.

photoshooter2015 / Shutterstock.com

Helps Us Become Saints

Each of us is called to sainthood, but this life, as we all know well, is not easy. It requires sacrifice, dedication, heroic virtue and, above all, a close relationship with Christ and a determination to follow his will, come what may. Yet even though it’s not easy, sanctity is what each of us is called to.

This universal call to holiness is expressed in the Second Vatican Council’s Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church) — which reminds us that we are called to “be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.” When wanting to achieve holiness, where else is it better to look than to those men and women who have already done so — that is, the saints themselves.“The saints and blesseds of paradise remind us, as pilgrims on Earth, that prayer, above all, is our sustenance for each day so that we never lose sight of our eternal destiny,” St. John Paul said. “For many of them the Rosary … was the privileged instrument for their daily discourse with the Lord. The Rosary led them to an ever more profound intimacy with Christ and with the Blessed Virgin.”

Among the many saints with a devotion to the Rosary were Pope St. John XXIII, St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Zelie Martin, Blessed John Henry Newman, Pope St. John Paul II and St. Louis de Montfort. Through their example, we find inspiration for ourselves to pray the Rosary more often to draw closer in holiness through Mary and her Son.

Gretchen R. Crowe is editor-in-chief of Our Sunday Visitor and author/editor of “Why the Rosary, Why Now?” (OSV, $14.95).

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5 min read

Prayer

Prayer to Mary and the saints

Barb Szyszkiewicz

May 3, 2022 7:00 am May 3, 2022

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5 min read

“Every so often, unite oneself interiorly with the saintly souls who serve God and praise him in their solitude, with the holy angels and all the heavenly court, and especially…

“Every so often, unite oneself interiorly with the saintly souls who serve God and praise him in their solitude, with the holy angels and all the heavenly court, and especially our darling and tender Mother Mary, who alone gives more glory to God than all the blessed put together.” (St. Eugène de Mazenod)

We believe that the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints in heaven “contemplate God, praise him and constantly care for those whom they have left on earth. … Their intercession is their most exalted service in God’s plan” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2683). Just as we would never hesitate to ask a friend or relative for prayer support in a time of need, so we should not hesitate to prayerfully ask the Blessed Mother and the saints to bring our needs before God.

The Council of Trent affirmed “that the saints who reign together with Christ offer up their prayers to God for men, that it is good and beneficial suppliantly to invoke them and to have recourse to their prayers, assistance and support in order to obtain favors from God through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who alone is our redeemer and savior.” The saints and Mary cannot answer our prayers; only God can do that. But they can, and we believe they do, hear our prayers and pray for us, acting as intercessors on our behalf with God.

Eucharistic Prayer III reminds us of the saints’ role as intercessors. “May he make of us an eternal offering to you, so that we may obtain an inheritance with your elect, especially with the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with blessed Joseph, her Spouse, with your blessed Apostles and glorious Martyrs and with all the Saints, on whose constant intercession in your presence we rely for unfailing help.”

“To Jesus we always go, and to him we always return, through Mary” St. Josemaría Escrivá wrote. In the Gospel of John, we see the first example of Mary’s intercession at the Wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-11), when Mary noticed that the wine had run out before the party was over and prodded Jesus to do something about it. By changing the water in six stone jars to wine, Jesus “revealed his glory” and astounded all who were present (Jn 2:11). Since that time, Catholics have gone to Jesus through Mary. “O Blessed Mary, whoever loves you honors God; whoever serves you pleases God; whoever invokes your holy name with a pure heart will infallibly receive the object of his petition,” St. Bernard of Clairvaux prayed. In a similar way, people of faith have reached out in prayer to the saints, pleading with them to bring their intentions to God by their own prayer.

Praying to Mary and the saints is not at all the same as worshipping them. Catholics believe that only God is worthy of our worship. Mary and the saints, however, are worthy of veneration, or special honor given to those considered to be holy. Our holy helpers, the saints, are the “cloud of witnesses” mentioned in the Letter to the Hebrews who surround us, helping us “persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith” (12:1-2). St. Thérèse of Lisieux proclaimed, “I want to spend my Heaven doing good on earth.”

With several thousand canonized saints, we can go a lifetime without getting to know them all. We often come to know particular saints because they are patron saints: a certain place, profession, condition or intention is dedicated to that saint’s intercession. Many times, this happens because of some connection in the saint’s real life. For example, St. Lucy’s eyes were plucked out during her martyrdom, and she is venerated as the patron saint of the visually impaired. St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, is the patron saint of fathers and of the universal Church (among many other patronages).

We can grow closer to the saints for whom we were named or who have an association to our jobs, home country or health needs. We can also choose to unite ourselves in prayer with saints who have undergone struggles similar to our own. Parents whose children have strayed from the Faith often seek the intercession of St. Monica, who prayed for decades that her son, Augustine, would return to the Church — and whose prayers were finally answered. Those grieving the loss of their own parents might pray for the intercession of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, whose father died when she was a small child. The Blessed Mother’s intercession can be invoked for many reasons. Some of her many titles suggest ways people of faith have sought her prayers throughout history: Our Lady, Health of the Sick; Mary, Help of Christians; Our Lady of Good Help; Our Lady of Prompt Succor and Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

By uniting our prayers with those of Mary and the saints and learning more about their lives and their example, we can draw closer to God. “The very practice of venerating the saints does great good for those who are devoted to the saints. By practicing love of the saints we strengthen the unity of the entire Body of Christ in the Spirit” (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops).

Barb Szyszkiewicz, a Secular Franciscan, is editor at CatholicMom.com and author of “The Handy Little Guide to Prayer” (OSV, $5.95). Read more from the prayer series here.

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1 min read

Prayer

Do Non-Christians Pray Through Christ?

Father Ray Ryland

April 28, 2022 7:00 am April 28, 2022

1 min read

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1 min read

Paul’s Letter to the Romans assures us that God has left no one without some knowledge of himself. “For what can be known about God is evident to them, because…

Paul’s Letter to the Romans assures us that God has left no one without some knowledge of himself. “For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made” (1:19-20).

Though all non-Christian religions contain error, they also have elements of God’s truth. Wherever God reveals His truth to any degree, He always reveals through His Son. “All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him” (Mt 11:27).

Whenever a non-Christian prays to God, whatever of truth he knows and whatever of true love for God he reveals, that person is in fact praying through the Jesus Christ he does not know. Whatever of God’s truth is in that person’s mind and attitude must be pleasing to God.

The Church teaches that persons who truly love and serve God as best they can know Him can be saved. But they are saved by the truth they profess, not the error which their religions have imparted to them.

That truth comes to them through God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore the Church has to proclaim that, ultimately, no one can be saved except through Jesus Christ.

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5 min read

Prayer

Prayer as praise

Barb Szyszkiewicz

April 16, 2022 3:00 pm April 16, 2022

5 min read

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5 min read

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, Most High, to proclaim your love at daybreak, your faithfulness in the night” (Ps 92:2-3)….

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to your name, Most High, to proclaim your love at daybreak, your faithfulness in the night” (Ps 92:2-3).

Prayer of praise is focused entirely on the expression of wonder and awe at who God is and what God has done. In the Bible, praise is frequently shouted or sung. When she visited her cousin Elizabeth, who knew that Mary would be the mother of the Savior, Mary’s praise overflowed into a song, or canticle. Commonly referred to as the “Magnificat,” this canticle begins, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior” (Lk 1:46-47). The angels who appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of Christ, and later the shepherds themselves, glorified and praised God (Lk 2), as did the paralytic whom Jesus healed early in his ministry (Lk 5:25) and many others whom Jesus cured of their afflictions.

The Bible shows that praising God involves not only our spiritual efforts, but our physical muscles as well. “Lift up your hands,” exhorts Psalm 134. In Psalms 100, 147, and 149 we are prompted to dance and sing. Psalm 149 tells us to play musical instruments to praise the Lord. And in the Letter to the Hebrews, we are reminded to praise God in the presence of others: “I will proclaim your name to my brothers, in the midst of the assembly I will praise you” (Heb 2:12); later in this letter we are urged to “continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name” (13:15). This echoes Psalm 92’s call to praise at daybreak and in the night — in other words, constantly.

If praising God in front of others might be outside one’s comfort zone, there are ways to work around this obstacle. Singing hymns in praise of God is one way to do this — and this is done at every Sunday Mass. This is not something that must be done solo, or on a stage. As you stand in your pew, with the assembly around you, you can participate in a communal prayer of praise. Church hymnals are filled with songs of praise, such as “All Creatures of Our God and King,” and many others that are based on the psalms. Quite a few of the psalms are written in praise of God: this theme is especially common in the last third of the psalms, including Psalms 91, 93, 98, 104, 111, 117, 135, 139, and 148 through 150.

Just as Blessed Solanus Casey advised us to “thank God ahead of time,” we don’t have to wait until the mood strikes us to praise God. Prayers of praise should not come with strings attached. In the Bible, we hear Job praising God despite his many hardships: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Tobit 13 is a prayer of rejoicing in a time of captivity, a prayer the Archangel Raphael urged Tobit to compose, pray, and share: “Do not fear; peace be with you! Bless God now and forever. … So now bless the Lord on earth and give thanks to God. Look, I am ascending to the one who sent me. Write down all that has happened to you” (Tob 12:16, 20). Psalm 34 begins, “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be always in my mouth. My soul will glory in the Lord; let the poor hear and be glad” (Ps 34: 2-3). Later in the same psalm, we are reminded, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, saves those whose spirit is crushed” (Ps 34:19).

Where do we see this in the Mass?

The Gloria (also a prayer of blessing and adoration) is a prayer of praise. After the Gospel is proclaimed, we respond, “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.” Eucharistic Prayer I describes the Mass itself as a “sacrifice of praise,” offered “for themselves and all who are dear to them: for the redemption of their souls, in hope of health and well-being, and paying their homage” to God. Two options for the Memorial Acclamation are prayers of praise: “We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again” and “When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.” The Eucharistic Prayer concludes with praise as the priest prays, “Through him, with him, and in him, O God almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, forever and ever.”

3 practical ways to pray this way:

Memorize Psalm 117: with only two verses, it’s the shortest psalm and easy to commit to memory. Make a commitment to recite it at a certain time each day.
Choose a favorite hymn of praise that you can listen to (or sing) during your morning prayer time. Singing God’s praises is an uplifting way to begin the day.
Recite the Divine Praises.

What do the saints say about prayer of praise?

The praise of God should know no limits. Let us strive, therefore, to praise him to the greatest extent of our powers. (St. Maximilian Kolbe)

Barb Szyszkiewicz, a Secular Franciscan, is editor at CatholicMom.com and author of “The Handy Little Guide to Prayer” (OSV, $5.95). Read more from the prayer series here.

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9 min read

Sacraments

Eucharistic Worship Outside Mass

D.D. Emmons

April 4, 2022 3:52 pm April 4, 2022

9 min read

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9 min read

For the devout Catholic, nothing we do is more intimate or more adoring than receiving the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, in holy Communion. In this beautiful Sacrament…

For the devout Catholic, nothing we do is more intimate or more adoring than receiving the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, in holy Communion.

In this beautiful Sacrament we experience and unite ourselves to Jesus. Holy Mother Church has long provided us with devotions that extend this miraculous event beyond the confines of the Mass. Such devotions are commonly known as Eucharistic Adoration.

During the first 300 years of Christianity, there were no organized, separate acts of Eucharistic Adoration outside Sunday worship services. After Emperor Constantine stopped the persecution of Christians in A.D. 313, construction of churches began and the reserved Eucharist for the sick was kept in the church and often secured in the sacristy. Over the next several centuries, the Eucharist was relocated out of the sacristy and stored in locations around and above the church altar. While not necessarily purposeful at the time, this encouraged personal prayer in the presence of the reserved Host.

“Gazing” Adoration

In the Middle Ages, the practice developed of people taking Communion less frequently, and the Church eventually decreed that everyone should receive holy Communion at least once a year. Further reflecting these changing attitudes, altars were moved away from the congregation and, in some churches, screens were placed between the sanctuary and the nave as if to separate the priest-celebrant from the people.

Being physically separated from the actions around the altar and infrequently receiving holy Communion gave rise to the phenomena of “adoration by seeing or gazing” — that is, people adored the Eucharist by looking at it as opposed to receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. The fact that people did not receive Communion did not mean that they stopped believing in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Indeed, Mass attendees gave special attention to the moments when the priest elevated or lifted up the consecrated Host, and people came to Mass early seeking good locations for viewing the priest holding up the Host. Due to church structure and the use of Latin, it was often difficult to both see and understand what was happening around the altar. Thus the elevation was preceded by the ringing of a bell as an alert that the Host was being lifted up. Those in the congregation would excitedly move around to see this great event.

It was common for people to adore the elevated Host in one church and then rush to Mass at another location to again look at the Eucharist. Many Church historians point to this period, when the elevation was added to the Mass, as the beginning of Eucharistic exposition, prolonged adoration and the earliest contemplation of a monstrance.

Corpus Christi

The solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, what we refer to as Corpus Christi Sunday, began in the 13th century. About 1209, St. Juliana, a nun in a monastery near Liege, Belgium, had a series of visions in which our Lord Jesus asked her to promote the creation of a special feast day that would honor and adore His Eucharistic presence. Twenty years later, Juliana told the local bishop, Bishop Robert de Thorete (or Torote), of her visions.

Although the idea originally met with some hesitation, in 1246 Bishop Thorete ordered the feast of Corpus Christi be implemented throughout his diocese. In 1264, Pope Urban IV (r. 1261-1264) issued a papal bull instructing that the feast day be celebrated annually throughout the universal Church. Although Pope Urban died before the directions of the papal bull were instituted, the feast was eventually added to the worldwide Church calendar in 1317 during the reign of Pope John XXII (1316-1334).

Initially, a procession was not part of the feast day but soon became a fact. The laity was still receiving holy Communion on an infrequent basis, and the cult of adoration by gazing at the Eucharist continued.

One way to prolong the viewing and demonstrate their adoration was to carry the Eucharist in a Corpus Christi day procession. Some of these processions, which began in Europe during the 14th century, involved laity and clergy marching behind the bishop who carried a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament. In the early 1300s, Corpus Christi processions were concluded with Benediction or a blessing of the people, and by 1600 the Church had issued detailed instructions for conducting Benediction. Today, most Eucharistic devotions typically end with Benediction. These public Corpus Christi processions, exposing the Blessed Sacrament outside the tabernacle, were the forerunner of the Forty Hours devotion.

Forty Hours

Church history indicates that 12th-century Christians were among the first to keep a 40-hour prayer vigil and did so during the Easter Triduum. Forty hours was the time Jesus lay in the tomb. It is less certain whether or not the Blessed Sacrament was exposed during the vigils. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament outside Mass, what today we commonly refer to as Eucharistic Adoration — that is, taking the Blessed Sacrament from the tabernacle and placing it on the altar for an extended period — can be traced to the 16th century. In 1537, the churches and faithful of Milan, Italy, began celebrating 40 hours of prayer at times other than during the Triduum.

People pray at the Pope John Paul II Chapel of Eucharistic Adoration at St. James the Greater Catholic Church, Sauk Village, Ill. Picture by Karen Callaway

When the devotion ended in one church, the Blessed Sacrament was carried to another church, where the Eucharist would be exposed on the altar during another 40 hours of prayer. It would then be carried to the next church and so on.

The anticipated invasion by a Turkish army into Italy in 1541 led Pope Paul III (r. 1534-1549) to issue an indulgence to the Diocese of Milan that reads, in part, “the Archbishop of Milan, at the prayer of the inhabitants of said city, in order to appease the anger of God provoked by the offences of Christians, and in order to bring to nought the efforts and machinations of the Turks who are pressing forward to the destruction of Christendom, amongst other pious practices, has established a round of prayers and supplications to be offered both by day and night by all the faithful of Christ, before our Lord’s Most Sacred Body, in all the churches of the said city, in such a manner that these prayers and supplications are made by the faithful themselves relieving each other in relays for forty hours continuously in each church in succession.”

The devotion, especially in light of the Protestant revolt in the 16th century, spread rapidly across Europe, including Rome, where in 1592 Pope Clement VIII issued a papal decree, Graves et diuturnae, which mandated the continuous observance of the Forty Hours devotion in the churches of Rome. Later, Popes Clement XI (r. 1700-1721) and Clement XII (1730-1740) issued instructions and rubrics, most still used, detailing the Forty Hours devotion.

In 1853, St. John Neumann introduced the devotion to the United States. The 1917 Code of Canon Law required all parishes to annually celebrate Forty Hours adoration, but in 1983 the law was changed, and today canon law only recommends annual exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Holy hours of adoration and First Friday celebrations are products of Forty Hours.

Among the most practiced of our Eucharistic devotions is prayer before the tabernacle. As Catholics we can walk into any Catholic church, visually find the red light, then silently pray, honor and adore the Real Presence of Jesus in the most holy Sacrament.

Prior to every Mass, we give our thoughts to the Eucharistic Jesus veiled in the tabernacle, we stay after Mass to pray before the same Blessed Sacrament, and when exiting the confessional, our penitential prayers are often offered near the tabernacle. There is general agreement among Church experts that adoration of the reserved Eucharist in a tabernacle began at the end of the 11th or 12th centuries.

Perpetual Adoration

Perpetual adoration — that is, continuous prayer 24 hours a day — before the Blessed Sacrament can be traced in the Western Church to the sixth century. It was then referred to as “continuous praise” and found mostly in monasteries or religious communities. Among the earliest locations is the cathedral in Lugo, Spain, where prayer before the blessed Sacrament was continuous for over 1,000 years.

Father Miguel Martinez leads participants in prayer following a Eucharistic Procession at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, Ill. Picture by Karen Callaway

In 1226, King Louis VIII of France, at the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Avignon, introduced continuous adoration as thanksgiving for his successful efforts to end the Albigensian heresy. This heretical group rejected Catholicism in general and the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist in particular. The people of Avignon continuously prayed night and day in the Holy Cross chapel for the next 500 years.

While Church history identifies several religious groups and locations where perpetual adoration was practiced, it wasn’t until some time between the 15th and 17th centuries that the devotion expanded on a universal basis.

Among the notable 19th-century Catholics advocating adoration of the Eucharist outside the Mass, especially perpetual adoration, was St. Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1869).

St. Peter, sometimes called the Apostle of the Eucharist, championed continuous Eucharistic Adoration and formed orders of both religious men and women dedicated to the worship and glorification of God through the Most Blessed Sacrament.

From these early efforts, perpetual adoration has expanded to Catholic parishes, chapels and oratories throughout the world.

D.D. Emmons writes from Pennsylvania.

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Prayer

Prayer as Petition

Barb Szyszkiewicz

March 23, 2022 7:00 am March 23, 2022

5 min read

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5 min read

“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God” (Phil 4:6-7). Prayer of petition, quite simply, is asking for…

“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God” (Phil 4:6-7).

Prayer of petition, quite simply, is asking for God’s help. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus encourages us to place our needs before God in prayer. In giving us the Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6:9-13), Jesus instructs us to ask God for what we need, trusting that God both knows our needs and loves us enough to give us what is good for us. “Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him” (Mt 7:9-11).

At the same time, Jesus emphasizes in the Lord’s Prayer that we need to express, along with our needs, our willingness to accept God’s will. Jesus, in his own prayer at Gethsemane, offers an example of how to pray this way: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will, but yours, be done” (Lk 22:42).

In all humility, we reach out to God, knowing that he is the source of all good things, including forgiveness. Prayers of contrition, expressing sorrow for our sins and asking for God’s mercy, help to bring us back into communion with God and each other, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (see No. 2631). Psalms 51 and 130 are beautiful expressions of prayers of contrition. In the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Lk 18:9-14), the prayer, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” is a humble prayer of contrition.

Many of the psalms are prayers of petition, often including themes of contrition (Psalms 51 and 130, for example) and need for protection (Psalms 4, 6, 10, 13, and 17, among many others). Some psalms, such as 94, 98, 99, 137, and 147, also express anticipation of the coming of God’s Kingdom, just as Jesus echoes, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven” (Mt 6:10).

Prayers of petition are often very spontaneous: “God, help me!” Even if we feel far from God, we are able, in our supplication, to turn to him for help. Every need, the Catechism reminds us, “can become the object of petition” (No. 2633). We should not be afraid to approach God to entrust him with our needs, in ordinary times as well as desperate ones. Bringing these needs to God is a humble way to acknowledge his goodness, kindness, power, and mercy. Even in the most difficult times, when “God, help me!” or “God, help us!” is as much as we can muster, we are encouraged to ask for God’s help.

We are also encouraged to persevere in this kind of prayer. In the parable of the persistent widow (Lk 18:1-8), Jesus underscores the need to “pray always without becoming weary.” God hears and answers those who have faith, and that faith is shown in our determination not to give up when our prayer is not answered immediately or in the way we expect.

Where do we see this in the Mass?

One of the first things we do at Mass is pray for God’s mercy and forgiveness of our sins during the Penitential Act. Just before the Eucharistic Prayer, we petition God to accept and bless the gifts we offer to him. One of the options for the Memorial Acclamation contains a prayer of petition: “Save us, Savior of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.” The Lord’s Prayer and Lamb of God are both prayers of petition, as is our prayer after the Lamb of God: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” By the time we approach the altar to receive the Lord in the Eucharist, we have prayed for God’s mercy at least four times.

3 practical ways to pray this way

Pray an Act of Contrition every day.
When you pray in petition, be sure to close with the Lord’s Prayer or simply the words, “your will be done.”
Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet, a prayer of trust in the Lord and the power of his mercy.

What do the saints say about prayer of petition?

“God bestows many things on us out of His liberality, even without our asking for them: but that He wishes to bestow certain things on us at our asking, is for the sake of our good, namely, that we may acquire confidence in having recourse to God, and that we may recognize in Him the Author of our goods.” (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica)

Barb Szyszkiewicz, a Secular Franciscan, is editor at CatholicMom.com and author of “The Handy Little Guide to Prayer” (OSV, $5.95). Read more from the prayer series here.

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