How Do I Go To Adoration?

Investigating Catholicism III

The purpose of this guide is to help you understand what Adoration is and how to do it well.¹ You can find out when Adoration happens at your local Catholic church by visiting its website or giving the parish office a call.

The Eucharist and the Mass

One of the most fundamental Catholic teachings is the Eucharist (from the Greek eucharistia, “thanksgiving”). From the earliest days of Christianity, believers have gathered together to practice their faith, even amidst severe persecution. In a letter to the emperor Trajan, one local official describes the practice of the Christians he is attempting to violently suppress:

…they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food, but food of an ordinary and innocent kind… I judged it so much the more necessary to extract the real truth, with the assistance of torture, from two female slaves, who were styled deaconesses: but I could discover nothing more than depraved and excessive superstition.

–Pliny the Younger, Letters, 10.96. ~112 A.D.

This highly unsympathetic account of Christian worship actually gets a lot right. The “meeting” he’s talking about is called “Mass,” and it’s still celebrated by some 1.4 billion Catholics around the world every day. The “alternate verses” would be passages from the Old Testament, sung together during the “Liturgy of the Word.” In this part of the Mass, the words of the Bible are first read and then expounded by the priest for the instruction and encouragement of Christians in their daily lives. Then we move into the “Liturgy of the Eucharist.” This consists of a series of prayers that culminate in offering bread and wine to God, which He transforms into the Eucharist: the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.

Pliny’s comments on the food are important: one of the earliest slanders against Christians was that they were cannibals, as they very insistently claimed to be eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus. This is probably the “depraved and excessive superstition” which the two women continued to profess faith in even under torture. Despite such impressive commitment, the official assures Trajan that the cult is quite harmless, as the ritual only seems to include food that is “ordinary and innocent.” This is the mystery of the Eucharist.

Christians believe God became a human being, Jesus Christ, who is completely human and completely divine. Anyone who met Him on the street would have seen His humanity easily enough. But His divinity was visible only to the eyes of faith. Likewise, in the Eucharist, Catholics believe that what once was bread is bread no more, and what once was wine is wine no longer; they have become Jesus Christ Himself. As with His humanity, the senses alone are insufficient to reveal the full truth. By the power of God, what looks, feels, and tastes like bread and wine is in reality the very Creator and King of the universe.

Adoration

During Adoration, we worship Jesus “hidden” under the appearance of bread. And though He is “hidden” in one way, in another way He is maximally present to us, so much so that you can point to the Eucharist and say, “That is God.”

We come to spend time with God. Of course, God is spiritually present everywhere, but we are not merely spiritual beings. We are embodied, and God is the one who designed us that way. He therefore wishes to be present to us in a way that engages our whole being–just like when He became a tiny baby in the womb of Mary. Simply put, we come to adore Him with our whole selves, and He in turn looks back at us with a father’s love for his children.

This “look of love” isn’t something that you achieve or “do right.” When you come to Adoration, you are in the presence of God whether you’re joyful, frustrated, anxious, content, sorrowful, or anything else. That said, a few tips can help you become more open to receiving God’s love through this hour.

First, take some time to simply enjoy God’s presence. Like the sun’s rays warming a frozen lake, God’s love transforms us slowly, often without our conscious knowledge. As St. Augustine says, “God works within us without us.”

Second, this is a great time to share your interior life with God. Bring whatever is occupying you to Him, and listen carefully for His reply. When Christians talk about “hearing” from God, we aren’t (usually!) referring to an audible voice. Rather, it’s a subtle stirring in heart and mind, a gentle pull. It can be difficult to discern from our own thoughts at first, but over time we learn to recognize His voice as easily as we recognize the voice of anyone we love.

Lastly, you can meditate on the truths of the Faith in a more structured way. Many do this by praying the Rosary, which uses memorized prayers counted on beads to guide you through the life of Christ. Others read the Bible, pausing occasionally to look up and ask for insight from the Word Himself. The writings of saints and other spiritual works can also be a great choice.

Whatever you do, remember that we’re here to spend time with God, to get to know Him better.

Singing

Since the end of the third century, the Church has been singing the “Liturgy of the Hours,” a schedule of prayer, Scripture, and hymns that help orient a Christian’s life entirely to God. Some evening Adoration services end the night by praying Compline together, the last of the daily hours. The selection of psalms and hymns are hundreds and hundreds of years old. “Before the Ending of the Day,” for example, is some 1650 years old. When we sing together, we join our voices with the Church around the world, and indeed throughout history, as we collectively offer an unending song of praise to God.

There will likely be a pamphlet or book that will tell you which parts are sung by the choir and which are for everyone. It will also tell you when to stand, sit, kneel, or make the Sign of the Cross. When in doubt, look at what everyone else is doing. The style of music we use is called “chant,” and is even older than the Liturgy of the Hours itself. Part of the reason it sounds somewhat ancient and mysterious is because it is!

After the priest blesses us by making the Sign of the Cross over us with the Eucharist and the last prayers are finished, we’ll end with a hymn to Mary. Mary, as a good mother, encourages us to grow in our devotion to God, and give ourselves to Him completely. It is therefore fitting that we should end by asking her to help us love Him even more, and to thank God for giving her to us as a spiritual guide. A papyrus from 270 A.D. records the attitude of early Christians toward Mary:

We fly to thy protection,
O holy Mother of God.
Despise not our petitions in our necessities,
but deliver us always from all dangers,
O glorious and blessed Virgin.

With Mary’s help, along with all the angels and saints, we end the night renewing our dedication to Jesus Christ. Filled up once more, we go back out into the world where we can point others to Him through the lives we live and the words we speak.

Words from the Saints

Here are some passages about the Eucharist for you to contemplate during Adoration:

“I no longer take pleasure in perishable food or in the delights of this world. I want only God's bread, which is the Flesh of Jesus Christ, formed of the seed of David, and for drink I crave His Blood which is love that cannot perish.”

–St. Ignatius of Antioch, ~110 A.D.

“He has declared the cup, a part of creation, to be his own blood, from which he causes our blood to flow; and the bread, a part of creation, he has established as his own body, from which he gives increase unto our bodies. When, therefore, the mixed cup [wine and water] and the baked bread receives the Word of God and becomes the Eucharist, the body of Christ, and from these the substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they say that the flesh is not capable of receiving the gift of God, which is eternal life—flesh which is nourished by the body and blood of the Lord, and is in fact a member of him?”

- St. Irenaeus of Lyons, ~189 A.D.

“What you see is the bread and the chalice; that is what your own eyes report to you. But what your faith obliges you to accept is that the bread is the body of Christ and the chalice is the blood of Christ.”

- St. Augustine of Hippo, ~411 A.D.

“…the sacrament of the Eucharist is the greatest of all the sacraments…because it contains Christ Himself substantially, whereas the other sacraments contain [only] a share of Christ's power.”

- St. Thomas Aquinas, ~1270 A.D.

"The Eucharist bathes the tormented soul in light and love. Then the soul appreciates these words, 'Come all you who are sick, I will restore your health.'"

- St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879)

“My sweetest Joy is to be in the presence of Jesus in the holy Sacrament. I beg that when obliged to withdraw in body, I may leave my heart before the holy Sacrament. How I would miss Our Lord if He were to be away from me by His presence in the Blessed Sacrament!"

- St. Katharine Drexel (1858-1955)

“When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host [i.e., the Eucharist], you understand how much Jesus loves you now.”

- St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1977)

1. I originally wrote this for the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Life at Princeton University. I decided to create it when I watched a new student come to Adoration, flip through the worship guide, and leave after 20 minutes. I don’t think she had any idea what was going on, and the missed evangelistic opportunity killed me. Upon reflection I decided that this could be useful to a broader audience. Excepting a few minor alterations, it appears here as it does on campus.