Benedict J. Groeschel - Praying in the Presence of Our Lord: Prayers for Eucharistic Adoration

PRAYING IN THE PRESENCE OF

OUR LORD

PRAYING IN THE PRESENCE OF

OUR LORD

PRAYERS FOR
EUCHARISTIC
ADORATION

FR. BENEDICT J. GROESCHEL. C.F.R.

Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
Huntington, Indiana 46750

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Censor Librorum

Imprimatur: Patrick J. Sheridan, D.D.

Vicar General, Archdiocese of New York
January 11, 1999

The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.

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Copyright 1999 by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor Inc.

All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission in writing from the publisher. Write:

Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
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ISBN: 978-087973-586-9 (Inventory No. 586)
eISBN: 978-1-61278-354-3
LCCCN: 98-68199

Cover photo by John Zierten
Cover design by Tyler Ottinger

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FOR ALL WHO HAVE TAUGHT OR NOW TEACH US TO KNOW AND LOVE CHRIST IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are grateful to those publishers and authors who have given us permission to excerpt materials from their works. Among them are: The Vatican Press, which provided the translations of the encyclicals cited, as they appear in The Encyclicals of John Paul II, by J. Michael Miller, C.S.B., 1996 by Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division; ICS Publications, Story of a Soul, translated by John Clarke, O.C.D, 1975, 1976 by the Washington Province of Discalced Carmelite Friars Publications; LOsservatore Romano, English edition; the Catholic Book Publishing Co., The Way of Salvation, translated from the Italian of St. Alphonsus de Liguori, 1948, and the Enchiridion of Indulgences, translated by William T. Barry, C.SS.R, 1968; Paulist Press, The Prayers of Catherine of Siena, by Sister Suzanne Noffke, O.P., 1983; Creative Communications for the Parish, Sacrament Most Holy: Prayers to Christ in the Eucharist, by Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R., 1997; the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, Jesus Our Eucharistic Love, by Father Stefano M. Manelli, F.I., 1996; Burns and Oates, Ancient Devotions for Holy Communion, 1948, used with permission of Burns and Oates; Sophia Institute Press, Devoutly I Adore Thee: The Prayers and Hymns of St. ThomasAquinas, translated and edited by Robert Anderson and Johann Moser, 1993, and Preparing Yourself for Mass, by Romano Guardini, 1939 Matthias Gruenewald Verlay, English translation, 1993; the Confraternity of the Precious Blood, My Imitation of Christ: Revised, by Thomas Kempis, translated by the Confraternity, 1954 and used with permission; Alba House, Society of St. Paul, Meditations on Mary: Conferences by the Servant of God Terence Cardinal Cooke, by Cardinal Cooke, 1993; Prayers and Devotions from Pope John XXIII, by Pope John XXIII, copyright 1984 by The K.S. Giniger Company, Inc. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.; Glencoe McGraw-Hill, Roman Breviary in English: Autumn, edited by Monsignor Joseph Nelson, D.D., 1950; Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Mystery of Faith: Mysterium Fidei, 1965; and Alcuin Club and Cassell/Mowbray, The Sarum Missal in English, 1911, 1913, reproduced with permission.

Scripture citations are taken from the Revised Standard Bible, Catholic Edition, 1965 and 1966 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission of the copyright holder. All rights reserved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

A few years ago, I promised to put together a book of prayers to Christ present in the Eucharist. I was working with James Monti at the time on our book, In the Presence of Our Lord. James and I collected very beautiful Eucharistic prayers, and I have selected some of them. Interspersed with these prayers are a few I composed myself for a small booklet of Eucharistic prayers published by Creative Communications for the Parish. These are included because they are more contemporary and use language more familiar to the present-day reader. All of these prayers are meant for slow, meditative praying rather than quick recital. I am deeply grateful to James for his essential help in this endeavor, and both of us hope and pray that this little book will contribute to the great renewal in Eucharistic piety we see taking place on the eve of the third millennium.

Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.

St. Crispins Friary, Bronx, N.Y.

Feast of St. Francis, 1998

INTRODUCTION

When [St. Teresa] heard people say they wished they had lived when Christ walked on this earth, she would smile to herself, for she knew that we have Him as truly with us in the Most Holy Sacrament as people had Him then, and wonder what more they could possibly want.

St. Teresa of vila, The Way of Perfection

Christ promised to be with us, His followers, till the end of the ages. He is present to us in many ways He is present by His divine power as Word of God through whom all things are made. He is present in the words of Scripture, especially the Gospels. He is present where two or three are gathered in His name. He is present in the poor, the hungry, the stranger, even the imprisoned.

But in a singular way He is present in the sacraments His mysterious signs, as they were first called pledges of His saving and sanctifying grace. He comes to us in Baptism to save, in Reconciliation to forgive, and in Matrimony to bless the home. He strengthens the sick, prepares the dying, and ordains His ministers bishops, priests, and deacons.

But in the Holy Eucharist He comes to draw us into the most intimate participation in the Paschal Mystery of salvation into His holy life and work. His death and resurrection are proclaimed and recalled and we are fed with the Bread of Life, all because He is present, not only in His Soul and Divinity but in His Body and Blood. He is present not only as Son of God, but likewise as Son of Man, Son of Mary. He is here as Jesus of Nazareth.

The Fathers of the early Church, who taught and explained the faith in their sermons and writings, proclaimed Christs real presence in the Eucharist. In the Mass He was always welcomed and adored as King and Savior. In the fifth century Saint Augustine claimed that not to adore Christ in the Eucharist by some external sign of reverence was a sin. Saint John Chrysostom said that He is even here with us in His robe and sandals. The Church invites you to adore Him in His Eucharistic presence as a continuation of His presence in the Mass.

Since perhaps as early as the sixth century devout people have adored Christs presence in the Holy Eucharist which was kept for the communion of the sick.and challenge to grow in faith, hope, and charity before the Tabernacle. This little book is meant to introduce those who are unfamiliar or sadly uninformed to this crown jewel of Catholic devotion and to lead them to a prayerful knowledge of Christ through a collection of prayers that great Christians have said before the Eucharist from ancient to modern times.