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Church of the Holy Spirit

A Roman Catholic Parish

Eucharistic Adoration
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Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Our Lord waits for you to come and spend some time with Him.


Eucharistic Adoration is adoring or honoring Christ fully present in the Eucharist.


We know as Catholics that the Eucharist is Jesus truly and fully present - Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity! Eucharistic Adoration is the contemplation of this Mystery of Christ truly present before us.


During Eucharistic Adoration, we are invited to look upon our Lord as He looks back at us. We "watch and wait" just as Christ asked His disciples to do in the Garden of Gethsemane. As we enjoy silence or prayer in His Presence, we open ourselves to His Grace which flows to us in a unique way through the Eucharist. Worshiping the Eucharistic Jesus brings us into a fuller relationship with Him and invites Christ to gently transform us into the person God intends us to be.


In Eucharistic Adoration, we reach out to God as He ever more fervently seeks us.


  • What is Adoration?

    Eucharistic Adoration is the worship of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist outside of the Mass. The consecrated Host (which has become Jesus Himself) is displayed in a Monstrance on the Altar so that all can see and pray in the presence of Christ

  • Why do we do it?

    The answer to that question comes directly out of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Adoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator. It exalts the greatness of the Lord who made us and the almighty power of the Savior who sets us free from evil. Adoration is homage of the spirit to the ‘King of Glory,’ respectful silence in the presence of the ‘ever greater’ God. Adoration of the thrice holy and sovereign God of love blends with humility and gives assurance to our supplications.” (CCC 2628)

  • What to bring

    Yourself, with an open mind and heart.


    You can also (but do not have to) bring:

    • A Rosary.
    • A Bible, or other spiritual reading.
    • A prayer journal and pen.

  • How do we do it?

    We can show our adoration to God in many ways, but in Eucharistic Adoration, we spend time adoring the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Here are a few ideas for how to spend this time well: 


    1. Enter in silence, and in reverence toward the Blessed Sacrament. Remember that it is God Himself who is really, truly, and substantially present in the Consecrated Host. 


    2. Begin with a prayer to prepare your heart, and take a few moments to adjust from the noise of the outside world to the silence and peace of Christ’s presence. 


    3. Spend a few minutes in spiritual reading. It can be from the Gospels, a reflection from a prayer book, or a few lines of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Read until something strikes you. Then, after some reflection, stay in silence and meditate on what you have just read. 


    4. Writing in a prayer journal is something that many people find helpful. Think of the practice as writing a letter to God. Deliver your worries to Him or write to Him about things that are going well. 


    5. Pray the Rosary. Contemplating the mysteries of Jesus’ life in the Rosary is to contemplate the mystery of Jesus in Blessed Sacrament, whom we praise in Adoration. Or pray the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, or another devotion. 


    6. Don’t be afraid to just be quiet, silent, and alone with the Lord, and just to “bask” in the beautiful, peaceful presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. 


    7. When you are ready to leave, offer to the Lord a departing prayer. This can be a spontaneous prayer of thanksgiving, or you can privately use the prayers of Benediction, which is given at the end of Solemn Adoration.  

* Adapted and taken from stcathtrumbull.com/eucharistic-adoration

An Invitation from Carol Pinard, Parishioner of Holy Spirit
“For the past few years on First Friday’s I come and sit before Our Lord in Eucharistic Adoration. The more time I spend before the Lord the more I’ve become aware of His presence in my life. The time I spend in silence with the Lord affords me the opportunity to praise Him as my Lord and my God, to thank him for so many blessings, both those that are apparent and those that aren’t due to my limited range of vision. I talk to him of my needs and those of my family and friends, then listen to him speak in the silence of my heart. I leave knowing I am loved, filled with peace, joy and contentment knowing all is in His hands as I try to live my daily life more focused on His will for my life.
I would like to invite each of you to leave behind the distractions and noise of the world to
come and experience the power of time spent in the presence of the Lord. He will transform your life."

The Holy Eucharist



The liturgical life of the Church revolves around the sacraments, with the Eucharist at the center (National Directory for Catechesis, #35). At Mass, we are fed by the Word and nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ. We believe that the Risen Jesus is truly and substantially present in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is not a sign or symbol of Jesus; rather we receive Jesus himself in and through the Eucharistic species. The priest, through the power of his ordination and the action of the Holy Spirit, transforms the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus. This is call transubstantiation.

By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity. (CCC 1413)

The New Covenant

I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever;…Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and…remains in me and I in him. (John 6:51, 54, 56)
In the gospels we read that the Eucharist was instituted at the Last Supper. This is the fulfillment of the covenants in the Hebrew Scriptures. In the Last Supper narratives, Jesus took, broke and gave bread and wine to his disciples. In the blessing of the cup of wine, Jesus calls it “the blood of the covenant” (Matthew and Mark) and the “new covenant in my blood” (Luke).

This reminds us of the blood ritual with which the covenant was ratified at Sinai (Ex 24) -- the sprinkled the blood of sacrificed animals united God and Israel in one relationship, so now the shed blood of Jesus on the cross is the bond of union between new covenant partners -- God the Father, Jesus and the Christian Church. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, all the baptized are in relationship with God.

The Catechism teaches that all Catholics who have received their First Holy Communion are welcome to receive Eucharist at Mass unless sin a state of mortal sin.
Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance. (CCC 1415)

The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion when they participate in the celebration of the Eucharist; she obliges them to do so at least once a year. (CCC 1417)
Receiving the Eucharist changes us. It signifies and effects the unity of the community and serves to strengthen the Body of Christ.

Understanding the Mass

The central act of worship in the Catholic Church is the Mass. It is in the liturgy that the saving death and resurrection of Jesus once for all is made present again in all its fullness and promise – and we are privileged to share in His Body and Blood, fulfilling his command as we proclaim his death and resurrection until He comes again. It is in the liturgy that our communal prayers unite us into the Body of Christ. It is in the liturgy that we most fully live out our Christian faith.

The liturgical celebration is divided into two parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. First we hear the Word of God proclaimed in the scriptures and respond by singing God’s own Word in the Psalm. Next that Word is broken open in the homily. We respond by professing our faith publicly. Our communal prayers are offered for all the living and the dead in the Creed. Along with the Presider, we offer in our own way, the gifts of bread and wine and are given a share in the Body and Blood of the Lord, broken and poured out for us. We receive the Eucharist, Christ’s real and true presence, and we renew our commitment to Jesus. Finally, we are sent forth to proclaim the Good News!
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