The very first post in this series was titled “Reservation, Adoration, Exposition, and Benediction: The Eucharist Outside of Mass.” Earlier posts covered the history and practice of reserving the Eucharist which, in time, led to the norm and use of tabernacles in the Church. A previous post also discussed the lexicon of the Catholic faith with regard to reverence for the Eucharist. The precise term is latria which in our time is translated as “adore” or “worship” – and is reserved for use in speaking of God and because of our doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist – also when referring to the Eucharist.

Thus, it is proper to speak of Eucharistic Adoration. And this is when some degree of confusion begins to enter the conversation. Because of the practice of 40 Hours Devotion, dedicated chapels called “adoration chapels,” and other factors, there is a trend for modern-day people to limit Eucharstic Adoration to events that are properly called “Eucharistic Exposition.” In exposition, a consecrated host is placed in a monstrance which is either placed on the altar for a time of adoration or perhaps carried in procession, e.g., the Feast of Corpus Christi. The period of exposition typically ends in benediction, a blessing of those in attendance with the Eucharist in the monstrance.

It is important to remember that the term latria carries an emphasis on the internal form of worship, rather than external ceremonies. Meanwhile, our lexicon has expanded and now, in addition to “adoration” (latria) we now have the terms “exposition” and “benediction.”  Is “exposition” a form of latria? Certainly. But it is not the only form. The more ancient and traditional form of Eucharistic latria outside of Mass, is simple adoration with the Eucharist reserved in the locked tabernacle. In the lexicon this was known as “visiting the Blessed Sacrament.”

While there are historical records of “visiting the Blessed Sacrament” (under other names) reaching back into the early Church period, the history of visits to the Blessed Sacrament is best known from the monastic spirituality of the early Middle Ages. It was common for a monastic Rule of Life to instruct the monks and nuns to begin their day by a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. The 12th century saint, Thomas a Becket recommended to friends and all priests to daily visit the Blessed Sacraments. By the 14th century, the English mystic, Richard Rolle, strongly exhorted Christians to visit the nearby church as often as they can. Why? Because “In the Church is most devotion to pray, for there is God upon the altar to hear those who pray to Him and to grant them what they ask and what is best for them” (Works, I, 145). Church historians tell us that by the end of the century, the practice of people visiting the Blessed Sacrament became fairly common.

This was true latria, Eucharist Adoration – and yet there was not widespread practice of exposition.

In the Catholic Church, visits to the Blessed Sacrament have become a standard part of personal and communal prayer. The first Code of Canon Law urged the “faithful to visit the Most Blessed Sacrament as often as possible” (Canon 1273). The new Code is more specific. “Unless there is a grave reason to the contrary, a church, in which the Blessed Eucharist is reserved, is to be open to the faithful for at least some hours every day, so that they can pray before the Blessed Sacrament” (Canon 937).

What the Church has in mind is Eucharistic Adoration with the Eucharist reserved in the locked tabernacle. Which is not to preclude more modern chapels in which the Eucharist is perpetually in exposition. More on that in a later post.

Image credit: G. Corrigan, CANVA, CC-BY-NC