Pope Benedict XVI (2005 to 2013)

Quotes On The Importance Of Eucharistic Adoration

As the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, when he was a Cardinal, this Pope supported all efforts in the establishment of Eucharistic adoration. As Pope he has established Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration for the laity in each of the five Dioceses of Rome. Here are some of his quotes on the importance of Eucharistic Adoration in our lives:
2000 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger "The Spirit Of The Liturgy" (Ignatius Press)

"(Eucharistic) Adoration is not opposed to Communion, nor is it merely added to it.  Communion only reaches its true depths when it is supported and surrounded by Adoration."

2002

June 2, 2002 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger Lecture on "Eucharist Communion And Solidarity" at the Business' Conference of the region of Compania in Benevento, Italy
(Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"The great social saints were in reality always the great Eucharistic saints. I would like to mention just two examples chosen entirely at random...(St.) Martin (de Porres) lived from the adoration of the Lord present in the Eucharist, passing entire nights in prayer before the crucified Lord in the tabernacle, while during the day he tirelessly cared for the sick and assisted the socially outcast and despised, with whom he, as a mulatto, identified because of his origins... In our time, we can recall the person of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Wherever she opened the houses of her sisters to the service of the dying and outcast, the first thing she asked for was a place for the tabernacle, because she knew that only beginning from there, would come the strength for such service."

"Whoever recognizes the Lord in the tabernacle, recognizes him in the suffering and the needy,..."

2003

Sept. 2003 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger "God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, The Heart Of Life" (Ignatius Press)

"Let us take time, in the course of the week, in passing, to go in and spend a moment with the Lord who is so near."

"This is what is lovely about Catholic churches, that within them there is, as it were, always worship, because the Eucharistic presence of the Lord dwells always within them."

"Let us beseech the Lord to reawaken in us the joy at his presence and that we may once more adore him.  Without adoration, there is no transformation of the world."

"The adoration of the Lord in the sacrament is also an education in sensitizing our conscience.  ‘Christ comes into the hearts of our brothers and sisters and visits their consciences.’  When the conscience becomes dulled, this lets in the violence that lays waste the world."

"Only within the breathing space of adoration can the Eucharistic celebration indeed be alive…Communion and adoration do not stand side by side, or even in opposition, but are indivisibly one."

"Communicating with Christ demands that we gaze on him, allow him to gaze on us, listen to him, get to know him. Adoration is simply the personal aspect of Communion. … God is waiting for us in Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Let us not leave him waiting in vain! Let us not, through distraction and lethargy, pass by the greatest and most important thing life offers us."

2005

April 20, 2005 - Pope Benedict XVI First Message At The End Of The Eucharistic Concelebration With Members Of The College Of Cardinals (Sistine Chapel) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"I ask everyone to intensify in coming months love and devotion to the Eucharistic Jesus and to express in a courageous and clear way the real presence of the Lord."



Aug. 21, 2005 - Pope Benedict XVI Speech to German Bishops On The Occasion Of The 20th World Youth Day (Cologne, Gemany - Archbishop's House) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"We must therefore endeavour to make the face of Christ visible, the face of the living God, so that like the Magi we may spontaneously fall to our knees and adore him."



Aug. 28, 2005 - Pope Benedict XVI speech before Angelus (Castel Gandolfo, Italy) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"(Eucharistic) Adoration is not a luxury but a priority...".



Oct. 15, 2005 - Pope Benedict XVI Catechesis at Catechitical Meeting With Children Who Had Received Their First Communion During The Year (St. Peters Square) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"...Adoration is recognizing that Jesus is my Lord, that Jesus shows me the way to take, and that I will live well only if I know the road that Jesus points out and follow the path he shows me.   Therefore, adoration means saying: "Jesus, I am yours. I will follow you in my life, I never want to lose this friendship, this communion with you". I could also say that adoration is essentially an embrace with Jesus in which I say to him: "I am yours, and I ask you, please stay with me always"."



Nov. 21, 2005 - Pope Benedict XVI Message For The First National Day Of Young Catholics Of The Netherlands (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Go to the encounter with Him in the Blessed Eucharist, go to adore Him in the churches, kneeling before the Tabernacle: Jesus will fill you with His love and will reveal to you the thoughts of His Heart. If you listen to Him, you will feel ever more deeply the joy of belonging to His Mystical Body, the Church, which is the family of his disciples held close by the bond of unity and love."



Dec. 22, 2005 - Pope Benedict XVI Speech to the Roman Curia offering them his Christmas greetings (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"the development of Eucharistic adoration, as it took shape during the Middle Ages, was the most consistent consequence of the Eucharistic mystery itself: only in adoration can profound and true acceptance develop."

2006

March 2, 2006 - Pope Benedict XVI Speech at a Meeting with the Members of the Roman Clergy (Hall Of Blessings) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Perpetual (Eucharistic) Adoration is a neurological point of the life of faith…"

"I only wish to thank God...(that Perpetual Eucharistic) Adoration has been reborn everywhere in the Church."

"Adoration is to enter into profound heartfelt communion with the Lord, who makes Himself bodily present in the Eucharist.  In the monstrance, He always entrusts Himself to us and asks us to be united with His Presence, with his risen Body."



May 11, 2006 - Pope Benedict XVI Speech to the Canadian Bishops from the Ecclesiastical Circumscription of Quebec on their "Ad Limina" Visit (Clementine Hall) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass but strictly linked to the celebration, is also of great value for the life of the Church, for it aspires to sacramental and spiritual communion. As John Paul II wrote, "If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the "art of prayer', how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament?" (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 25). From this experience we cannot but receive strength, comfort and support."



May 25, 2006 - Pope Benedict XVI Speech in Meeting with the Clergy during Pastoral Visit To Poland (Warsaw Cathedral) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"There is a need for silent adoration of Jesus concealed in the Host.  Be assiduous in the prayer of adoration and teach it to the faithful.  It is a source of comfort and light, particularly to those who are suffering."



June 15, 2006 - Pope Benedict XVI Homily - Mass and  Eucharistic Procession on the Solemnity Of Corpus Christi (St. John Lateran) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"When, in adoration, we look at the consecrated Host, the sign of creation speaks to us. And so, we encounter the greatness of his gift; but we also encounter the Passion, the Cross of Jesus and his Resurrection. Through this gaze of adoration, he draws us toward Himself, within His mystery, through which He wants to transform us as He transformed the Host."



June 18, 2006 - Pope Benedict XVI address before Angelus (St. Peter's Square) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Indeed, the Eucharist is the "treasure" of the Church, the precious heritage that her Lord has left to her. And the Church preserves it with the greatest care, celebrating it daily in Holy Mass, adoring it in churches and chapels, administering it to the sick, and as viaticum to those who are on their last journey."



Sept. 11, 2006 - Pope Benedict XVI Homily at Marian Vespers with the Religous And Seminarians Of Bavaria (Basilica Of St. Anne Alloting, Germany) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Only by adoring this presence do we learn how to receive Him properly. ... Let us love being with the Lord!  There we can speak with Him about everything.  We can offer Him our petitions, our concerns, our troubles. Our joys. Our gratitude, our disappointments, our needs and our aspirations. There we can also constantly ask Him: 'Lord send laborers into Your harvest! Help me to be a good worker in Your vineyard!'."



Oct. 19, 2006 - Pope Benedict XVI Speech to the Participants In The 4th National Ecclesial Convention during  Pastoral Visit To Verona (Verona Exhibition Center) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"(Eucharistic) adoration must precede our every activity and programme, that it may render us truly free and that we may be given the criteria for our action."



Nov. 9, 2006 - Pope Benedict XVI Speech to the Participants In the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congesses (Clementine Hall) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Furthermore, the presence among you of several representatives of the Adorers of the Eucharist and the mention that you made, Cardinal Tomko, to the "Federación Mundial de la Adoración Nocturna (World Federation of Nocturnal Adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament)", enables me to recall how helpful the rediscovery of Eucharistic Adoration is for many Christians."

"How great is humanity's need today to rediscover the source of its hope in the Sacrament of the Eucharist! I thank the Lord because many parishes, as well as celebrating Holy Mass devoutly, are educating the faithful in Eucharistic Adoration, and I hope also in view of the upcoming International Eucharistic Congress that this practice will continue to spread."



Nov. 2006 - Benedictus: Day By Day With Pope Benedict XVI (Ignatius Press)

"The measure of the Church's vitality, the measure of its interior openness, will be reflected in the fact that its doors remain open, precisely because it is a church where there is constant prayer. The Eucharist, and the community that celebrates it, will be full in the measure in which we prepare ourselves in silent prayer before the presence of the Lord and become persons who want to communicate with truth."

"The Eucharist means God has answered: The Eucharist is God as an answer, as an answering presence. Now the initiative no longer lies with us, in the God-man relationship, but with Him, and it now becomes really serious. That is why, in the sphere of Eucharistic adoration, prayer attains a new level; now it is two-way, and so now it really is a serious business."

2007

Jan. 27, 2007 - Pope Benedict XVI Message to the Youth Of The World on the Occasion Of The 22nd World Youth Day (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

The Secret Of Love: "When we participate regularly and with devotion in Holy Mass, when we spend a sustained time of adoration in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, it is easier to understand the length, breadth, height and depth of his love that goes beyond all knowledge (cf Eph 3:17-18)."



Feb. 22, 2007 - Pope Benedict XVI Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Sacrementum Caritatis (The Sacrement Of Charity)" (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"I heartily recommend to the Church's pastors and to the People of God the practice of Eucharistic adoration, both individually and in community."

"Wherever possible, it would be appropriate, especially in densely populated areas, to set aside specific churches or oratories for perpetual adoration. I also recommend that, in their catechetical training, and especially in their preparation for First Holy Communion, children be taught the meaning and the beauty of spending time with Jesus, and helped to cultivate a sense of awe before his presence in the Eucharist."

"(Adoration) enables the faithful to experience the liturgical celebration more fully and more fruitfully."

"The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself."

"Only in adoration can profound and genuine reception (of the Eucharist) mature."

"This personal encounter with the Lord...strengthens the social mission contained in the Eucharist, which seeks to break down not only the walls that separate the Lord and ourselves, but also and especially the walls that separate us from one another."

"From Adoration compassion is born for all men, and from this compassion the thirst is born to evangelize."



Feb 22, 2007 - Pope Benedict XVI Speech at the Lenten Meeting With The Clergy Of Rome (Hall Of Blessings) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"I am very grateful because Eucharistic Adoration is being increasingly renewed. During the Synod on the Eucharist, the Bishops talked a great deal about their experiences, of how new life is being restored to communities with this adoration, and also with nocturnal adoration, and how, precisely in this way, new vocations are also born.



April 21, 2007 - Pope Benedict XVI Speech to the Youth and the Sick of the Diocese during Pastoral Visit to Vigevano And Pavia (Balcony of the Bishopric Sat' Ambrogio Square, Vigevano) (Source: Vatican website - www.vatican.va)

"I address a special thought to the Sisters, Perpetual Adorers of the Most Blessed Sacrament, whom I have just met; their praying presence is an everlasting reminder to the entire Diocese to be increasingly aware of the importance of the Eucharist, the centre and summit of the life of the Church. I reach out with my encouragement and gratitude to these beloved Sisters, who have consecrated their entire lives to the Lord. .



June 7, 2007 - Pope Benedict XVI Homily - Mass and Eucharistic Procession to the Basilica Of St. Mary Major (Square in front of the Basilica of St. John Lateran) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"This (Corpus Christi) feast originated in a specific historical and cultural context: it was born for the very precise purpose of openly reaffirming the faith of the People of God in Jesus Christ, alive and truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is a feast that was established in order to publicly adore, praise and thank the Lord, who continues "to love us "to the end', even to offering us his body and his blood" (Sacramentum Caritatis, n. 1)."

"If the close relationship between the Last Supper and the mystery of Jesus' death on the Cross is emphasized on Holy Thursday, today, the Feast of Corpus Christi, with the procession and unanimous adoration of the Eucharist, attention is called to the fact that Christ sacrificed himself for all humanity. His passing among the houses and along the streets of our city will be for those who live there an offering of joy, eternal life, peace and love."



June 10, 2007 - Pope Benedict XVI address before Angelus on the Solmenity of Corpus Christi (St. Peter's Square) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Adoration outside Holy Mass prolongs and intensifies what has taken place in the liturgical celebration and makes a true and profound reception of Christ possible."

"I would like to take the opportunity offered to me by today's Solemnity to warmly recommend, to Pastors and to all the faithful, the practice of Eucharistic adoration."

"In life today, often noisy and dispersive, it is more important than ever to recover the capacity for inner silence and recollection. Eucharistic adoration permits this..."

2008

May 22, 2008 - Pope Benedict XVI Homily - Mass on the Solemnity Of Corpus Christi (Square In Front Of St. John Latern) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Adoring the God of Jesus Christ, who out of love made himself bread broken, is the most effective and radical remedy against the idolatry of the past and of the present."

"Adoring the Body of Christ, means believing that there, in that piece of Bread, Christ is really there, and gives true sense to life, to the immense universe as to the smallest creature, to the whole of human history as to the most brief existence.  Adoration is prayer that prolongs the celebration and Eucharistic communion and in which the soul continues to be nourished: it is nourished with love, truth, peace; it is nourished with hope, because the One before whom we prostrate ourselves does not judge us, does not crush us but liberates and transforms us."



April 19, 2008 - Pope Benedict XVI Speech at Meeting with Young People And Seminarians during Apostolic Journey To The U.S.A. (St. Joseph Seminary, Yonkers, New York) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"There is another aspect of prayer which we need to remember: silent contemplation.  Saint John, for example, tells us that to embrace God’s revelation we must first listen, then respond by proclaiming what we have heard and seen (cf. 1 Jn 1:2-3; Dei Verbum Pope Paul VI 1965).  Have we perhaps lost something of the art of listening?  Do you leave space to hear God’s whisper, calling you forth into goodness?  Friends, do not be afraid of silence or stillness, listen to God, adore him in the Eucharist. Let his word shape your journey as an unfolding of holiness."



June 21, 2008 - Pope Benedict XVI Video-Message to young participants in the 49th International Eucharistic Congress (Quebec, Canada) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Remember that in the Bread of the Eucharist, Christ is really, totally and substantially present. It is therefore in the mystery of the Eucharist, at Mass and during silent adoration before the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, that you will meet him in a privileged way. By opening your very being and your whole life under the gaze of Christ, you will not be crushed - quite the contrary: you will discover that you are infinitely loved. You will receive the power that you need in order to build your lives and to make the choices that present themselves to you every day."



July 20, 2008 - Pope Benedict XVI Message to the Youth Of The World on the Occasion Of The 23rd World Youth Day (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

6. The Sacraments of Confirmation and the Eucharist: "My dear young friends, if you take part frequently in the eucharistic celebration, if you dedicate some of your time to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the Source of love which is the Eucharist, you will acquire that joyful determination to dedicate your lives to following the Gospel."

2009

April 26, 2009 - Pope Benedict XVI Homily - For the Canonization of St. Geltrude Commensoli and four other Saints (St. Peter's Square) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"She (St. Commensoli) reminds us that "adoration must prevail over all the other charitable works", for it is from love for Christ who died and rose and who is really present in the Eucharistic Sacrament, that Gospel charity flows which impels us to see all human beings as our brothers and sisters."



June 11, 2009 - Pope Benedict XVI Homily - Mass and Eucharistic Procession on the The Solemnity Of Corpus Christi (Square Outside The Basilica Of Saint John Lateran) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"This is what the faithful expect of the priest: that is, the example of an authentic devotion to the Eucharist; they like to see him spend long periods of silence and adoration before Jesus as was the practice of the Holy Curé d'Ars,..."



June 14, 2009 - Pope Benedict XVI address before Angelus (St. Peter's Square) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Looking at Him and worshipping Him, we say: "yes, love exists and because it exists things can change for the better and we can hope". It is hope that comes from Christ's love which gives us the strength to live and to deal with difficulties."



July 4, 2009 - Pope Benedict XVI Homily - Mass and Vespers on the occasion of the reopening of the restored Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Apostolic Palace (Pauline Chapel) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Solemn celebrations with the people are not held here. This is where the Successor of Peter and his collaborators meditate in silence and adore the living Christ, present above all in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist."

We shall shortly be singing the Magnificat. May Mary Most Holy, Teacher of prayer and of adoration, together with Sts Peter and Paul, obtain abundant graces for those who are gathered in faith within this Chapel."

2010

June 3, 2010 - Pope Benect XVI Homily - Mass and Eucharistic Procession to the Basilica Of St. Mary Major (Square in front of the Basilica of St. John Lateran) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"It is the joy of the community, the joy of the whole Church which, in contemplating and adoring the Most Holy Sacrament, recognizes in it the real and permanent presence of Jesus, the Eternal High Priest."

Let us all, priests and faithful, nourish ourselves with the same Eucharist, let us all prostrate ourselves to adore it, because in it our Master and Lord is present, the true Body of the Jesus is present in it, the Victim and the Priest, the salvation of the world. Come let us exult with joyful songs! Come, let us adore him! Amen.



Aug. 6, 2010 - Pope Benedict XVI Message for the 26th World Youth Day (2011) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Dear young people, learn to “see” and to “meet” Jesus in the Eucharist, where he is present and close to us, and even becomes food for our journey."



Nov. 17, 2010 - Pope Benedict XVI address at General Audience on St. Juliana Of Cornillon (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"I would like to affirm with joy that today there is a “Eucharistic springtime” in the Church: How many people pause in silence before the Tabernacle to engage in a loving conversation with Jesus! It is comforting to know that many groups of young people have rediscovered the beauty of praying in adoration before the Most Blessed Sacrament."

"Faithfully encountering the Eucharistic Christ at Sunday Mass is essential for our journey of faith, but let us also seek to visit the Lord frequently, before His presence in the Tabernacle. ...By gazing at Him in adoration the Lord draws us to Him, to His mystery, in order to transform us as He transforms the bread and wine."



Dec. 12, 2010 - Pope Benedict XVI Homily - Pastoral Visit to the parish of St. Maximillian Kolbe in Rome (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"I greet all those who are active in the parish context: the catechists and the members of various groups including the Neocatechumenal Way. I deeply appreciate your decision to make room for Eucharistic adoration and I thank you for the prayers you say for me before the Most Blessed Sacrament."

2011

Feb. 3, 2011 - Pope Benedict XVI Speech to Members Of The Emmanuel Community on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the death of their Founder (Consistory Hall)  (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Dear friends, the profound grace of your Community comes from Eucharistic Adoration. From this Adoration is born compassion for all and from this compassion is born the thirst to evangelize...In the Eucharist you find the source of all your commitments in the following of Christ, and in adoring him you purify your contemplation of life in the world."



Mar. 30, 2011 - Pope Benedict XVI address at General Audience (St. Peters Square)  (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Among the forms of prayer fervently recommended by St Alphonsus, stands out the visit to the Blessed Sacrament, or as we would call it today, “adoration”, brief or extended, personal or as a community, before the Eucharist. “Certainly”, St Alphonsus writes, “amongst all devotions, after that of receiving the sacraments, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament takes the first place, is the most pleasing to God, and the most useful to ourselves…. Oh, what a beautiful delight to be before an altar with faith… to represent our wants to him, as a friend does to a friend in whom he places all his trust” (Visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin Mary for Each Day of the Month. Introduction)."



June 23, 2011 - Pope Benedict XVI Homily - Solemnity Of Corpus Christi (Square outside the Basilica of St. John Lateran)  (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Whereas on the evening of Holy Thursday we relive the mystery of Christ who offers himself to us in the bread broken and the wine poured out, today, on the day of Corpus Christi, this same mystery is proposed for the adoration and meditation of the People of God, and the Blessed Sacrament is carried in procession through the streets of the cities and villages, to show that the Risen Christ walks in our midst and guides us towards the Kingdom of Heaven."



June 26, 2011 - Pope Benedict XVI comments during Corpus Christi Procession in the Streets of Rome  (Source: Eucharistic Adoration For Priests Blog – https://eucharisticadorationforpriests.blogspot.com)

"While Holy Thursday commemorates the mystery of Christ who gives us the bread and wine, today, on the feast of Corpus Christi, the same mystery is proposed to the People of God to worship Him and think about Him."



Aug. 20, 2011 - Pope Benedict XVI Homily - Apostolic Journey to Madrid, Spain - Prayer Vigil with young people during 26th World Youth Day (Filed Under Speeches) (Cuatro Vientos Air Base, Madrid) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"And so I now ask you to "abide" in the adoration of Christ, truly present in the Eucharist. I ask you to enter into conversation with him, to bring before him your questions and to listen to his voice."

"Dear young people, in these moments of silence before the Blessed Sacrament, let us raise our minds and hearts to Jesus Christ, the Lord of our lives and of the future. May he pour out his Spirit upon us and upon the whole Church, that we may be a beacon of freedom, reconciliation and peace for the whole world."



Dec. 22, 2011 - Pope Benedict XVI Speech on the occasion of Christmas Greetings To The Roman Curia (Clementine Hall) (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Adoration is primarily an act of faith – the act of faith as such. God is not just some possible or impossible hypothesis concerning the origin of all things. He is present. And if he is present, then I bow down before him. Then my intellect and will and heart open up towards him and from him. In the risen Christ, the incarnate God is present, who suffered for us because he loves us. We enter this certainty of God’s tangible love for us with love in our own hearts. This is adoration, and this then determines my life. Only thus can I celebrate the Eucharist correctly and receive the body of the Lord rightly."

2012

Mar. 3, 2012 - Pope Benedict XVI Letter to Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya Archbishop of Kinshasa
(Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"(Through) Eucharistic adoration, (we) were filled with profound gratitude to God for the great love He has given us, the love with which He binds us to Himself in a filial relationship."



June 7, 2012 - Pope Benedict XVI Homily - Mass for the Solmenity Of Corpus Christi (Basillica Of St. John Lateran)
(Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"This imbalance (of concentrating on the Mass and not Eucharistic Adoration outside of Mass) has also had repercussions on the spiritual life of the faithful. In fact, by concentrating the entire relationship with the Eucharistic Jesus in the sole moment of Holy Mass one risks emptying the rest of existential time and space of his presence. This makes ever less perceptible the meaning of Jesus’ constant presence in our midst and with us, a presence that is tangible, close, in our homes, as the “beating Heart” of the city, of the country, and of the area, with its various expressions and activities. The sacrament of Christ’s Charity must permeate the whole of daily life.

"Actually it is wrong to set celebration and adoration against each other, as if they were competing. Exactly the opposite is true: worship of the Blessed Sacrament is, as it were, the spiritual “context” in which the community can celebrate the Eucharist well and in truth. Only if it is preceded, accompanied and followed by this inner attitude of faith and adoration can the liturgical action express its full meaning and value. The encounter with Jesus in Holy Mass is truly and fully brought about when the community can recognize that in the Sacrament he dwells in his house, waits for us, invites us to his table, then, after the assembly is dismissed, stays with us, with his discreet and silent presence, and accompanies us with his intercession, continuing to gather our spiritual sacrifices and offer them to the Father."

"At the moment of Adoration, we are all equal, kneeling before the Sacrament of Love. The common priesthood and the ministerial priesthood are brought together in Eucharistic worship."

"To be all together in prolonged silence before the Lord present in his Sacrament is one of the most genuine experiences of our being Church, which is accompanied complementarily by the celebration of the Eucharist, by listening to the word of God, by singing and by approaching the table of the Bread of Life together. Communion and contemplation cannot be separated, they go hand in hand."



June 27, 2012 - Pope Benedict XVI address during General Audience (Paul VI Audience Hall)
(Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"Dear brothers and sisters, in our prayers let us fix our gaze on the Crucified One, let us pause more often in adoration before the Eucharist to let our life enter the love of God who humbly lowered himself in order to lift us up to him."



Oct. 18, 2012 - Pope Benedict XVI Message to the Youth Of The World on the occasion of the 23rd World Youth Day (Source: Vatican website – www.vatican.va)

"I also encourage you to practise Eucharistic adoration.  Time spent in listening and talking with Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament becomes a source of new missionary enthusiasm.."