St. Pope John Paul II (1978 to 2005)
Quotes On
The Importance Of Eucharistic Adoration
St. Pope John Paul II started Perpetual
Eucharistic Adoration
of the Most Blessed Sacrament in the Vatican in 1981, a couple of years after he became Pope. It is said he always had an hour or 2 of adoration
each day even with his
busy schedule throughout his life. In fact he would spend long periods in the Presence of
our beloved Lord, often prostrate before the Eucharist, particularly before
any missionary trip he would undertake. Both as Bishop and as Pope he
would write much of his work while in Eucharistic adoration. Here are some of his quotes on the importance of Eucharistic
Adoration in our lives:
1978
Nov. 8, 1978 - Pope John Paul II Speech to
the Italian Youth (St. Peter's Basilica) (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"Jesus is not an idea, a sentiment, a memory! Jesus is a "person",
always alive and present with us! — Love Jesus present in the Eucharist."
1979
Mar. 4, 1979 - Pope John Paul II Encyclical
Letter "Redemptor Hominis (Redeemer Of Man)" (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"Jesus wants you to do more than to go to Mass on
Sunday. Our communal worship at Mass must go
together with our personal worship of Jesus in Eucharistic adoration in
order that our love may be complete."
"Every member of the Church must be vigilant in
seeing that the sacrament of Love shall be at the center of the life of the
people of God so that through all the manifestations of worship due Him
shall be given back 'love for love' and truly become the life of our souls."
"Our essential commitment in life is to preserve and advance constantly in
Eucharistic life and Eucharistic piety and to grow spiritually in the
climate of the Holy Eucharist."
Jun. 17, 1979 - Pope John Paul II address before
the Angelus at the Vatican (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"Today we wish to adore in a particular way the Divine Body, which
became the Blessed Sacrament of our faith and of the whole faith of the
Church. This is the day of public cult of the Eucharist. The expression of
this cult, accepted for whole centuries, is the procession: a religious
procession led by the High Priest and, at the same time, the Most Holy
Sacrifice, who invites us to follow him."
"In this silence of the white Host, carried in the
Monstrance, are all His words; there is His whole life given in offering to
the Father for each of us; there is also the glory of the glorified body,
which started with the Resurrection, and still continues in Heavenly union."
Sept. 29, 1979 - Pope John Paul II Homily - Apostolic
Journey To Ireland (Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland) (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"The visit to the Blessed Sacrament...is a great treasure of the
Catholic faith. It nourishes social love and gives us opportunities for
adoration and thanksgiving, for reparation and supplication. Benediction of
the Blessed Sacrament, Exposition and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament,
Holy Hours and Eucharistic processions are likewise...in full accord with
the teaching of the Second Vatican Council."
1980
Feb. 24, 1980 - Pope John Paul II Letter "Dominicae Cenae (On The Mystery And Worship Of The Eucharist)" (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"Adoration of Christ in this sacrament of love must also find expression
in various forms of eucharistic devotion: personal prayer before the Blessed
Sacrament, Hours of Adoration, periods of exposition-short, prolonged and
annual (Forty Hours)-eucharistic benediction, eucharistic processions,
eucharistic congresses."
"The Church and the world have a great need of
eucharistic worship. Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love.
Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and
in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for
the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease."
"...we must always and everywhere preserve this meaning and this
dimension of the sacramental encounter and intimacy with Christ. It is
precisely these elements which constitute the very substance of eucharistic
worship."
"I wish briefly to reaffirm the fact that eucharistic worship
constitutes the soul of all Christian life."
"If our Eucharistic worship is authentic, it must make us grow in
awareness of the dignity of each person. The awareness of that dignity
becomes the deepest motive of our relationship with our neighbor."
"Eucharistic worship is not so much worship of the inaccessible
transcendence as worship of the divine condescension, and it is also the
merciful and redeeming transformation of the world in the human heart."
1981
Dec. 2, 1981 - Pope John Paul II Prayer in the
Chapel Of The Blessed Sacrament (St. Peter's Basilica) (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
1. "I pronounce (the words "Lord stay with us") to
invite you, Christ, in your Eucharistic presence, to welcome the daily
adoration that lasts for the whole day, in this temple, in this Basilica, in
this chapel."
1. "(The Lord remains with us today) so
that we may meet with you in the prayer of adoration and thanksgiving, in
the prayer of atonement and petition, to which all visitors to this Basilica
are invited."
2. "Let us begin this perpetual, daily
adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at the beginning of the Advent of the
Year of the Lord 1981, the year in which jubilees and important
anniversaries for the Church were celebrated, the year of important events."
2. "We desire every day and every hour to adore you,
stripped under the species of bread and wine, to renew the hope of the 'call
to glory' (Cfr. 1 Pet 5:10), whose beginning you have constituted with your
glorified body 'at the right hand of the Father'."
3.
"May the unworthy Successor of Peter in the Roman See and all those who will
participate in the adoration of your Eucharistic Presence, testify with each
of their visits and make resound here the truth contained in the words of
the Apostle: 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you'."
1982
Dec. 8, 1982 - Pope John Paul II Prayer upon the opening
of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration at St. Peter's in Rome (Source: Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament website –
http://www.acfp2000.com/PopeJPII-Quotes.html)
"The best the surest and the most effective way of establishing everlasting peace
on the face of the earth is through the great power of Perpetual Adoration
of the Blessed Sacrament."
1983
1. "The Eucharist is the source of all your spiritual
and apostolic vitality; because with your attitude of adoration, you deepen
in faith, hope and charity. In this way, you direct your whole life towards
God, and, therefore, towards the mystery of man and of concrete human
history."
2. "Worship is an irreplaceable practice of
the Church. Adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, you carry out in the
local Churches the command that the Apostle has addressed to us to pray
without interruption (cf. 1 Thes 5:17 ), imitating the Master who frequently
spent the night in prayer (cf. Lk 6 , 12)."
3. "In
Eucharistic adoration you will encounter the strong lines of renewal. In
fact, "the Eucharist makes present the entire work of the Redemption which
is perpetuated throughout the year in the celebration of the divine
mysteries" (John Paul II, Aperite
portas Redemptori , 3)."
4. "The Blessed Virgin, Mother of Jesus and
our Mother, who with Joseph her husband adored the Son of God made man on
the very night of his birth, and who many other nights, in Bethlehem and
Nazareth, watched over his sleep, both the model of all the adorers and
nocturnal adorers of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament."
1989
Oct. 7, 1989 - Pope John Paul II Homily at Nonyong- Dong South Korea Parish
during Apostolic Journey to the Far East and Mauritius (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"If we are to experience the Eucharist as the
“source and summit of all Christian life” (Lumen
Gentium, 11), then we must celebrate it with faith, receive it with
reverence, and allow it to transform our minds and hearts through the
prayer of adoration. Only by deepening our Eucharistic communion with
the Lord through personal prayer can we discover what he asks of us in daily life."
"It is all the more important that you be men of
prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, that you “ask God for a true spirit
of adoration” ... in order to be filled with love of Christ. Only in this
way can you hope to grow in the pastoral charity that makes your life and ministry fruitful."
1993
Jun. 12, 1993 - Pope John Paul II Homily -
Mass at the end of Eucharistic Adoration during Apostolic Journey to Spain
(Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Sevil, Spain) (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"United to the angels and saints of the heavenly Church, let us adore
the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. Prostrate we adore such a great
Mystery, which embodies the new and definitive Covenant of God with men in
Christ."
1. "It is a cause of particular joy for me to
prostrate myself with you before Jesus the Sacrament, in an act of
humble and fervent adoration, of praise to the merciful God, of thanksgiving to the
Dispenser of all good, of supplication to the One who is "always alive to
intercede on our behalf" (Cfr. Heb 7:25)."
2. "The permanent adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament has been the leitmotif
of all the acts of this International Eucharistic Congress. I therefore
express my congratulations and my thanks to all those who, with such
pastoral solicitude and apostolic commitment, have assumed the
responsibility of the Congress. In fact, the permanent Adoration – held in
many churches of the city and in many of them even during the night – was a
trait that enriched and characterized this Congress. May this form of
adoration, which will end with a solemn Eucharistic vigil last night,
continue in the future, so that in all parishes and Christian communities
some form of adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist may be habitually
established."
3. "It is true that consecrated hosts are
kept in the pyx, from the beginning, in order to be able to bring them into
communion with the sick and those absent from the celebration. But, as
the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "By deepening her faith in the
real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the Church has become aware of the
meaning of silent adoration of the Lord present under the Eucharistic
species" (n. 1379)."
6. "Adoration of the Eucharist "is
the contemplation and recognition of the real presence of Christ, in the
sacred species, outside the celebration of Mass [...] It is a true encounter
of dialogue thanks to which [...] we open ourselves to the experience of God
[...]. It is likewise an act of solidarity with the needs and requirements
of the whole world" (Basic Document of the Congress, n. 25). And this
Eucharistic adoration, by its very spiritual dynamic, must spur us to the
service of love and justice towards our brothers and sisters."
1994
Jun. ??, 1994 - Pope John Paul II Public Address
"I would also like to repeat my invitation to you to make Adoration
of the Blessed Sacrament a habitual practice in all Christian communities..Priestly, religious, and missionary
vocations will stem from this meeting with Christ.."
1996
Mar. 25, 1996 - Pope John Paul II Apostolic Exhortation
"Vita Consecrata" on the Consecrated Life and its Mission in the Church and
in the World (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"All, believers and non-believers alike, need to learn a silence that
allows the Other to speak when and how he wishes, and allows us to
understand his words". In practice this involves great fidelity to
liturgical and personal prayer, to periods devoted to mental prayer and
contemplation, to Eucharistic adoration, to monthly retreats and to
spiritual exercises."
May 28, 1996 - Letter To The Bishop Of Liege For
The 750th Anniversary Of The "Corpus Domini" Festival (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"Contemplation (of the Eucharist) prolongs Communion and
enables one to meet Christ, true God and true man, in a lasting way, to let
oneself be seen by him and to experience his presence."
"When we contemplate him present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, Christ draws near to us
and becomes more intimate to us than we are to ourselves. He grants us a share
in his divine life in a transforming union and, in the Spirit, he gives us
access to the Father, as he himself said to Philip: 'He who has seen me
has seen the Father' (Jn. 14:9). Contemplation, which is also a Communion of
desire, intimately associates us with Christ, and in a very special way associates
those who are prevented from receiving it."
"Remaining in silence before the Blessed Sacrament, it is Christ totally and
really present whom we discover, whom we adore and with whom we are in contact."
"Closeness to Christ in silence and contemplation
does not distance us from our contemporaries but, on the contrary, makes us
attentive and open to human joy and distress and broadens our heart on a global
scale. It unites us with our brothers and sisters in humanity and particularly
with children, who are the Lord's dearly beloved."
"Through adoration, the Christian
mysteriously contributes to the radical transformation of the world and to the
sowing of the Gospel. Anyone who prays to the Savior draws the whole world
with him and raises it to God. Those who stand before the Lord are therefore
fulfilling an eminent service. They are presenting to Christ all those who do
not know him or are far from him: they keep watch in his presence on their
behalf."
"I...encourage Christians regularly to
visit Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, for we are all
called to abide in the presence of God, thanks to him who is with us until
the end of time. In contemplation, Christians will perceive ever more profoundly
that the paschal mystery is at the heart of all Christian life. This practice
leads them to join more intensely in the paschal mystery..."
"I urge priests, religious and lay people
to continue and redouble their efforts to teach the younger generations the
meaning and value of Eucharistic adoration and devotion. How will young people
be able to know the Lord if they are not introduced to the mystery of his presence?"
1997
Sept. 27, 1997 - Pope John Paul II Speech to Young
People Of Bologna, during Pastoral Visit to Bologna Italy, on the occasion
of the 23rd Italian National Eucharistic Conference (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"In a short time, when it is the dead of night, the music and singing
will give way to silent adoration of the Eucharist. The music and singing
will be replaced with silence and prayer. Our eyes and hearts will be fixed
on the Eucharist. Let Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament speak to
your hearts. It is he who is the true answer of life that you seek."
1998
May 24, 1998 - Pope John Paul II Speech during Pastoral Visit
to Vercelli and Turin Italy (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"Our age needs to rediscover the fruitfulness of silence, in order to overcome the dissipation
of sounds, images and chatter that too often prevent the voice of God from being heard."
1999
Jan. 27, 1999 - Pope John Paul II Homily (Trans World Dome, St. Lous, Missouri) (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"In the Mass and in Eucharistic Adoration we meet the merciful love of God that passes through
the Heart of Jesus Christ."
Mar. 14, 1999 - Pope John Paul II Letter to
Priests for Holy Thursday 1999 (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"IThe Mass opens up a wide variety of possibilities for a sound pedagogy
of the spirit. One of these is Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, which is
a natural prolongation of the Eucharistic celebration. Through Adoration,
the faithful can enjoy a particular experience of “abiding” in the love of
Christ (cf. Jn 15:9), entering ever more deeply into his filial relationship
with the Father."
2000
April 20, 2000 - Pope John Paul II Letter to
Priests for Holy Thursday 2000 (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"May we dwell long and often in adoration before Christ in the Eucharist. May we sit at the
'school' of the Eucharist."
2001
Jan. 6, 2001 - Pope John Paul II Apostolic Letter "Novo Millennio Ineunte"
at the close of the great Jubilee Year 2000 (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"Yes, dear brothers and sisters, our Christian
communities must become genuine “schools” of prayer, where the meeting with
Christ is expressed not just in imploring help but also in thanksgiving,
praise, adoration, contemplation, listening and ardent devotion, until the
heart truly “falls in love”. Intense prayer, yes, but it does not distract
us from our commitment to history: by opening our heart to the love of God
it also opens it to the love of our brothers and sisters, and makes us
capable of shaping history according to God’s plan."
July 6, 2001 - Pope John Paul II Speech to the
Sisters Adorers Of The Blessed Sacrament (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"The specific charism that distinguishes your presence in the Church, as
entrusted to you by your Founder is to adore "the Most Blessed Sacrament
with the most ardent love" and to draw "from it the flame of charity towards
your neighbour". This is not only a spiritual guideline but a precise
program of life. In the Eucharist the Christian reaches the most complete
spiritual intimacy with the Lord of life and with His help, is elevated to
the contemplation of love in the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity."
"What contentment of soul (cf. Lk 9,17) is experienced in the intense hours passed
in adoration before the Lord of history!"
Nov. 23, 2001 - Pope John Paul II Speech to the
Bishops of El Salvador on their "Ad Limina" visit (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"In the life of the Church in your nation, Eucharistic devotion is
widespread. You mention how adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place
in almost all the parishes, especially on Thursdays. I rejoice that this
practice has been kept alive among the faithful, since it proclaims faith in
Christ's real presence in the Eucharist, and it also encourages union with
and trust in the One who promised to stay with his disciples "always, to
the close of the age" (Mt 28,20)."
2002
July 27, 2002 - Pope John Paul II Message to the
Youth Of The XVII World Youth Day (Toronto, Canada July 18-28, 2002) (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"Visit the Lord in that 'heart to heart'
contact that is Eucharistic Adoration. Day after day, you will receive new
energy to help you to bring comfort to the suffering and peace to the world.
Many people are wounded by life: they are excluded from economic progress,
and are without a home, a family, a job; there are people who are lost in a
world of false illusions, or have abandoned all hope. By contemplating the
light radiant on the face of the Risen Christ, you will learn to live as
'children of the light and children of the day' (1 Th 5:5), and in this way
you will show that 'the fruit of light is found in all that is good and
right and true' (Eph 5:9)."
2003
April 17, 2003 - Pope John Paul II Encyclical "Ecclesia De Eucharistia"
on the Eucharist and its relationship to the Church (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"It is the responsibility of Pastors to encourage, also by their personal
witness, the practice of Eucharistic adoration."
"Adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament is … an important daily practice and becomes an
inexhaustible source of holiness … It is pleasant to spend time with
(Christ), to lie close to His breast like the Beloved Disciple and to feel
the infinite love present in His Heart."
"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?"
"The Eucharist is a priceless treasure: by not only
celebrating it but also by praying before it outside of Mass we are enabled
to make contact with the very wellspring of grace."
2004
April 19, 2004 - Pope John Paul II Message for
World Mission Sunday 2004 (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"To live the Eucharist it is necessary, as well, to spend much time in
adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament, something which I myself
experience every day drawing from it strength, consolation and assistance
(cfr Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 25)."
"To evangelise the world there is need of apostles
who are "experts" in the celebration, adoration and contemplation of the
Eucharist."
May 2, 2004 - Pope John Paul II Message for the 41st World Day Of
Prayer For Vocations (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"It is good that adoration of the Blessed Sacrament goes hand-in-hand
with the Eucharistic Celebration, thus prolonging, in a certain sense, the
mystery of the Holy Mass."
Oct. 7, 2004 - Pope John Paul II Apostolic Letter "Mane Nobiscum Domine"
for the Year Of The Eucharist (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"There is a particular need to cultivate a lively
awareness of Christ's real presence, both in the celebration of Mass and
in the worship of the Eucharist outside Mass. Care should be taken to show
that awareness through tone of voice, gestures, posture and bearing. In this
regard, liturgical law recalls - and I myself have recently reaffirmed - the
importance of moments of silence both in the celebration of Mass and in
Eucharistic adoration. The way that the ministers and the faithful treat the
Eucharist should be marked by profound respect. The presence of Jesus in the
tabernacle must be a kind of magnetic pole attracting an ever greater
number of souls enamoured of him, ready to wait patiently to hear his voice
and, as it were, to sense the beating of his heart. “O taste and see that
the Lord is good!” (Ps 34:8)."
"Let us take the time to kneel before
Jesus present in the Eucharist, in order to make reparation by our faith and
love for the acts of carelessness and neglect, and even the insults which
our Saviour must endure in many parts of the world. Let us deepen through
adoration our personal and communal contemplation, drawing upon aids to
prayer inspired by the word of God and the experience of so many mystics,
old and new."
Dec. 24, 2004 - Pope John Paul II Homily at Midnight Mass (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
"In Bethehem was born the One who, under the sign of broken bread, would
leave us the memorial of his Pasch. On this Holy Night, adoration of the
Child Jesus becomes Eucharistic adoration."
2005
Mar. 13, 2005 - Pope John Paul II Letter to
Priests for Holy Thursday 2005 (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
6. "...rediscover those saints who were vigorous
proponents of Eucharistic devotion (cf. Mane
Nobiscum Domine, 31). Many beatified and canonized priests have given
exemplary testimony in this regard, enkindling fervour among the faithful
present at their celebrations of Mass. Many of them were known for their
prolonged Eucharistic adoration. To place ourselves before Jesus in the
Eucharist, to take advantage of our "moments of solitude" and to fill them
with this Presence, is to enliven our consecration by our personal
relationship with Christ, from whom our life derives its joy and its meaning."
Mar. 15, 2005 - Pope John Paul II Message to the
Young People Of Rome And Lazio gathered for Eucharist Adoration (Basilica Of
St, John Lateran) (Source: Vatican website –
www.vatican.va)
2. "Let us raise our eyes to Jesus in the Eucharist;
let us contemplate him and repeat to him together these words written by St
Thomas Aquinas that express all our faith and love: 'Devoutly I adore you,
hidden Deity, under these appearances concealed.'."
2. "We adore you, Jesus, and we thank you, for you make
truly present in the Eucharist the mystery of that unique gift you offered
to the Father 2,000 years ago with your sacrifice on the Cross, a sacrifice
that redeemed the whole of humanity and all creation."
3. "We adore you, Jesus in the Eucharist! We worship
your Body and your Blood, given for us so that our sins might be forgiven:
O Sacrament of the new and eternal Covenant!"
3. "Help us, Jesus, to understand that in order "to do"
in your Church, also in the field of the new evangelization that is so
urgently needed, we must first learn "to be", that is, to stay with you, in
your sweet company, in adoration. Authentic, effective and true apostolic
action can only come from intimate communion with you."
Other Pope John Paul II Eucharistic Adoration Quotes
"The spiritual lives of our families are strengthened through our Holy Hour."
"The love of God
and neighbor, the greatest commandment, is expressed in, and the fruit of,
Eucharistic worship."
"Places cannot
but be praised and held up for imitation that promote the practice of
Perpetual (Eucharistic) Adoration."
"In the intimacy of the tabernacle, the values that must reign in homes will
receive new strength to make the family a meeting place with God, a center
that radiates faith, a school of Christian life."
"From this moment on, live the Eucharist fully, be persons for whom the
Holy Mass, Communion, and Eucharistic adoration are the center and summit of
their whole life."
"Continue on this journey of adoration, bringing into the sight of Jesus
Christ, the anxieties, hopes, toils, and even the sins of humanity."
"Your faith will help you realize that it is Jesus Himself Who is present in
the Blessed Sacrament, waiting for you and calling you to spend one special
specific hour with Him each week."
