Do the Orthodox believe in Eucharistic Adoration???

[aidanbradypop]

I’m sure the practice Eucharistic adoration. So do lutherans. I suspect, however, that they may not reserve the sacrament in the way Catholics do, since (I believe) they mix the body and blood together for reception. I’m sure our Orthodox friends will correct me if I’m wrong.

Jon

Not all Lutherans do. Some sects of Lutheranism look at me like I am crazy when I invite them to Adoration lol

I do not think it was a necessary devotion for the East since the Eastern Christian does spend more time in Church than let us the average Catholic. Since the Catholic Mass is far more shorter than any Divine Liturgy (I have been attending Orthodox Coptic services to help the local Coptics to celebrate and theirs is way more longer than the Orthodox Church I attend) adoration was brought up to give the Catholc the extra time he or she needs while spending it with God.

My friend’s brother is a Eastern Catholic Priest of the Maronite Rite. They practice, or at least his parish, Eucharist Adoration. I guess it just depends on the Rite.

 

[JonNC]

=aidanbradypop;10281555]Not all Lutherans do. Some sects of Lutheranism look at me like I am crazy when I invite them to Adoration lol

Just like the picture in a previous post, I was making a distinction between Eucharistic Adoration inside and oustide the sacramental act. While most Lutherans do not display the reserved sacrament for the purpose of adoration, Lutherans certainly practice adoration during the sacramental act - most Lutherans kneel to receive, which is an act of adoration.

Jon

 

[chimo]

Sure, but that kind of misses my point (perhaps I did not express myself clearly; my apologies). When I read about how such-and-such a practice that is not a part of Orthodoxy will help Orthodox Christians, my first question is “help us do what?” I don’t mean that in a flippant way – only to say that I don’t see Eucharistic Adoration as anything needed to help us adore the Eucharist. We don’t need help to do that. We already do that without adopting foreign practices.

How does this differ from the practice of your church?

I believe at my Orthodox Church we have only one reading before the Gospels not three readings as do the Coptics. The Coptic Church does give a lot more readings so that someone will know of Acts, or one of Paul’s letters or one of the general Catholc epistles all in one service. Regarding Adoration I do not think we are adoring the Eucharist but rather we are there in the Presence of our Lord in such a manner for Him to be seen by those who are there. It is a more personal type of devotion and it is not regulated by any Lturgical settings. You come into a room with the Lord present on the Altar or a shelf and you contemplate Him, talk to Him (in silence for you are not there to disturg the other guests), pray to Him, make requests to Him and so on. It is the same as you do if you are at home when you take the time o be with the Lord. The only difference here is the surroundings which convey the Lord who is right in front of you. Adorartion tends to be located in a chosen room where the comforts of a home can be in place. I have attended often to this type of scenery and it has given to me many graces.

 

[chimo]

Not all Lutherans do. Some sects of Lutheranism look at me like I am crazy when I invite them to Adoration lol

My friend’s brother is a Eastern Catholic Priest of the Maronite Rite. They practice, or at least his parish, Eucharist Adoration. I guess it just depends on the Rite.

I think the difficulty of my rite is the type of bread uses for Communion. I do believe and you can correct me on this that the Maronite rite uses the same bread as do the Latin rite which makes it easier for Adoration. If the Orthodox ever practice Adoration in the future it will be by use of the type of bread the Latin rite uses.

 

[ffg]

Interesting thread.

Upon seeing the question, I figured the answer would be ‘yes’ simply because of the shared belief in ‘what’ the Eucharist is, however in seeing the responses, I can see where ‘how’ the Eucharist is used can make way for a ‘no’.

Obviously, the Adoration is focussing on the ‘what’. I would say I don’t see it as a ‘wrong’, or a ‘not intended’ since the ‘how’ is not up in the air, it will be eaten.

 

[Nine_Two]

I believe at my Orthodox Church we have only one reading before the Gospels not three readings as do the Coptics. The Coptic Church does give a lot more readings so that someone will know of Acts, or one of Paul’s letters or one of the general Catholc epistles all in one service. Regarding Adoration I do not think we are adoring the Eucharist but rather we are there in the Presence of our Lord in such a manner for Him to be seen by those who are there. It is a more personal type of devotion and it is not regulated by any Lturgical settings. You come into a room with the Lord present on the Altar or a shelf and you contemplate Him, talk to Him (in silence for you are not there to disturg the other guests), pray to Him, make requests to Him and so on. It is the same as you do if you are at home when you take the time o be with the Lord. The only difference here is the surroundings which convey the Lord who is right in front of you. Adorartion tends to be located in a chosen room where the comforts of a home can be in place. I have attended often to this type of scenery and it has given to me many graces.

Multiple epistle readings aren’t uncommon, but there is no pause. The reader reads the introduction for the first one and upon finishing immediately begins on the second without stopping. Unless you know there is a second reading you probably won’t notice.

 

[andrewstx]

I think the difficulty of my rite is the type of bread uses for Communion. I do believe and you can correct me on this that the Maronite rite uses the same bread as do the Latin rite which makes it easier for Adoration. If the Orthodox ever practice Adoration in the future it will be by use of the type of bread the Latin rite uses.

Not at all. For reservation the Lamb is dried out with heat, it will last as long as unleavened hosts.

 

[ComeHome2Rome]

Interesting thread.

Upon seeing the question, I figured the answer would be ‘yes’ simply because of the shared belief in ‘what’ the Eucharist is, however in seeing the responses, I can see where ‘how’ the Eucharist is used can make way for a ‘no’.

Obviously, the Adoration is focussing on the ‘what’. I would say I don’t see it as a ‘wrong’, or a ‘not intended’ since the ‘how’ is not up in the air, it will be eaten.

In Perpetual Adoration, the Eucharist is not consumed by the Adorers. Maybe it is after a Benediction?

Jesus said for us to eat His Body & drink His Blood to life everlasting. I will grant that sitting in front of, but not consuming the Eucharist is more beneficial than sitting in front of, but not consuming vegetables. But that is still not the purpose Jesus gave us, the purpose of the Eucharist is to be eaten. It’s through eating the Eucharist that our bodies and souls are intended to be nourishment.

 

[Reuben_J]

I would say Eucharistic Adoration is just a devotion and a very profitable one at that. It is not meant to replace the Holy Communion. Since Jesus is really present in the Sacrament some people feel that they can adore and worship him there. It’s like making use of the Eucharist for a good purpose to a deeper way of prayer.

 

[Formosus]

Eucharistic adoration in the West developed in the middle of the medieval period after there was widespread dispute on the nature of the Eucharist. This caused the west to have to define the doctrine of the Eucharist more specifically and thus lead to more devotions towards the Eucharist in particular as a way to combat heresy. In the east, no one really questioned what the Eucharist was. It is Christ’s Body and Blood. No heresy developed around it, and so we just continued doing what we always did. Receiving the Body and Blood in the Divine Liturgy as the highest act of worship. As an Eastern Catholic, I have no qualms going to Eucharistic Adoration at a Latin parish, but I would be disappointed and upset if my parish or any other Byzantine Catholic parish hosted Eucharistic Adoration.

 

[Aramis]

Title says it all

During Bright Week, all byzantines, Catholic or Orthodox are supposed to have the royal doors open, so that all may pray before the tabernacle.

The Byzantine rite, as a norm, does not use monstrances, nor reveal the body and blood to the eyes during this time. Almost all the Eastern Orthodox are Byzantine Rite. (A few are roman rite.)

Some latinized Byzantine Catholic parishes have used Roman monstrances with a scored but unbroken lamb, but that’s alien to the Orthodox.

Note that the Latin Rite Orthodox parishes do not use unleavened bread, but hosts in a roman style made with leaven.

 

[ffg]

In Perpetual Adoration, the Eucharist is not consumed by the Adorers. Maybe it is after a Benediction?

Jesus said for us to eat His Body & drink His Blood to life everlasting. I will grant that sitting in front of, but not consuming the Eucharist is more beneficial than sitting in front of, but not consuming vegetables. But that is still not the purpose Jesus gave us, the purpose of the Eucharist is to be eaten. It’s through eating the Eucharist that our bodies and souls are intended to be nourishment.

Thanks for the response, a couple thoughts…

The Sacrament of communion is obviously practiced (Mass).

If your concern is with the one host in the monstrance, what is the difference between the Monstrance and the Tabernacle?

Both are in a Church or Chapel, both hold the consecrated Hosts.

There are miracles associated with the Hosts that have been held in a Monstrance, (obviously, as well as other locations where a Host has been, hand, tongue, altar, etc.)

So to say it is a ‘wrong’ or ‘not intended’ would be to say they are all fake or God is not doing what he intends?

I don’t think the correct action after a Eucharistic miracle is to eat it.

Just have to google (bing) Monstrance Miracles.

 

[normbetland]

As A Catholic, I participate in Exposition, which is specifically Adoration of the Eucharist exposed in a monstrance. However, I do often question the practice. The only reason I do this is because of the fact that Jesus’ command in regards to the Eucharist is to take and eat and take and drink. Nothing more, nothing less. I’m not saying that its a bad thing as I have spent many fruitful hours before the Sacred Host, but I do question whether it is a practice that we should retain in perpetuity.

Then again I suppose that if you read the Bread of Life discourse and Last Supper narratives more deeply, can you may find under currents that propose that the Eucharist is indeed worthy of devotions outside of Holy Communion.

Perhaps the topic of this thread is better addressed as a new thread as the main question of the thread has been answered.

 

[chimo]

Not at all. For reservation the Lamb is dried out with heat, it will last as long as unleavened hosts.

I know what the Orthodox consecrated bread is like. What I was referring to is the easiness and simplicity of what consecrated bread the Church of Rome uses. It is more adapted to this form of devotion. You have to experience it to understand it better. Even in parishes of the Antiochian Church in North America which are of the Western rite have this possibility by which Adoration can be a possibilty. Some of these parishes probably have Benediction services which are a Liturgical form of Adoration.

Since the Consecrated bread in the Western form is more simplified and enjoys a symbol printed on it, the exposition of such a presence of the Lord in my opinion can be an alternative if Eastern Christians decide to use it. In my parish the priest will offer these type of communion wafers (western rite) for those who are not use of the Eastern practice. Since Jesus can be present in either case the priest doesn’t see it as a problem to give out Jesus to particular parioshioners if they request it.

The approaches of both Churches are been better understood today by many and with this understanding we may see the use of both types of breads in both our Churches.

 

[acseawell]

I’m sure the practice Eucharistic adoration. So do lutherans. I suspect, however, that they may not reserve the sacrament in the way Catholics do, since (I believe) they mix the body and blood together for reception. I’m sure our Orthodox friends will correct me if I’m wrong.

Jon

The Eastern churches DO practice eucharistic adoradion. There is NO body and blood in any protestant church, so there is nothing to adore.

 

[Hasire]

The Eastern churches DO practice eucharistic adoradion. There is NO body and blood in any protestant church, so there is nothing to adore.

Yes, in the Eastern Churches there is eucharistic adoration, not Eucharistic Adoration.

 

[JonNC]

The Eastern churches DO practice eucharistic adoradion. There is NO body and blood in any protestant church, so there is nothing to adore.

Welcome to CAF.
Thanks for the information, though I have heard it rather often here before. Cardinal Ratzinger, interestingly, sheds some light on the subject this way:

I count among the most important results of the ecumenical dialogues the insight that the issue of the eucharist cannot be narrowed to the problem of ‘validity.’ Even a theology oriented to the concept of succession, such as that which holds in the Catholic and in the Orthodox church, need not in any way deny the salvation-granting presence of the Lord in a Lutheran Lord’s Supper.

However, as much as I appreciate the good Cardinal’s learned words, we don’t necessarily need them to know that we do have the Eucharist, and we do practice eucharistic adoration.
And I promise, I will never deny that you have it, too.
Jon