History of Eucharistic Adoration?

[CastillianRose]

Hello! Could someone please direct me to a book/ website where I could read about the history of Eucharistic Adoration - how it came about, what doctrines were used to confirm it as a valid practice, etc.? I know it to be a very profitable spiritual exercise, but was looking for some scriptural/historical confirmation to explain it to fellow Orthodox Christians.

 

[Vico]

Begin here:

ewtn.com/library/homelibr/historea.txt

 

[Mountain_King]

Oh wow. That’s really helpful. I’ve been looking for this kind of info lately!

 

[ciero]

Hello! Could someone please direct me to a book/ website where I could read about the history of Eucharistic Adoration - how it came about, what doctrines were used to confirm it as a valid practice, etc.? I know it to be a very profitable spiritual exercise, but was looking for some scriptural/historical confirmation to explain it to fellow Orthodox Christians.

We Orthodox and Eastern Catholics do not practice Eucharistic Adoration as in the Latin church.

 

[zab]

http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/pea/a2.html

 

[thomas_jd]

We Orthodox and Eastern Catholics do not practice Eucharistic Adoration as in the Latin church.

Interesting!..St. Basil is the first to divide the consecrated bread into three pieces.
One he consumed: One he gave to the monks: One he suspended over the altar.

 

[ciero]

Interesting!..St. Basil is the first to divide the consecrated bread into three pieces.
One he consumed: One he gave to the monks: One he suspended over the altar.

Correct! The Eucharist is reserved in the Eastern churches…just not used for benediction outside of Divine Liturgy or is the Eucharist exposed for adoration.

 

[CastillianRose]

We Orthodox and Eastern Catholics do not practice Eucharistic Adoration as in the Latin church.

But there are no theological or doctrinal reasons for not practicing adoration, correct? Technically, any service held in an Orthodox or EC church which is not the Divine Liturgy (such as an all-night vigil, akathist, etc.) could be classified as adoration in the broader sense of the word since the service is held in the presence of the Lord in the preserved Eucharist on the altar. Yes, no?

 

[TimothyH]

Brant Pitre, in his book “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist” points out the following passage:

***Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded. Keep a full omer of it for your future generations, so that they may see the food *I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt." Moses then told Aaron, “Take a jar” and put a full omer of manna in it. Then place it before the LORD to keep it for your future generations.” As the LORD had commanded Moses, Aaron placed it in front of the covenant to keep it. (Exodus 16:32-34)

He goes on to point out that the while manna was intended to be eaten, the main purpose of reserving an omer of manna in a jar was so that future generations “May see the food.” I find the connection fascinating.

The author also recounts how the “Bread of the Presence of God” or the “Showbread” was exposed for viewing and veneration. The “Bread of the Presence” consisted of twelve loaves which were baked weekly and placed on a golden table in the Holy Place, next to the Holy of Holies in the Temple. Jewish belief was that the Messiah would bring back the manna - bread from heaven - which God gave the Israelites in the desert. The twelve loaves of showbread in the Holy Place were a visible reminder to the Jews of not only the manna which they had eaten in the past, but a visible sign of God’s promise that they would eat manna again in the future when the Messiah came.

Three times each year, at the three major Jewish feasts, Jewish men were required to go to the temple in Jerusalem. When the men gathered at the temple…

They [the priests] used to lift it [the golden table] up and exhibit the Bread of the Presence on it to those who came up for the festivals, saying to them, "Behold, God’s love for you!" (Babylonian Talmud, Menahoth 29a)

I got goosebumps the first time I read that. Of this practice, Brant Pitre says, “If this tradition werren’t so well documented, it would be almost unbelievable.” Again, like the manna, the bread of the presence was eaten (by the priests), but it was also removed from it’s usual repose in the Holy Place, exhibited publically, and venerated by the faithful. I try to imagine what it must have been like to be at Solomon’s temple and see that.

I’ll stop short of saying that Eucharistic Adoration is prefigured as far back as Exodus but the information in Dr. Pitre’s book is at a minimum, very intriguing.

-Tim-

 

[Amiciel]

But there are no theological or doctrinal reasons for not practicing adoration, correct? Technically, any service held in an Orthodox or EC church which is not the Divine Liturgy (such as an all-night vigil, akathist, etc.) could be classified as adoration in the broader sense of the word since the service is held in the presence of the Lord in the preserved Eucharist on the altar. Yes, no?

You’re right, CR : There is no theological or doctrinal reason for not practicing adoration; but there are a whole lot of reasons for practicing it.

Eucharistic Adoration is paying homage to Our Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament in a posture of love. It is a kind of prayer that allows us to personally encounter Our Lord Jesus Christ, and eventually, to bring us to a personal relationship with God.

In the Old Testament, Yahweh made Himself known to His Chosen People; and the Chosen People regularly communicated with Him by offering sacrifices for different purposes or ends, i.e., sacrifice of praise, of thanksgiving, of atonement or sin-offering, and petitions.

In the Sacrifice of the Mass, we have the means par excellence of communicating regularly with God. In it, we find the 4 ends of sacrifice: Praise, Thanksgiving, Reparation, Petition.

Pope Benedict XVI writes: "The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself" (Sacramentum Caritatis # 66). Thus, Eucharistic Adoration flows naturally from the Holy Mass and personal prayer before the Blessed Sacrament may be seen as a normal continuation of the Euchristic Celebration.

In his Pastoral Letter of 5/18/2008, Archbishop E. Goulet stated: "Eucharistic Adoration finds its true meaning only if it is linked to the celebration of the Eucharist and is an extension of it."

When we come before the Blessed Sacrament to pay homage to Our Lord, we come as a member of the People of God. Personal prayer has an indispensable value in our spiritual life but we need to be aware that "the personal relationship which the individual believer establishes with Jesus present in the Eucharist, constantly points beyond itself to the whole communion of the Church and nourishes a fuller sense of membership in the Body of Christ" (Sacramentum Caritatis # 68). Eucharistic Adoration, therefore, has a personal and a community dimension.

 

[Amiciel]

You’re right, CR : There is no theological or doctrinal reason for not practicing adoration; but there are a whole lot of reasons for practicing it.

For practical reasons, though, Eucharistic Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament Exposed may not be allowed if a parish cannot guarantee enough Adorers to be present while the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. Or, parishes in this category may be given permission to have EA for a limited number of hours. Security concerns may be another practical reason for limiting EA before the Blessed Sacrament Exposed or not having it at all.

 

[ciero]

For practical reasons, though, Eucharistic Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament Exposed may not be allowed if a parish cannot guarantee enough Adorers to be present while the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. Or, parishes in this category may be given permission to have EA for a limited number of hours. Security concerns may be another practical reason for limiting EA before the Blessed Sacrament Exposed or not having it at all.

A good number of Byzantine Catholic bishops are forbidding the practice of Eucharistic Adoration in there Eparchies, due to the fact that it is NOT part of our tradition…not that there is anything wrong with the practice…just that it is not part of our tradition. In the past when these Latinizations were being done in our parishes they were done at the expense of a Byzantine service. As it is important for the Eastern Churches in communion with Rome to reestablish our own Traditions and Liturgical life it is a great thing that the bishops are discouraging the continuation of Latin services in the Eastern Churches.

 

[thomas_jd]

A good number of Byzantine Catholic bishops are forbidding the practice of Eucharistic Adoration in there Eparchies, due to the fact that it is NOT part of our tradition…not that there is anything wrong with the practice…just that it is not part of our tradition. In the past when these Latinizations were being done in our parishes they were done at the expense of a Byzantine service. As it is important for the Eastern Churches in communion with Rome to reestablish our own Traditions and Liturgical life it is a great thing that the bishops are discouraging the continuation of Latin services in the Eastern Churches.

Perhaps the good bishops should get reacquianted with the great Eastern Doctor of the Church ST. BASIL for a better understanding of Tradition.
As discussed earlier he was the first, that we are aware of, to establish Eucharist Adoration. Perhaps I am missing something from you last post.
Enlighten me please.

 

[ciero]

Perhaps the good bishops should get reacquianted with the great Eastern Doctor of the Church ST. BASIL for a better understanding of Tradition.
As discussed earlier he was the first, that we are aware of, to establish Eucharist Adoration. Perhaps I am missing something from you last post.
Enlighten me please.

Reserving the Eucharist is not always for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, as far as I am aware Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was not done in any of the Apostolic churches prior to the Reformation. Adoration and Benediction were added in at this time to counter the Protastant claims that the Eucharist was just bread and wine.

 

[thomas_jd]

Reserving the Eucharist is not always for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, as far as I am aware Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was not done in any of the Apostolic churches prior to the Reformation. Adoration and Benediction were added in at this time to counter the Protastant claims that the Eucharist was just bread and wine.

Eucharistic Adoration was first recorded in the fourth century. Look to St. Basil, Doctor of the Church. This earliest reference does not necessarily make this a one time issue.The fourth century pedates the revolt by the heritics.
Benediction was first recorded a thousand or so years later. Benediction developed after the monastic community said the last prayers of the evening. It ended the evening service.
Benediction is the Blessing, not to be confused with the act of Adoration.
Adoration is a extension of the Holy Mass. An opportunity to spend time with Our Lord.
This was not done to counter any group but rather a extension born of Love!

 

[MissRose73]

I had no idea about some of these things, but I learned a few things new today.

I do wish more churches had more adoration times, and more places offering perpetual adoration as the closest place to me that offers it is a 30 minute drive for me.