What to do during Adoration?

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I want to start going to Adoration at a church by me, but I’m not sure what to do exactly. I know you can say the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, but I would like to know of some other prayers/devotions that people do during Adoration. Any suggestions? Thanks so much in advance for any responses!
 
There are many wonderful things one can do while in the presence of our Lord and Savior. In addition to the prayers that you mentioned, Liturgy of the Hours and Stations of the Cross. Reading the Bible is always a good activity. And best of all, just spending time with Jesus.

DGB
 
kmcbridehp said:
I want to start going to Adoration at a church by me, but I’m not sure what to do exactly. I know you can say the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, but I would like to know of some other prayers/devotions that people do during Adoration. Any suggestions? Thanks so much in advance for any responses!
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  1. The* worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass* is of inestimable value for the life of the Church. This worship is strictly linked to the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The presence of Christ under the sacred species reserved after Mass – a presence which lasts as long as the species of bread and of wine remain 45 – derives from the celebration of the sacrifice and is directed towards communion, both sacramental and spiritual.46 It is the responsibility of Pastors to encourage, also by their personal witness, the practice of Eucharistic adoration, and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in particular, as well as prayer of adoration before Christ present under the Eucharistic species.47
    It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf.* Jn* 13:25) 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”,48 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? How often, dear brother and sisters, have I experienced this, and drawn from it strength, consolation and support!
vatican.va/holy_father/special_features/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_20030417_ecclesia_eucharistia_en.html
 
I have prayed the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, read Scripture, general prayer, sang (when alone). I have seen others reading inspirational books, writing in a journal and contemplating.

There are many books available with suggestions, or to meditate on while at Adoration.
 
One thing I greatly enjoy is doing Lectio Divina, as it seems to take exactly an hour.
 
I am a long-time weekly adorer. Here’s some of what I do (not all in a single session :eek:, unless I’m planning to be there a while—I have stayed at Adoration all night a couple of times).

You can sit there and just gaze at the Blessed Sacrament. I have often been amazed at what comes to me in the silence.

Spiritual journaling. In the past I had done this both during and outside of Adoration, then I stopped (long story) and have only recently started again. It helps me prepare for my monthly spiritual direction meetings. Be sure to use a pen that doesn’t make noise when you write or you might annoy other people.

Spiritual reading, particularly but by no means limited to works about the Eucharist such as Cardinal Burke’s Divine Love Made Flesh. The Bible is always a good choice too! There are also a few books designed to be used during Adoration—my personal favorite is published by the Catholic Truth SocietyEucharistic Adoration: Prayers, Meditations and Devotions.

Meditation. Many resources exist, but one I’ve found easy to use is the CTS’s small folded card entitled A Quarter Hour Before the Blessed Sacrament. It contains texts to help the adorer reflect during Adoration. These texts can also be used during longer periods of Adoration, so don’t let the 15-minute aspect put you off.

Examination of conscience. Particularly helpful if you will be confessing soon, perhaps even during Adoration (confession is available during all Adoration times in my parish), but always beneficial even if a confession isn’t immediately in view.

Liturgy of the Hours (prayed silently, of course).

Stations of the Cross (prayed silently, of course).

The possibilities are legion. Hope you find the right devotion(s) for you. 🙂
 
I’ve been to Adoration once and it was right after I was received into the church. I didn’t know I was going to adoration and didn’t known what to do. I was like, “hey Jesus. I don’t know what to do.” And just sat there really uncomfortable. And I’ve never went back because it kind of embarrassed me.

I’m following this just to learn what to do! 😊:o
 
I am a weekly Adorer, too, though fairly new to it. I knew that signing up was the only way I would actually commit to going every week.

I usually do spiritual reading and pray the Rosary. I usually try to spend at least a little time just sitting and looking at Jesus, but I still find myself going over my grocery list in my head. :o I’m not sure how to get past that. I use “busy-ness” as a crutch and unfortunately that spills over into my prayer life.

There have been a couple times, though, where I have wanted to prostrate myself on the floor and cry. :confused: I never have because I’ve never been in the room by myself, plus there’s a camera in our chapel. So that would be…awkward.
KendraDZ1902 said:
I’ve been to Adoration once and it was right after I was received into the church. I didn’t know I was going to adoration and didn’t known what to do. I was like, **“hey Jesus. I don’t know what to do.” And just sat there really uncomfortable. **And I’ve never went back because it kind of embarrassed me.

I’m following this just to learn what to do! 😊:o
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Yup. I know that feeling. “So Jesus, uh…now what?” 😊
 
pensmama87 said:
There have been a couple times, though, where I have wanted to prostrate myself on the floor and cry. :confused: I never have because I’ve never been in the room by myself, plus there’s a camera in our chapel. So that would be…awkward.
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I have done this on a couple of occasions, once in the presence of 25 other people (including my pastor). No one blinked or brought it up with me afterward. It can be difficult or even impossible to predict how a given Adoration period will affect a person; apparently the regular adorers in the parish understand that and that’s why they don’t react to anything. YMMV, though.

Perhaps you would find it spiritually significant to abandon yourself to the desire to prostrate yourself and cry, despite the presence of the camera and other adorers. Who knows what the Lord might be trying to tell you through your tears? 🙂
 
There are going to be as many answers here as there are posters, I suspect.

I have been going for about 10 years now. Our Parish offers 24/7 adoration. I chose the middle of the night times, as that is a challenge and requires a sacrifice on my part. Sometimes, I’m the only one there for that particular hour, sometimes several people are there, and occasionally, I have been there 3 or so hours when the next person hasn’t shown up.

There are several things I have done.
  1. Just sit there and be in Christ’s presence.
  2. Prayer for general things, family, friends, thanksgiving, adoration.
  3. Bible reading. Sometimes I’ll just pickup the Bible, and read what the Spirit directs. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been surprised by how, later in the week, those readings, which I had not previously planned, become uniquely relevant.
  4. Combination of 2 and3. Maybe pray for 20 minutes, then 40 or so reading.
  5. Pray for discernment. In 2008, I almost passed away, and the answer, and my health came as a result of many visits to Adoration. The answer was unusual, and not what I expected, but my health has taught me to unqualifingly trust God. Period.
  6. I have seen people come in and simply fall asleep.
  7. I have people come in, pray for a few minutes, and leave. Then, come back a half hour later and stay.
  8. I have seen those prostrate on the ground.
  9. I have seen those crying.
  10. I have seem people talking through a difficult problem (children, marriage, etc) and doing so in His presence.
There are no particular rules, other than, of course, reverence for His presence.

Blessings,
Stephie
 
DoGodsBidding said:
There are many wonderful things one can do while in the presence of our Lord and Savior. In addition to the prayers that you mentioned, Liturgy of the Hours and Stations of the Cross. Reading the Bible is always a good activity. And best of all, just spending time with Jesus.

DGB
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👍
 
You can simply speak to him as one friend speaks to another.

Tell him about your day. Your joys. Your struggles. Your heartaches. Everything and anything that comes to mind.

He is God. Praise him and thank him. Ask him for help for yourself in various ways and for others. Tell him the Graces you need.

Things like this.

You are going before the King of Kings.

Perhaps, most important of all, you could just sit, be quiet, and listen. Our Lord told Faustina that he didn’t like it when we never stop talking to simply listen to him.
 
One prayer that I love very much that you might enjoy during Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is the Litany of the Saved Heart of Jesus. It is a beautiful prayer that really captures the essence of Jesus’ Divine Love for us, which pours forth from His Most Sacred Heart.

May God bless you all! 🙂
 
I pray the Liturgy of the Hours for that time (for me, I pray both the Evening prayer and Night prayer as I usually have a late evening hour then go home and go to bed). This takes about 1/2 hour for me depending on the readings and how many ribbons I’m dealing with :D, then Once around the Rosary, and then once again around the beads for the Divine Mercy Chaplet and that takes me about another 1/2 hour and I usually find myself another ten or twenty minutes over as I’m not in a hurry with any of this.

I believe that there a plenary indulgence under the normal form for this as well…

I have a very nice (but now out of print) Pauline version of the Book of Christian Prayer (aka: Breviary) that I take with me and you should be able to find a similar one in any Catholic bookstore…
Online I prefer this site divineoffice.org/ among others… they also have an app for the ipad/android which will download the day’s (week’s) readings.

I personally have been using the iBreviary app (googleplay link) on the ipad/phone… a Monsignor that is a close friend of a close friend was over and when we first got the iPad he noticed that I also had my Breviary and he showed us this app on his phone. He said that since he downloaded the app he hasn’t dragged the books out for personal readings since! I really like this version, it loads quickly, has the LOH and quite a few other texts, good layout…
 
Enjoy the silence.

Too much noise in this world, we can’t hear God very well through all the distractions.

It’s perfectly ok just to be there, but do meditate on The Lord - otherwise why be there? I consider it time set aside to spend personally with Jesus. He is there - what would you ask or tell Him?

Reading the Bible is also very good. Especially the The Gospels, The very Word of God.
 
I always pray the rosary, but if I’m going to be there for a lengthy time, I’ll bring some spiritual reading along, and let Jesus lead me, and highlight important things. My favourites are St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary and The School of Jesus Crucified by Passionist Father Ignatius of the Side of Jesus. But, there have been times where I have just sat/knelt and considered the fact that I am literally at the feet of Jesus.
 
UpUpAndAway said:
I am a long-time weekly adorer. Here’s some of what I do (not all in a single session :eek:, unless I’m planning to be there a while—I have stayed at Adoration all night a couple of times).

You can sit there and just gaze at the Blessed Sacrament. I have often been amazed at what comes to me in the silence.

Spiritual journaling. In the past I had done this both during and outside of Adoration, then I stopped (long story) and have only recently started again. It helps me prepare for my monthly spiritual direction meetings. Be sure to use a pen that doesn’t make noise when you write or you might annoy other people.

Spiritual reading, particularly but by no means limited to works about the Eucharist such as Cardinal Burke’s Divine Love Made Flesh. The Bible is always a good choice too! There are also a few books designed to be used during Adoration—my personal favorite is Eucharistic Adoration: Prayers, Meditations and Devotions published by the Catholic Truth Society.

Meditation. Many resources exist, but one I’ve found easy to use is the CTS’s small folded card entitled A Quarter Hour Before the Blessed Sacrament. It contains texts to help the adorer reflect during Adoration. These texts can also be used during longer periods of Adoration, so don’t let the 15-minute aspect put you off.

Examination of conscience. Particularly helpful if you will be confessing soon, perhaps even during Adoration (confession is available during all Adoration times in my parish), but always beneficial even if a confession isn’t immediately in view.

Liturgy of the Hours (prayed silently, of course).

Stations of the Cross (prayed silently, of course).

The possibilities are legion. Hope you find the right devotion(s) for you. 🙂
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👍 Marvelous!
 
I too was nervous about what I should “DO” during Adoration and thankfully our DRE who got this started in our Parish said…don’t DO just BE. This is hard for me as a Martha type person, always on the move. She said bring something to read but to begin with just sit or kneel and gaze upon Jesus, try to clear your mind and focus on Him. Listen…hard for me but as one post said we are so used to relentless noise all around that it’s almost unnerving to sit in complete silence, with little light and not have to be doing something specific.

The first time I went, I was armed with a Rosary, a spiritual book and a journal. I started as suggested just gazing upon Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and chased away distracting thoughts as they popped up. Long story short the hour was over so quickly I never got to the Rosary or reading! Since then I allocate two hours spending the first hour “just being” and the second hour reading and journaling or saying the Rosary.

Again dont’ worry about doing anything…just BE and be blessed!
 
LisaA said:
I too was nervous about what I should “DO” during Adoration and thankfully our DRE who got this started in our Parish said…don’t DO just BE. This is hard for me as a Martha type person, always on the move. She said bring something to read but to begin with just sit or kneel and gaze upon Jesus, try to clear your mind and focus on Him. Listen…hard for me but as one post said we are so used to relentless noise all around that it’s almost unnerving to sit in complete silence, with little light and not have to be doing something specific.

The first time I went, I was armed with a Rosary, a spiritual book and a journal. I started as suggested just gazing upon Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and chased away distracting thoughts as they popped up. Long story short the hour was over so quickly I never got to the Rosary or reading! Since then I allocate two hours spending the first hour “just being” and the second hour reading and journaling or saying the Rosary.

Again dont’ worry about doing anything…just BE and be blessed!
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My time in Adoration is late Friday night/early Saturday morning. It truly is so peaceful and restful being with Jesus. It is easy to spend hours with Him.

DGB
 
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