Yet another question about Eastern Catholics and Adoration

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Tis_Bearself

Patron
I have read the past threads on Eastern Catholics and Adoration, and I understand that for many Eastern Catholics (though maybe not all?) Eucharistic Adoration, as practiced by Western Catholics, is
  • not part of the Eastern tradition
  • done instead during part of the Liturgy as opposed to doing it separately in a chapel or a church outside of Liturgy time
My question is, and I apologize if this comes out in any disrespectful way - not intended, I assure you -
for the Eastern Catholics who do not practice Adoration, do you not feel you are missing out on receiving some grace of God by not doing a helpful practice simply because it is not your tradition?

Or do you have other traditions that, for you, accomplish the same result (receiving God’s grace, peace, etc.)

As a Western Catholic, Adoration is a strong part of my tradition and I would feel very lost without it. It also seems like it’s one of the more mystical parts of Western Catholicism, and since the Eastern church emphasizes mysticism, I would think it would fit well, but apparently it doesn’t.

Please note, I am primarily asking about Eastern Catholicism, in communion with Rome here, and not so much Eastern Orthodox which isn’t in communion with Rome.

Please help me to understand this better as I really would like to learn and not trying to say Western is better than Eastern or any of that. It’s just hard for me to imagine life without “visiting Jesus” in the form of the Host.
 
Last edited:
Tis_Bearself said:
My question is, and I apologize if this comes out in any disrespectful way - not intended, I assure you -

for the Eastern Catholics who do not practice Adoration, do you not feel you are missing out on receiving some grace of God by not doing a helpful practice simply because it is not your tradition?
Click to expand...
I don’t.

If I want to sit and pray and be with Jesus, I can sit quietly before the Divine Liturgy, with Jesus in the tabernacle. Our priest encourages us to do this.
Additionally, what greater graces and blessings can be gained than by receiving communion?
 
JRS_831 said:
If I want to sit and pray and be with Jesus, I can sit quietly before the Divine Liturgy, with Jesus in the tabernacle. Our priest encourages us to do this.
Click to expand...
Then you essentially are doing Adoration, and your priest is encouraging it. Western Adoration doesn’t require that the Host be exposed and explicitly teaches we get the same benefit sitting in front of Him in the Tabernacle. As I understand it, the Western reason for also promoting adoration in front of the exposed Host is to bring forward different doctrinal aspects, but it’s not like that way is considered “better” than in the tabernacle.

I thought there were other Eastern Catholics who did not sit in front of Jesus outside of the Liturgy, either in the tabernacle or exposed. That’s more what I was thinking of.
 
Last edited:
Tis_Bearself said:
I have read the past threads on Eastern Catholics and Adoration, and I understand that for many Eastern Catholics (though maybe not all?) Eucharistic Adoration, as practiced by Western Catholics, is
  • not part of the Eastern tradition
  • done instead during part of the Liturgy as opposed to doing it separately in a chapel or a church outside of Liturgy time
My question is, and I apologize if this comes out in any disrespectful way - not intended, I assure you -
for the Eastern Catholics who do not practice Adoration, do you not feel you are missing out on receiving some grace of God by not doing a helpful practice simply because it is not your tradition?

Or do you have other traditions that, for you, accomplish the same result (receiving God’s grace, peace, etc.)

As a Western Catholic, Adoration is a strong part of my tradition and I would feel very lost without it. It also seems like it’s one of the more mystical parts of Western Catholicism, and since the Eastern church emphasizes mysticism, I would think it would fit well, but apparently it doesn’t.

Please note, I am primarily asking about Eastern Catholicism, in communion with Rome here, and not so much Eastern Orthodox which isn’t in communion with Rome.

Please help me to understand this better as I really would like to learn and not trying to say Western is better than Eastern or any of that. It’s just hard for me to imagine life without “visiting Jesus” in the form of the Host.
Click to expand...
The Byzantine Catholic practice of Eucharistic Adoration is in the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts which is celebrated during certain Lenten weekdays and in part of Holy Week (celebrated instead of the Divine Liturgy at those times). In the Divine Liturgy after the confection, the deacon incenses the Precious Body and Blood on three sides of the holy table and the priest prays for the people.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Then you essentially are doing Adoration, and your priest is encouraging it. Western Adoration doesn’t require that the Host be exposed and explicitly teaches we get the same benefit sitting in front of Him in the Tabernacle.
Click to expand...
Well, ok, I guess we see things in a different way. Also seems, that you’re attempting to tell me what I’m doing when I’m praying. You can’t read my mind.

I’ve never heard or seen anything about Western Adoration that did not mean that the Host was exposed.
I don’t know how to respond to this. I don’t consider sitting quietly for a few minutes before the Divine Liturgy adoration.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I thought there were other Eastern Catholics who did not sit in front of Jesus outside of the Liturgy, either in the tabernacle or exposed. That’s more what I was thinking of.
Click to expand...
I will ask my priest why he doesn’t use the word adoration, and will ask why he doesn’t expose Jesus in the Host. I’m pretty sure I know the answer.
I’ve never questioned this before because it is our tradition and that answer was sufficient for me.
 
JRS_831 said:
I will ask my priest why he doesn’t use the word adoration, and will ask why he doesn’t expose Jesus in the Host. I’m pretty sure I know the answer.

I’ve never questioned this before because it is our tradition and that answer was sufficient for me.
Click to expand...
I’m not trying to be a jerk or “tell you what you are praying”. What we call “Adoration” often just consists of us sitting reverently before the Tabernacle, often just looking at it and knowing Jesus is within. “Adoration” is a general word for being reverently in the presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. It can mean saying prayers, or it can mean just reverently being present, sitting there.

It just sounded like a similarity between us is all. If it’s really not similar, then I didn’t mean to offend or put prayers in your mouth so to speak.

If you happen to speak to your priest I’d be interested to know what he says, but don’t feel you have to on my account if you don’t want to.

Peace
 
JRS_831 said:
Additionally, what greater graces and blessings can be gained than by receiving communion?
Click to expand...
Westerners would also put receiving Communion highest on the list for receiving graces and blessings. There’s no question about it.

However, we are encouraged to spend time in the presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist outside of the communion time as well. We are taught that this is spiritually beneficial to us, and also pleasing to God that we spend time with him outside the required Sunday Mass. It is seen as a way of keeping the Lord company, sometimes presented like we are making Jesus feel better when he is all alone during his Passion. We often use the time to engage in some sort of personal way of prayer or meditation or just being with the Lord. Sometimes we can also do this when we are not able to receive Communion for some reason, such as there is no Mass in our area that day, or we have gravely sinned and not yet been able to confess and thus don’t feel we are in a state of grace sufficient to actually receive Communion.

I have also heard some pastors say that they believe having regular Adoration at their church has provided some benefit or blessing to the whole parish community, not just to the individuals visiting Our Lord. For example the parish membership grows, people return to active practice, or diocesan matters work out in the parish’s favor. I don’t know any more about that than what I have heard the pastors say.
 
Last edited:
To my knowledge, some Eastern Rites actually do have Eucharistic Adoration outside Holy Mass like the Maronites. I don’t know if that’s true for all Maronites everywhere though, so someone please correct me if I’m wrong.
 
semper_catholicus said:
To my knowledge, some Eastern Rites actually do have Eucharistic Adoration outside Holy Mass like the Maronites. I don’t know if that’s true for all Maronites everywhere though, so someone please correct me if I’m wrong.
Click to expand...
I’m Maronite. It depends on the individual churches. We’ve never had it at the church I attend. Some priests are more latinized than others, depends on the priest and that’s sad but true. I go back to the early 70’s in my church and we’ve never had it.
Maybe some other Maronites will contribute.

I’d like to hear from any Chaldeans about this subject.

I think I’ll email one of the Sisters I know and get her opinion, and see if she knows what if any kind of official position the Maronite Church has on this subject. To the best of my knowledge it is neither encouraged or discouraged.

I won’t have the time to talk to my priest tomorrow, but I’ll see him in a few days.
 
If by “Adoration” you mean exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, I, as an Easterner, don’t really feel deprived by not having it widely practiced in my tradition. I grew up Roman and served weekly exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. I loved it. I still have a great respect for it, and I won’t avoid going to it when invited.

But if by “Adoration” you mean simply sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament to pray and be before the Lord, this is certainly not a practice that’s discouraged in the East. We’re encouraged, whenever possible, to come and spend time in our churches. Sadly, since most of our churches are in urban and suburban areas (at least here in the U.S., they tend to be locked outside of the time for Liturgy.
 
Phillip_Rolfes said:
Sadly, since most of our churches are in urban and suburban areas (at least here in the U.S., they tend to be locked outside of the time for Liturgy.
Click to expand...
We have the same problem in many areas of USA. When I was a child, you used to be able to “make a visit” to Jesus by just dropping into the church during the day as you passed it doing other errands. The churches were unlocked at least during regular business hours, and people would go in there and pray for a few minutes.

Nowadays, the churches are usually locked outside of Mass hours. 😦 So in some cases the “Adoration chapels”, which are usually some smaller chapel or room located apart from the Church space, are serving the purpose of providing a space for people to come in during the day and pray or be in the presence of Jesus. If the Host is exposed then there needs to be scheduled adorers so that someone will always be with the Host to make sure no one commits any sacrilegious act. This can be a hassle if there aren’t enough people in the parish willing or able to contribute time every week, plus people get sick or go out of town and have to miss their “shift” and then a substitute must be found, etc. If the Host is locked in the tabernacle, they don’t need to have someone there all the time.
 
Last edited:
At our parish there is an exposed host for adoration every Friday. It is done as a kindness to all the ex-roman and still Roman Catholics who are members of the parish (or visitors). Rarely did I ever see an ethnic Maronite attend. When attendance dropped, the priest did threaten to stop the practice. It is in a separate chapel.
 
FatherSebastian said:
Adoration and Benediction developed in the West around the twelve century as a response to a liturgical problem. Most laity were not receiving communion except at First communion, then they would wait until they received it again in the last rites on their death bed. As a result, a number of pious devotions developed to off set this problem. Adoration, Benediction, “Spiritual Communion” all developed as compensations. Eventually, the Roman Church had to make a law at Fourth Lateran (1215), making it obligatory under pain of mortal sin that Roman Catholics receive at least once a year. This became known as the Easter Duty. So, no, we don’t have a para-liturical tradition that developed as a response to a western liturgical problem of lack of reception of communion. If we are missing out on any grace, then all Catholics from the time of the Apostles, all the Fathers, Augustine, Chrysostom, etc., all the way up until the twelfth century were missing out on some Grace. Now does that make any sense?

As a Roman Catholic, what you should be concerned about, regarding missing grace, is why in the world do you excommunicate children from their Baptism until age seven when all Christians for the first thousand years did not? Why do you hold off Confirmation until seven, 12, or 15 when for the first thousand years all Christians were Confirmed immediately after Baptism and if no, as soon as the Bishop arrived! Why did Augustine give communion to babies but you don’t? Talk about a liturgical and sacramental disaster. Read the Roman Catholic Catechism paragraphs 1210, 1212, 1233, 1239, 1242, 1285, 1290, 1291, 1298, 1304, 1306, 1307, 1308, 1314, 1322, 1405 and you will see the problem, especially 1285, 1306, 1307, 1314.

I hope you take this an an offense, but I am tired of hearing Roman Catholics try to repremand Eastern Catholics about why we are just not doing Roman things (read “not quite Catholic enough”) while they themselves on these very points are doing things that evolved, devolved, or were invented in only the last thousand years, or even worse the last century. Did you know that giving a child communion without having first confirmed them was an allowance granted by the Vatican in the 1930’s because of a problem in France. Now the practice is so common in the West that people think its normal. For more on this, see the Thread “Why does the Latin rite wait so long to confirm and commune children as compared to the Eastern rites?” where I discuss these latter problems in more detail.

In Christ,

Fr. Sebastian

steliasmelkite.org
Click to expand...
Thank you Father! This is an excellent post on many levels.
We need you here!
 
Thanks, but I really was hoping to have this discussion without a giant rant about a bunch of topics I didn’t even bring up.

I appreciate the information directed to my question though.
 
Last edited:
In the Divine Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and St Basil the Great, we receive a blessing with the chalice (Holy Eucharist) immediately after Holy Communion, even for those who don’t receive. Thus the whole point of Benediction is sort of moot for us.

If you look through all the spiritual writings of the Christian East, you will find a great deal about the value of Holy Communion, but very little about the reservation of the Eucharist; that is primarily for the sick. In fact, the church building as a holy space is more oriented toward what goes on inside it during liturgical services. Especially in monasteries (where much of our liturgy originated) lesser services were celebrated in the monks’ cells or in lesser chapels rather than in church. So the church building is really oriented toward the sacrifice, and the offices of the Divine Praises, rather than private prayer.

Yes, it is a blind spot, but probably as incomprehensible to Westerners as the tendency in the west not to craft a real theology of religions icons seems strange to those from the East.

For personal prayer, in fact, icons probably play the same role in the East, in many ways, as the reserved Sacrament in the West.

Deacon Jeffrey Mierzejewski
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top