Eucharistic Revival continues with education
“My flesh for the life of the world”
“Mi carne para la vida del mundo”
- Jn 6:51
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From the 8/4 edition of The Lumen:
By KATIE BORKOWSKI Communications Specialist What is a Holy Hour? How do you pray a Holy Hour? Many pray a Holy Hour as part of parish perpetual adoration or set adoration hours. A priest and a deacon from the Diocese of Sioux City explain how one can deepen their love for the Eucharist through a Holy Hour. Participating in a Holy Hour is one way to participate in the national Eucharistic Revival initiative. A Holy Hour is a devotional exercise made up of meditation, vocal prayer and singing with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Father Bruce Lawler, pastor of All Saints Parish in Le Mars, pointed out adoration at All Saints, St. Joseph began in the fall of 2013. “The Holy Hour is a time for prayer before the real presence of Christ, the consecrated host exposed in a monstrance,” said the priest. “While a Holy Hour could be done anytime, anywhere, praying before the eucharistic presence of Christ offers a particular intimacy and fosters a greater love for the Eucharist.” Since COVID-19, All Saints had to reduce their hours of adoration from perpetual to their present hours, which are from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday. Reposition of the Eucharist is ended for weekend Masses at 3 p.m. on Saturday and begins again at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Father Lawler explained a number of those who had committed to time before the Blessed Sacrament prior to COVID-19 were “unable to continue due to increased age or illness/death.” “St. Teresa of Avila says prayer is simply conversation with God, so doing a Holy Hour can be done in any way that connects the pray-er with God/Jesus,” said the priest. “The rosary or other memorized prayers, informal prayer, spiritual reading, just sitting in the presence of the Lord - whatever works to make the connection.” According to Deacon Bill Black, Divine Mercy Parish in Kossuth County had perpetual adoration for approximately 39 years before being shutdown due to COVID-19. “With COVID-19 being declared a pandemic in spring of 2020 and the beginning of the nationwide shutdown and social distancing, the chapel was closed to help slow the spread of the virus,” said the deacon. “Since the restrictions have been lifted, the adoration chapel at Divine Mercy Parish (St. Cecelia Church in Algona) currently is open from 5 a.m. through 10 p.m. each day. We continue to be affected by the COVID-19 shutdown but are hoping to add hours and return to perpetual adoration.” A Holy Hour, Deacon Black noted, is an opportunity to spend time with the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, “which we as Catholics believe is his very real presence. Spending time with our Lord in this way helps develop our love for him and will draw us closer to him so we may know him better.” “This is a time to talk with Christ, to tell him our hopes and desires,” he said. “It is an opportunity to be strengthened on our earthly journeys as well as a time for us to pray for the needs of our church and for the world. The point of spending this time with our Lord is to grow in greater communion with God through our prayer and by listening to what God has to say to us in the silence of our hearts as he speaks to us.” Deacon Black pointed out Divine Mercy Parish continues “to be blessed in countless ways,” as was the case when adoration was perpetual, because of “the many individuals who come to pray and spend time before the Blessed Sacrament.” A specific example he gave of the these blessings would be Jake Rosenmeyer and Thomas Kollasch, members of Divine Mercy Parish, who are in the seminary studying and preparing for the priesthood. The deacon quoted St. Teresa of Calcutta, who said, “Your life must be woven around the Eucharist. Direct your eyes to him, who is the light; bring your hearts very close to his divine heart; ask him for the grace to know him, for the charity to love him, for the courage to serve him. Seek him lovingly.” “Spending time in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament during a Holy Hour is a wonderful opportunity to do just this,” said Deacon Black. Do we truly revere the eucharistic mystery? by Father David Esquiliano Rector of the Cathedral of the Epiphany Judicial Vicar On June 19 we celebrated the Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi. Part of the collect for that Mass says, “grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your body and blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption.” But, I wonder, do we truly revere the eucharistic mystery? In a previous edition of this column, I wrote about who can receive Communion. I laid out the requirements as stated by church law. One of them was to be properly disposed, which I explained means not being in the state of mortal sin. But proper disposition to receive our Lord in the Eucharist goes beyond just not having sin. Another element that I mentioned of proper disposition was the eucharistic fast. That means we cannot eat or drink anything but water or medicine for an hour before receiving Communion. As somebody who needs to drink two or three cups of coffee just to wake up, it pains me to say it, but coffee breaks the fast. Candy, chewing gum, breath mints, and anything that contains flavoring or sugar, break the fast as well. At this point it may sound like we only need to worry about the act of receiving Communion, but the whole Mass is the eucharistic mystery, and we need to have the proper disposition as well. Treating Mass as something casual is not conducive to the proper reverence due to the Lord present throughout the eucharistic celebration. So, how can we make sure that we have the proper attitude? Preparing for Mass. Start by making sure that Mass is the first thing you plan in the week, and not the last. The order in which we schedule our activities says where our priorities stand. If Mass is just added to our schedule when it does not interfere with dinner plans, or with my team’s schedule, we should ask ourselves who we are revering; is it God? Is it me? Is it my football team? The next suggestion would be to make sure we are there for, at least, the whole Mass. While occasionally we may be delayed because of car issues, or we may need to leave before the Mass ends because we are not feeling well, we need to be careful this is not just out of comfort and habitual. In fact, if possible, we should arrive a few minutes early to recollect ourselves, and then stay throughout the whole Mass. If you arrive after the priest processes in, or leave before the priest processes out, you have missed part of the Mass. This has nothing to do with the priest being important, but they are just good points of reference. Something else we should do is proactively pray during Mass. The Mass is a mystery, but it is also a prayer. If possible, do the readings before Mass, even if it is right before, so that during Mass, when you listen to them being proclaimed, you let God talk to you through the ministers. Pay attention to the words of the prayers and make them your own during the moments of silence. Pray the hymns and antiphons by singing along. Mass may seem boring if we do not get engaged, or it could be a great prayer if we actively participate. Mass is a foretaste of heaven. Banalizing Mass with our lack of reverence does not help us appreciate this reality. In the Collect I mentioned earlier, we pray that we may experience in ourselves the fruits of God’s redemption. Being in his presence in heaven is the ultimate fruit. We will hopefully get to live in that reality when we are called back to the house of the father, but we can start experiencing those fruits now by our proper participation in the eucharistic mystery. The bishops in this country have called for a eucharistic revival, so you will hear us priests talk more about the need to make the Eucharist the center of our lives. Perhaps today each one of us could make a personal commitment to increase the reverence to the eucharistic mysteries. It may not be easy if we have not done it for awhile, but I can guarantee you it is worth trying. |
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Corpus Christi Novena Prayers
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