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PERPETUAL ADORATION: AN ANCIENT DEVOTION IN MODERN TIMES

Mike Aquilina

At the Transfiguration, Peter was so moved by the vision of Jesus 
"radiant
with light," "dazzling white" that he wanted to build three booths and 
set
up camp there forever.  He wanted to offer perpetual adoration to the 
Lord.
And in that desire, he has been joined by Christians down through the 
ages.

In the early Church, monks would chant prayer and psalms to God without
ceasing, spelling one another in shifts.

But since the Middle Ages, in the Western Church the desire for 
continuous
prayer to the Lord has most often been expressed in perpetual 
eucharistic
adoration: the worship of Jesus truly present in the consecrated host,
either reserved in a tabernacle or exposed in a vessel called a
"monstrance."

Usually sponsored by a parish, religious community or diocese, 
perpetual
adoration is offered by successive worshipers without intermission.

Through the first millennium of Christianity, there is little evidence 
of
worship of the Eucharist outside the liturgy, and still less of 
anything
that might be called "perpetual."

With the Eucharist, as with the Trinity, the Church gradually grew in 
its
understanding of the mystery. Councils defined doctrines more clearly, 
and
people responded with devotion ever more ardent.

Often this happened in response to heresies. Particularly when false
teachers denied the goodness of the created world or the goodness of 
the
human body, orthodox Catholics responded with deeper reverence for the
Eucharist the Word himself made flesh. To deny matter's goodness, they
believed, is eventually to deny the incarnation of God in Jesus.

Such was the heresy of the Priscillians, a gnostic sect in fourth 
through
sixth-century Spain. Priscillians disdained marriage, wine and meat, 
and
were condemned by many Spanish bishops and councils. In reparation for 
the
offense of this heresy, the cathedral church of Lugo, Spain, is said to 
have
offered perpetual eucharistic adoration for more than 1,000 years, up 
to the
present day.

Another anti-matter heresy, Albigensianism, arose in 12th-century 
France,
and there faithful Catholics responded with a spontaneous surge of
eucharistic worship.

In what would become the first recorded instance of true perpetual
eucharistic adoration, King Louis VII in September 1226 having just 
defeated
the Albigensians called his subjects to offer thanksgiving to the 
Blessed
Sacrament exposed in the Chapel of the

Holy Cross at Avignon.

So many people showed up the bishop extended the time of exposition 
into the
night and then into perpetuity. The Holy See ratified his decision, and
adoration continued uninterrupted till the persecutions of the French
Revolution in 1792. Perpetual adoration resumed in 1829.

During the Middle Ages, many more of the faithful began to adore the 
Blessed
Sacrament apart from the Mass. At first, the custom was to worship the 
host
reserved in the tabernacle. Eventually, some came to practice the 
devotion
with the tabernacle doors open. Later still, solemn exposition of the 
host,
in a monstrance, became the norm.

The practice spread through Europe and culminated in the establishment 
of
the Feast of Corpus Christi Latin for "the Body of Christ" in 1264. The
feast itself, now celebrated each June, helped spread the devotion.

In 1393, an Italian religious community arose, "Religiosi bianchi del 
corpo
di Gesu Christo," dedicated primarily to adoration of the sacrament. 
The
custom of uninterrupted "Forty Hours" exposition began in Milan in the
mid-1500s, and in 1592 was formally recognized by Pope Clement VIII, 
who
commanded its observance in Rome's churches.

But the real flowering of perpetual adoration came at the beginning of 
the
16th century during the early years of the Protestant Reformation, when
church lootings were common, as were desecrations of the Blessed 
Sacrament.
Faithful Catholics made reparation to God by keeping a loving vigil 
before
Him, around the clock. Perpetual adoration became a symbol of constancy 
in a
volatile age.

Throughout Europe and eventually America, new religious orders arose
centered on uninterrupted eucharistic adoration. In 1907, the Catholic
Encyclopedia could state that such orders were too numerous to list.

In the United States, the practice waxed through the middle decades of 
this
century, especially as Archbishop Fulton Sheen promoted the custom of
spending a Holy Hour before the tabernacle. But eucharistic devotions 
in
general waned in the '60s and '70s.

Some liturgists rejected the devotion, saying it detracted from the 
Mass.

Today, though, it seems to be on the rebound. For example, the Diocese 
of
Bridgeport, Conn., recently launched perpetual adoration in a chapel at 
its
seminary in Stamford. And during the great blizzard of January 1996,
parishioners at St. Michael's Church in Annandale, Va., maintained a 
vigil
that had been unbroken since the early '80s. They camped out in the 
chapel
with sleeping bags.

Msgr. Francis Mannion, president of the Society for Catholic Liturgy,
believes that perpetual adoration is gaining popularity because it has 
"the
sense of dignity, reverence and solemnity" that people miss in the way 
the
Mass is celebrated today.

 "The transcendent character of the Eucharist is strongly evident in
eucharistic devotions, as are the contemplative and mystical dimensions 
of
the Eucharist," he said.

He disagrees with liturgists who "express alarm at the return of 
eucharistic
devotions."

"At a time when surveys are showing that belief in Christ's eucharistic
presence is on the wane even among church-going Catholics, such 
devotions
can play an important role in restoring authentic Catholic faith at a
popular level," he said.

Mike Aquilina is editor of The Pittsburgh Catholic.



Organization Promotes Adoration

Since the early 1970s, L. Owen Traynor has been promoting perpetual
eucharistic adoration throughout the world.

Today, his organization, Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, supplies
information and support for people who wish to establish the devotion 
in
their parish or diocese. PEA's statutes were approved by the Holy See 
in
1991.

Traynor can be reached at 660 Club View Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90024.

 Mike Aquilina

 
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This article was taken from the July/August 1996 issue of "Catholic
Heritage". To subscribe write Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 200 Noll Plaza,
Huntington, IN 46750-9957 or call 1-800-348-2440. Published bimonthly 
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