Devotion to the Holy Eucharist is at the very heart of Catholic life. In his first message to the Church after his election, Pope Benedict XVI said that the Eucharist is “the heart of Christian life and the source of the Church’s evangelizing mission”. As we know, Pope John Paul II also frequently emphasized the Church’s teaching on the significance of devotion to the Holy Eucharist. In his encyclical letter, Mysterium Fidei (September 3, 1965), Pope Paul VI describes the graces and blessings which await those who manage to find time to visit our divine Lord in the most Blessed Sacrament. “Christ is truly Emmanuel, that is, ‘God with us’. Day and night, He is in our midst; He dwells with us full of grace and truth. He restores morality, nourishes virtue, consoles the afflicted, strengthens the weak. He proposes His own example to those who come to Him that they may learn to be like Himself, meek and humble of heart, and seek not their own interest, but the things of God.
Anyone, therefore, who approaches this august sacrament with special devotion and endeavours to return generous love for Christ’s infinite love, experiences and fully understands, not without great spiritual joy and profit, how precious is the life hidden with Christ in God, and how great is the value of conversing with Christ, for there is nothing more consoling on earth, nothing more efficacious for advancing along the road to holiness”. Among the benefits of adoring Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament as stated by Popes and Saints are the following:
1. Every Holy Hour we make so pleases the Heart of Jesus that it is recorded in Heaven and retold for all eternity. (St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
2. The spiritual lives of our families are strengthened through our Holy Hour. (St. John Paul II)
3. A Holy Hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is so important to Jesus that a multitude of souls go to Heaven who otherwise would have gone to hell. (Jesus revelation to Blessed Dina Belanger)
4. Our Lord hears our prayers anywhere, but He has revealed to His servants that those who visit Him in the Eucharist will obtain a more abundant measure of grace. (St. Alphonsus Liguori)
5. Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament has His Hands full of graces and He is ready to bestow them on anyone who asks for them. (St. Peter Alcantara)
6. A Holy Hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament is worth more than a thousand years of human glory. (St. Padre Pio)
7. A Holy Hour brings Heavens choicest blessings on those who are faithful to their hour (Pope Paul VI)
8. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament consoles a soul far beyond what the world can offer. (St. Alphonsus Liguori)
9. If souls but understood the Treasure they possess in the Divine Eucharistic Adoration the churches would overflow with adorers no less by night than by day (Blessed Dina Belanger)
10. Jesus Himself is calling you to spend one special hour with Him each week. (St. John Paul II)
11. A Holy Hour will give you more strength during life and more consolation at the hour of your death and eternity. (St. Alphonsus Liguori)
12. “I have a burning thirst to be honoured by men in the Blessed Sacrament”. (Jesus speaking to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque)
13. Even a quarter of an hour’s prayer in front of the Eucharist perhaps gains more graces than all the other spiritual exercises of the day [outside the Mass]. (St. Alphonsus Liguori)
14. A Holy Hour helps the one in the world in most need of God’s Mercy. (St. John Paul II)
15. We contribute to the radical transformation of the world during our Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration. (St. John Paul II)
16. Devotion to the Eucharist is the most noble, because it has God as its object; it is the most profitable for salvation, it gives us the Author of Grace. (St. Pope Pius X)
17. A Holy Hour before the Most Blessed Sacrament so pleases the Heart of Jesus, that every man, woman, and child on earth receives a new effect of God’s graces. (St. Faustina)
18. A thousand years of enjoying human glory is not worth even an hour spent sweetly communicating with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. (St. Padre Pio)
19. A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who visit the Blessed Sacrament, for the purpose of adoration, for at least 30 minutes under the usual conditions! (Handbook Of Indulgences – Norms & Grants)
20. I encourage Christians regularly to visit Christ present in the Blessed Sacrament, for we are all called to abide in the presence of God! (Pope John Paul II)
21. Our Lord is hidden there in the Blessed Sacrament, waiting for us to come and visit Him, and make our requests to Him! (St. John Vianney)
22. “You can come to me (in Eucharistic Adoration) at any moment, at any time; I want to speak to you and I desire to grant you grace!” (Jesus speaking to St. Sister Faustina)
23. In the course of the day the faithful should not omit to visit the Blessed Sacrament! (Pope Paul VI)
24. The daily adoration or visit to the Blessed Sacrament is the practice which is the fountainhead of all devotional works! (St. Pope Pius X)
25. A Holy Hour of adoration before the Most Blessed Sacrament opens up the floodgates of God’s merciful Love upon the world! (St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
26. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is the best time you will spend on earth! (St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
27. Eucharistic Adoration will make your soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in Heaven! (St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
• Prof. Michael Ogunu is the Editor of a prayer book entitled “Prayers for Eucharistic Adoration” with the Imprimatur of Most Rev. Dr. Augustine O. Akubeze, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Benin City, Nigeria, and President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria.
