Free Republic

Roman Catholicism was 300 years too late to be “the stone that … became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth” (Daniel 2:35). [This is the third installment of a three part series.]When former Protestant, Taylor Marshall, wrote Eternal City, he sought to explain why Christianity is necessarily Roman. “The Church,” he wrote, “receives the Roman empire” from its previous custodians. But in concluding this, Marshall has mistakenly transposed two kingdoms—both of which Daniel addressed, and both of which Daniel set against the background of the rise and fall of four world empires. One kingdom is of earth...

The video below is, well, a very poor example of Eucharistic Adoration. I suppose the most charitable thing that we can say is that it’s good to see Catholics rejoicing and happy. However, as with most things, there is a proper time and place for the particular sort of rejoicing seen here, but this is not one of those times.In Eucharistic Adoration, the fundamental focus is Jesus himself. The norms generally indicate Exposition of the holy eucharist, either in a ciborium or in a monstrance, leads us to acknowledge Christ’s marvelous presence in the sacrament and invites us to the...

Faithful Invited to Follow Pope, Adore Eucharist VATICAN CITY,  MARCH 10, 2009 (Zenit.org).- In this secularized era, Catholics should follow Benedict XVI's example and recover the practice of Eucharistic adoration, says a Vatican official. Cardinal Antonio Cañizares, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, affirmed this to Vatican Radio, as he spoke about the plenary assembly his dicastery is holding this week."The liturgy is, above all, adoration," he explained. "The Church is the work of God, God's action; it is recognition of what God does for men. And the adoration that the liturgy expresses, especially the Eucharist,...

"Could you not watch one hour with Me?" It all began at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday... 1st Century: Evangelists and St. Paul made it plain to the apostolic Church that the Eucharistic Elements were literally Jesus Christ continuing His saving mission among men (according to "the tradition which I handed on to you that came to me from "The Lord Himself""(1 Cor. II: 23-26)). Ignatius of Antioch warned people to not be taken in by the Gnostics who denied the Real Presence and thus abstained from The Eucharist. 2nd Century: The Rite of Fermentum was practiced. This...

GUEST LIST October 29 Fr. AntoineThe Eucharist Expedition: To the Summit! Ask Fr. Antoine a question Father Antoine Thomas, CSJ Fr. Antoine Thomas is a native of France. Before joining the Brothers of St. John in 1985, he was a member of the French Army in the Alpine Troops, pursued a degree in marketing both in France and the US, and enjoyed many active sports such as hang gliding, windsurfing, and mountain climbing in the Alps. The Congregation of St. John is one of the fastest growing religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1975 by Father Marie-Dominique...

02 June 2010 Here is Christ! Part of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s spiritual life was a daily Holy Hour. It was the story of a little Chinese girl which inspired Archbishop Sheen to make a daily Holy Hour. As the story goes, she was an eleven year old Chinese girl who went unnoticed in the back of a church at prayer when the Communists came and arrested the priest and held him captive in his own rectory. In the church building the Communists entered the sanctuary, broke the Tabernacle, took the ciborium and threw it on the floor causing...

Most Catholics take for granted the intimate relationship between the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart. They have come to associate the practice of the nine First Fridays, when Holy Communion is received, with the promises of our Savior to St. Margaret Mary for the grace of a happy death. They have also come to associate the liturgical feast of the Sacred Heart soon after the Eucharistic feast of Corpus Christi. Then, too, we have such expressions as the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, and the invocation of the Sacred Heart after Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. These and similar associations are...

by Fr. William Saunders Other Articles by Fr. William Saunders Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament 02/18/05 For the Year of the Eucharist, my parish is having all-day adoration and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. I just recently moved here and I am not familiar with this practice at all. Can you explain it? Unfortunately, the lack of familiarity with exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is not uncommon these days. I remember when I was growing up in the '60s, that on special occasions my home parish, St. Bernadette Church in Springfield, had exposition and benediction. Then, for whatever reason,...

CONGREGATION FOR DIVINE WORSHIPAND THE DISCIPLINE OF THE SACRAMENT INSTRUCTION Redemptionis SacramentumOn certain matters to be observed or to be avoidedregarding the Most Holy Eucharist   INDEX Preamble [1-13]Chapter I The regulation of the Sacred Liturgy [14-18]1. The Diocesan Bishop, High Priest of his Flock [19-25]2. The Conference of Bishops [26-28]3. Priests [29-33]4. Deacons [34-35] Chapter IIThe Participation of the Lay Christian Faithful in the Eucharistic Celebration1. Active and Conscious Participation [36-42]2. The Ministries of the Lay Christian Faithful in the Celebration of Holy Mass [43-47]Chapter IIIThe Proper Celebration of Mass1. The Matter of the Most Holy Eucharist [48-50]2. The...

The Hour That Makes My Day | Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen A selection from A Treasure in Clay, the autobiography of Archbishop Sheen. On the day of my Ordination, I made two resolutions: 1. I would offer the Holy Eucharist every Saturday in honor of the Blessed Mother to solicit her protection on my priesthood. The Epistle to the Hebrews bids the priest offer sacrifices not only for others, but also for himself, since his sins are greater because of the dignity of the office. 2. I resolved also to spend a continuous Holy Hour every day in the...

The Holy Hour A pious exercise of mental or vocal prayer, in union with the prayer of Our Lord in the Garden of Olives on Maundy Thursday night, when He wae abandoned by the Apostles. It was taught as a practise to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque by Our Lord Himself, who appeared to her in 1673, as she was in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. In 1829 Father Debrosse, S.J., founded a confraternity at Paray-le-Monial for the purpose of spreading this devotion, and in virtue of a rescript of Pius IX, 1875, the associates of the Apostleship of Prayer can...

Cardinal Arinze: The Reverence due to the Holy Eucharist Following is the address of His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, delivered at the convention of "The Church Teaches Forum", Louisville, Kentucky, July 18, 2003, printed here with the cardinal's kind permission. - Editor. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Jesus Christ, God and Man, in the sacrifice and sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, are due honor, reverence, adoration, thanksgiving, and love. At this opening of this year's convention of "The Church Teaches Forum", it is right that we should focus our reflection...

Centered in the EucharistAs the Church departs the glorious season of Easter and returns to Ordinary Time, we take a moment to pause and remind ourselves how we may grow in holiness during the "normal" course of our spiritual lives. The liturgical seasons of the Church immerse us in the greatest mysteries of our faith, but as necessary as they are for our souls, true spiritual growth doesn't happen in just a season. It happens in an organic process, over long periods of time and with diligent effort. For advancement along that arduous pathway of holiness, then, we need to...

THE REAL PRESENCE CHRIST IN THE EUCHARIST Eucharistic Miracle Lanciano, Italy 8th Century A.D.Close-up of the Eucharistic Miracle in Lanciano, Italy> Ancient Anxanum, the city of the Frentanese, has contained for over twelve centuries the first and greatest Eucharistic Miracle of the Catholic Church. This wondrous Event took place in the 8th century A.D. in the little Church of St. Legontian, as a divine response to a Basilian monk's doubt about Jesus' Real Presence in the Eucharist. During Holy Mass, after the two-fold consecration, the host was changed into live Flesh and the wine was changed into live Blood,...

On a Saint of the Feast of Corpus Christi "Today in the Church There Is a 'Eucharistic Springtime'" VATICAN CITY, NOV. 17, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience in St. Peter's Square. * * * Dear Brothers and Sisters, This morning, too, I would like to present to you a little-known woman to whom, however, the Church owes great recognition, not only because of the holiness of her life, but also because, with her great fervor, she contributed to the institution of one of the most important liturgical solemnities...

Dear Father X, You asked me the other day to write something that would encourage you to be faithful to your daily Eucharistic adoration. Here then are a few thoughts that came to me while at prayer. I share them with you simply, as one priest to another. When you come into Our Lord's presence to adore Him, and when you prefer Him to the countless other things that solicit your attention and make claims upon your time, Jesus is consoled and glorified. The proof of friendship is the choice of one's friend over all else. Our Lord wants you...

Our belief in the real true presence in the Eucharist has a long history of dramatic events. The first apostles were shocked when Jesus gave them His Body and Blood at the Last Supper; many of His followers left Him because He preached the "reality of His Body and Blood as food and drink." (Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J. The History of the Eucharist, Illinois: CMJ Associsates, Inc. 1997, p. 1). St. Paul reminded the Corinthians that the "tradition which I handed on to you came from the Lord Himself" (1 Cor 11:23-26). St. Ignatius of Antioch, before he was...

This post was originally published on November 4, 2008. Our church is doing 24 hours of Adoration for people who want to pray before the election. After the kids went to bed last night I wanted nothing more than to go collapse into bed myself, but instead I grabbed my purse and headed out into the night to go to our church. Adoration started after the daily Mass yesterday and will continue until the Mass this afternoon, right around the time the polls close. It was late on a weeknight, so I was surprised that there were about 40...

In many places where perpetual, or even frequent, Eucharistic Adoration has been made available, there have been great benefits. But Richard McBrien of Notre Dame is again Eucharist Adoration. In his latest piece for the dissenting, ultra-liberal National Catholic Reporter McBrien wrote this with my emphases and comments: ... The practice of eucharistic adoration began in the 12th century, when the Real Presence of Christ was widely rejected by heretics or misunderstood by poorly educated Catholics. The church saw eucharistic adoration as a way of reaffirming its faith in the Real Presence and of promoting renewed devotion to it. However,...

Why Eucharistic Adoration? by Fr. Robert Goedert, O.P. I'm going to start with the second, or Vatican Council II. One of the many problems tackled by the Vatican Council was how to work for Christian unity, or how to heal the divisions in the church that Jesus established. This included the division between the east and west, the Catholic and the Orthodox that goes back over a thousand years . In the Council's decree on ecumenism, the council tried to get Catholics to see how much we have in common with other Christian churches, to emphasize the beliefs we agree...