Praying in the Presence of Our Lord with the Saints

Introduction II by James Monti...17

I. Prayers and Meditations Before Mass and Holy Communion
Prayers...22
Meditations...34

II. Prayers and Meditations for Thanksgiving Following Holy Communion
Prayers...42
Meditations...49

III. Prayers and Meditations for  Visiting the Blessed Sacrament
Prayers...58
Meditations...85

Appendix 1 Additional Texts for Eucharistic Adoration and Reflection...121
Appendix 2 Scriptural Passages for Eucharistic Adoration...126
Appendix 3 Indulgences for Eucharistic Devotion...129

Postscript...131
Sources for Texts...133
Index of Authors Cited...145

Spending an Hour with Our Lord: What to Do After You Kneel Down
By Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R.

As devotion to Christ present in the Holy Eucharist has spread throughout the Church, and literally hundreds of thousands are trying to spend an hour with Him at prayer, the question arises, “What do I do with this hour?” Our book Praying in the Presence of Our Lord: Prayers for Eucharistic Adoration (Our Sunday Visitor, 1999) was very well received and has given rise to the request for more. In the present volume, James Monti has researched a fascinating collection of prayers and meditations of saints, blesseds, those declared Venerable, and Servants of God who left us their own written Eucharistic devotions. Although not all are specifically for the quiet contemplative exercise of a Holy Hour, all can be helpful for that precious time when we go apart with Christ for a while.

Because we are concerned to be a practical help with this book, I decided to spend a few pages indicating a simple and effective way of praying in silent adoration and contemplation — a way that does not presume either great experience or depth of knowledge about prayer. Actually, I discussed this method more extensively in my little book Listening at Prayer (Paulist Press, 1984). The following are a series of simple steps based on a method of St. Teresa of Avila, who said that she was afraid to go into prayer without a book in her hands. If St. Teresa used a book, we can hardly do better than to follow her lead.

Step I: Collect your thoughts in an act of remembrance and adoration of the One you are about to speak to. We need to break the rapidly flowing stream of consciousness that has accompanied us through the day and brought us to the threshold of the chapel where Christ awaits us in His mysterious sacramental presence. Simply put, you have to stop and remind yourself that you are going to pray — you are going to speak with Jesus Christ, your Lord and Redeemer, present in His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, as He was at Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem, and as He now is in eternal life and glory. The first step of real devotion is to be deeply aware that Christ is present to you, that He knows you and cares about you.

To stop the flow of everyday thoughts, it is helpful to kneel in adoration, and to take some deep breaths that help to calm us down and to repeat inwardly, “I am here with my Savior and my God,” or some similar expression of the awe we ought to experience in His presence. After all, we are talking to God. One should spend as much time as one needs to do this. To be effective, it really takes several minutes. Frankly, I think that those who minimize the importance of kneeling simply lack the experience of awe.

At the end of this step, taking a couple of minutes of complete silence is helpful, but this should be discontinued if the mind begins to wander and be filled with distracting thoughts. The end of the period of silence should be a fervent appeal to the Holy Spirit to give us the grace to pray well and in union with Christ.

Step II: Now find a prayer or meditation or two in this book or some other book of devotion. This might best be accompanied by one of the citations from the Scriptures given in Appendix 2. Or better, keep your Bible with you if it is marked with quotations that you like.

Take time to find the quotation that fits your need at the moment. This should be a matter of what catches your attention and is based on your need in the situation that you have been in during this day.

Read the quotation a few times, savor it, and let its meaning fill your mind. Compare the truth or sentiment of the quotation with your present mood or need or state of mind. For example, if you are anxious about some specific thing in your life, many quotations from the psalms will be helpful to you. For instance, Psalm 107, from verse 4 to verse 9, gives us an image of God feeding the troubled soul and satisfying the soul’s hunger and thirst. This obviously can be related easily to the experience of receiving Holy Communion.

Step III: Allow the meaning of the quotation or prayer to sink into your mind and heart. This may not feel very elevating, and it may be very silent. Let the quotation sink in quietly. Don’t be afraid to take some time just allowing the words to enter into your mind and heart.

Step IV: Then, in your own words and thoughts, speak to Our Lord, recalling His presence with such sentiments as awe, joy, gratitude, sorrow for sin, trust. Don’t be afraid to express fear, disappointment, frustration, and confusion. This is part of the purification we must sometimes enter into in the presence of the Savior of the World. Sentiments can be best expressed in very simple individual phrases like the following:

Jesus, I adore You, Son of God.
Jesus, I am so grateful to You.
Jesus, I am filled with joy that You are with me.
Jesus, I hurt very badly.
Jesus, what went wrong?
Jesus, why did I fall and fail?
Jesus, I am hurt and angry.
Jesus, I don’t understand.
Jesus, increase my faith.
Jesus, be with me in my troubles.
Jesus, keep me with Your cross.
Jesus, don’t leave me.
Jesus, be with those I love and care about.

These are just a few of the sentiments we might express. Obviously, there are hundreds of different ones. Remember that you can say anything to Jesus Christ in such an intimate moment.
As you come to an end of such expressions, see if you can put all your feelings and experiences into a simple prayer, even a prayer without words.

Then, if there is time left, begin Step II again. This time, perhaps you should seek another Scripture quotation, perhaps a psalm of praise like 149 or 150; or if it is a difficult time, perhaps a psalm of repentance like Psalm 51. You can also seek for another prayer in this manual or some similar devotional book.

Step V — Ending a Holy Hour: As loyal disciples of Christ, we always ought to end our prayer with some resolution of charity, some decision to let Christ operate in our lives, so that each day it may be more and more true that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).

We should think of some realistic action that we should take to show our love for Jesus by serving His brothers and sisters for whom He died. What we do to others we do to Him.

To act in a way that is realistically united with His life of grace, we must proceed from a Christian motive and do things in a way that reflects His Gospel example and teaching. We never do this perfectly, but we can pray and struggle to do it better.

I came long ago to suspect any Christian prayer or experience that does not lead to Christlike action. “If you love me, keep my commandments. As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. . . . I was hungry and you gave me food” (Jn 14:15; Mt 25:40; Mt 25:35). The honesty of prayer can be judged by the actions and struggles of grace as we surrender to the call of the Holy Spirit sent into our souls by our Blessed Master to teach us all that we need to know.

I always spend the last few moments of this time with Christ, asking the help and protection of His Mother and our Mother. I also address a few saintly friends already in the Kingdom of God and ask them to pray for me. And, finally, I greet my guardian angel, that mysterious celestial citizen whom God gave me when I started out on this brief human experience. I almost always leave the presence of Our Lord refreshed or at least better prepared for whatever the day may bring.