The Blessed Sacrament

The value of praying before the Blessed Sacrament

Closer to our own day, Cardinal Basil Hume said:

ost of us lead busy and pressurised lives.

A church building offers a place set apart where we can find some peace and quiet, some ‘space’.

Because we know that in the tabernacle Jesus Christ is present in a unique way, a church is the best possible place to seek some tranquillity and to listen to what God may be saying to us in our lives: that is why we try to keep our churches open all day.

‘It is a wonderful practice just to sit or kneel in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament’.

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Remember what Jesus said at the Last Supper: ‘This is my Body...This is the cup of my Blood’ It is because of these words that we know that he is with us in the Blessed Sacrament.

The Blessed Sacrament

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Why do Catholics pray before the Blessed Sacrament

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ur Lord is hidden there, waiting for us to come and visit Him, and make our

request to Him. He is there to console us, and

All over the world, every day, thousands of people are praying quietly, all the time, to Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle.

A famous 19th century French saint, Jean Marie Vianney (known as the Curé d’Ars) once described praying before the tabernacle in these words:

THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

therefore we ought often to visit Him. How pleasing to Him is the short quarter of an hour that we steal from our occupations, from something of no use, to come and pray to Him, to visit Him... What happiness do we not feel in the presence of God, when we find ourselves alone at His feet before the Holy Tabernacle?

He just looks at me and I just look at him.’

(St John Vianney, 1786-1859) www.ctsbooks.org ISBN:978-1-86082-269-8 | LF 12 All rights reserved. © 2018 Incorporated Catholic Truth Society. | Inside images: © Lorenzo Lees | The Last Supper by Jacopo da Bologna © Araldo de Luca/CORBIS | Sanctuary Lamp © Lorenzo Lees | Cover: Close-up of Monstrance © Shutterstock/ ACStudios Multimedia.

What you see in a Catholic Church

The Mass

The Reserved Sacrament

Holy Communion outside of Mass

hen you go into any Catholic Church, you will always see something special - a red or white light which is kept alight day and night, and nearby a small veiled structure or ornate door: it might be in a side chapel, it may be at the far end of the church, or it may be on a pillar or a stand. You often see people praying in this area and going down on one knee when they go past. What does this mean? Why do people do this?

he Mass is the central act of Christian worship, and when we gather to celebrate the Mass we join in a special way with what Jesus did the day after the Last Supper when he offered himself on the Cross. We believe this because of what he said - at every Mass the bread and wine we use are changed into his Body and Blood. Therefore he is with us in a unique and irreplaceable way every time we come to Mass.

ecause the Mass is the centre of a Christian’s life, we are losing something special if we are not able to go to Mass. From the earliest times it has been important to enable people who are sick and housebound to receive Holy Communion. Sometimes such people may be close to death and will want to receive Holy Communion in an emergency - so the Blessed Sacrament is kept in a safe place in the church so that such people can be brought Holy Communion.

hen we pray to Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament we meet his love in a way which is an extension of the encounter with Jesus when we come to Mass. There are occasions when, if there cannot be a celebration of the Mass, a deacon or an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion may give people Holy Communion from the reserved sacrament.

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Jesus’ words at the Last Supper

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n the gospels in the New Testament, one of the most important events in the life of Jesus took place on the night before his death on the Cross - the Last Supper. At this meal with his disciples, Jesus told his disciples that he would be with them until the end of time, whenever they come together in this way.

When he took the bread at the meal he said, ‘This is my Body’ and when he took the cup of wine he said, ‘This is the cup of my Blood’. By doing this Jesus instituted what we call the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, or the Mass.

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The Blessed Sacrament in the Mass

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e are fed by Jesus when we receive Holy Communion.

Because Jesus is both God and man, in the Mass we become intimately close to God himself. Because they become the Body and Blood of Jesus in the Mass, the bread and wine which we use are treated during the Mass with awe and reverence: we show that love and reverence by genuflecting - going down on one knee - and great care is taken not to drop the consecrated bread (the Host) or spill the consecrated wine (the Precious Blood). They have changed and become sacred; we refer to the consecrated elements as the Blessed Sacrament.

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This safe place is the tabernacle - a secure container that is either free-standing on an altar or a pillar or built into a wall. Sometimes the door of the tabernacle will be very ornate; sometimes it will be covered with a veil, which is white, or the same colour as the vestments worn by the priest at Mass.

We believe that Jesus is present in a unique way in the tabernacle. That is why you will often see people praying to him in front of the tabernacle, and it is the reason why we go down on one knee (genuflect) when we pass in front of it and when we enter or leave the church. The red or white light burns nearby, day and night, to remind us of the presence of Jesus. Pope Paul VI once described the tabernacle as the ‘living heart beating in our churches’ and the area of the church where it is, the most sacred part of the building.

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Exposition and Benediction

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here are other times when we may show Jesus how much we love him and value the gift of his Body and Blood. In the Rite of Exposition and Benediction a large consecrated host is placed in a special vessel for adoration. This is known as a monstrance (monstrare = to show), often decorated with shining rays, which draws our attention. In this act of worship we are able to grow particularly close to Jesus and there is time for prayers, hymns and silent meditation of him.

At the end of this service, at Benediction, the priest or deacon blesses us with the monstrance containing the host. In many churches the Blessed Sacrament is regularly exposed in this way for an hour or so during the week, giving people an opportunity for prayer and reflection, to grow closer to Jesus.