“Our own belief is that the renovation of the world will be brought about only by the Holy Eucharist.” ~Pope Leo XIII
The holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord’s own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist. (CCC 1322)
The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our Christian life. As such, we not only prepare for First Communion, but regularly receive the Sacrament as nourishment for our life of faith. This includes Mass and prayer with the Blessed Sacrament. Here you will find resources for all those needs.
Parent Preparation Resources
The Eucharistic Celebration (i.e. the Mass) is the source and summit of our faith. This means it is both where we draw the energy to live our faith daily as well as the culmination of our prayers. The best preparation for your child’s first Communion is regularly attending Mass. Along with that, below are some resources that might help.
The At-Home Preparation Guide is to be used as a supplement to, and not a replacement for, your parish preparation.
Child Preparation Resources
The Eucharist may be a mystery, but young children can begin the journey towards understanding early. Below are some good resources for children.
The At-Home Preparation Guide is to be used as a supplement to, and not a replacement for, your parish preparation.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Sacraments 101: Eucharist (How We Receive (Busted Halo)
Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist (Bishop Barron)
The Veil Removed (Eucharist Short Film)
3 Reasons Catholics Genuflect (Ascension)
Why Non-Catholics Can’t Receive Communion (Ascension)
Why We Don’t Drink Coffee At Mass (Ascension)
Eucharistic Adoration
What is Eucharistic Adoration?
As Catholics, we believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Mary, continues to give Himself to us sacramentally in the Most Holy Eucharist. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.” (CCC, no. 1376). Eucharistic Adoration is a natural extension of our worship of God at Holy Mass and serves as an opportunity to be in His True Presence.
What will happen during Eucharistic Adoration?
There are essentially three parts of Eucharistic Adoration:
- Exposition – The beginning part of Eucharistic Adoration in which Jesus, in the consecrated host, will be brought out from the Tabernacle and placed upon the altar to be ‘exposed’ in the monstrance. During this time, we kneel and sing O Saving Victim.
- Adoration – By observing a period of silence before the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, we communicate with Jesus, adoring, thanking, and asking the help of the Second Person of the Trinity.
At the end of this time, we kneel and sing Down in Adoration Falling. This hymn, together with O Saving Victim, are excerpts of a Eucharistic hymn written in the 13th century by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi, a hymn that pays homage to our Lord in the Most Holy Eucharist.
- Benediction – The deacon or priest raises the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament and blesses those present in the form of the Sign of the Cross. As we are blessed, we make the Sign of the Cross. The Sacred Host is returned to the tabernacle and the deacon or priest will lead The Divine Praises. Afterwards, Holy God, We Praise Thy Name is sung.
If you are looking for prayers while you sit with the Blessed Sacrament, here are some useful suggestions:
Common Prayers for Eucharistic Adoration
Anima Christi
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds conceal me.
Do not permit me to be parted from you.
From the evil foe protect me.
At the hour of my death call me.
And bid me come to you,
to praise you with all your saints
for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Real Presence of Jesus
St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)
The whole world should tremble and heaven rejoice,
when Christ, the Son of the living God,
is present on the altar in the hands of the priest.
What wonderful majesty! What stupendous condescension!
O sublime humility! O humble sublimity!
That the Lord of the whole universe, God and the
Son of God, should humble himself like this
and hide under the form of a little bread for our salvation.
Look at God’s condescension, my brothers,
and pour out your hearts before him, humble
yourselves that you may be exalted by him.
O Sacrum Convivium
by St. Thomas Aquinas
O sacrum convivium,
in quo Christus sumitur;
recolitur memoria passionis eius:
mens impletur gratia:
et future gloriae nobis pignus datur.
O sacred Banquet, wherein Christ is received; the memory of His Passion renewed, the mind is filled with grace, and the pledge of future glory is given unto us.
Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament
St. Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)
O Jesus, present in the Sacrament of the Altar,
teach all nations to serve you with a willing heart,
knowing that to serve God is to reign.
May your sacrament, O Jesus, be light to the mind, strength to the will,
joy to the heart. May it be the support for the weak,
the comfort for the suffering, the wayfaring bread of salvation for the dying,
and, for all, the pledge of future glory.
Prayer in Full Faith
St. Thomas More (1478-1535)
Give me, good Lord, a full and fervent charity,
a love of you, good Lord, incomparable above the love of myself;
and that I love nothing to your displeasure
but everything in an order to you.
Take from me, good Lord, this lukewarm fashion,
or rather this cold manner of meditation
and this dullness in praying to you.
And give me warmth, delight, and life
in thinking about you.
And give me your grace to long for your hold sacraments
and specially to rejoice in the presence of your
blessed body, sweet Savior, in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar,
and duly to thank you for your gracious coming.