Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament

Gathering before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in a monstrance in order to praise our Blessed Lord and to pray to him, is a very old devotion.

It makes clear one of the most basic beliefs of the Catholic Church which is also one of its profoundest mysteries: Our Lord is truly present in the consecrated Bread, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, in a very special way.

Since the Eucharistic mystery was instituted out of love, and makes Christ sacramentally present, it is worthy of thanksgiving and worship. And this worship must be prominent in all our encounters with the Blessed Sacrament. (Pope St John Paul II: Dominicae cenae, 1980: a Holy Thursday letter to priests.)

O Sacrament most holy!
O Sacrament divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving
Be every moment thine.