PRAYER GUIDE Transformation in Christ - Eucharistic Adoration Lessons from Blessed James Alberione
Excerpted from Beginning Contemplative Prayer by Kathryn J. Hermes, FSP
Since the twelfth century, the Church has directed that the Eucharist be worshiped outside of Mass. Blessed James Alberione saw the hour of eucharistic adoration as a visit with Jesus in three movements--Truth, Way, and Life. “The true hour of eucharistic adoration, the true visit,” writes Blessed James Alberione, “is like the soul which pervades all the hours, occupations, thoughts, relations of our day. It is the lymph or vital current that influences everything and communicates its spirit even to the most ordinary things. It forms the spirituality that is lived and communicated. It forms the spirit of prayer which, when cultivated, transforms every work into prayer.” Here is a guide for eucharistic adoration and contemplation based on Alberione’s way: Open Your Heart In the first movement of the visit we honor God as Truth. The Hebrew word for truth refers not to an intellectual proposition. Truth signifies a guarantee of the fidelity of God found ultimately in the person of Jesus Christ: life, death, and resurrection. Therefore, begin your contemplation by adoring Jesus as the fidelity of God. You will enter a world of safety and peace and be realigned with the truth of all God wants for you. Consider that God would send his only Son to manifest his love for you (see Jn 3:16). Open your heart and tell Jesus your troubles, fears, agonies, and crucifixions. Present to him decisions you need to make and dilemmas you are in. Before the eucharistic Lord, Alberione would have you take as long as you need to become aware of how you are feeling. Call to mind what has happened in your life in the past day or week. Which events are shaping your life, affecting others in a serious way, or need to be looked at in the light of God’s wisdom? Speak freely to Jesus of all that is in your heart. Jesus is at your disposal for as long as you want his attention. Then pick up a book from which you can hear the wisdom of God: the Bible, especially the Gospels; a book of spiritual reading; the lives of the saints. Sit in the shade of Wisdom (Wis 6:12), or at the feet of Jesus as Mary did (Lk 10:38-42), or in a crowd around Jesus (see Mt 5); or kneel in the temple before the theophany, where the angels cry out, “Holy, holy, holy” (Isa 6). Use your imagination if it assists you in entering the reading. Read short passages several times if repetition breaks open a passage in new ways for you. Here you can apply what you have learned about lectio divina or centering prayer. God says, “[M]y thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” (Isa 55:8). Therefore, it is important to make acts of faith; to ask for the gifts of wisdom, understanding, and counsel; and to seek the prudence of the saints, a deeper insight into
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