Prayer 2: Adoration

About a month ago, at our last Holy Preaching, we heard about Christian Prayer. We divided the different aspects of prayer into Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. We shall look at each one of these in the upcoming holy preachings so we can better understand why they are important for Christian prayer and how to better pray ourselves.

Today we will look at Adoration. What is Adoration?  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says

Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love. "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve," says Jesus, citing Deuteronomy. 13(Lk 4:8; Deut 6:13).  To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute submission, the "nothingness of the creature" who would not exist but for God. To adore God is to praise and exalt him and to humble oneself, as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude that he has done great things and holy is his name. 14(Lk 1:46-49) The worship of the one God sets man free from turning in on himself, from the slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world.(CCC 2096-7) 

The Catechism teaches that when we adore God, we are giving God His rightful due as the Lord and Creator of the world and all its creation, and each of us personally acknowledges Him as our Creator. It is to praise and exalt Him as our Lord and God as we humble ourselves in front of him. Worshipping Him as the Creator helps us put ourselves in perspective; He is First, above all. By giving Him His rightful due, we put Him as the first and foremost of all, above ourselves, giving us the profound realisation of the truth that we are nothing without Him and all things come from Him and return to Him.

The CCC goes on to say:

Adoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator. It exalts the greatness of the Lord who made us⁹⁹ and the almighty power of the Savior who sets us free from evil. Adoration is homage of the spirit to the "King of Glory,"¹⁰⁰ respectful silence in the presence of the "ever greater" God.¹⁰¹ Adoration of the thrice holy and sovereign God of love blends with humility and gives assurance to our supplications. (CCC2628)

"For me, prayer is a burst from my heart, it is a simple glance thrown toward Heaven, a cry of thanksgiving and love in times of trial as well as in times of joy." (St. Therese of Lisieux) 

 The acts of faith, hope, and charity enjoined by the first commandment are accomplished in prayer. Lifting up the mind toward God is an expression of our adoration of God: prayer of praise and thanksgiving, intercession and petition. Prayer is an indispensable condition for being able to obey God's commandments. "[We] ought always to pray and not lose heart." (Lk 18:1)(CCC 2098)

The act of prayer itself is an act of adoration. When we pray, God gives us grace to be able to live according to His commandments. Other forms of prayer such as praise, blessings, petition, thanksgiving and intercession are extensions of adoration. We adore the Lord at Mass. We adore the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament during exposition, the Liturgy of the Hours, and in our personal prayer.

The Catechism elaborates these themes: 

The Church invites the faithful to regular prayer: daily prayers, the Liturgy of the Hours, Sunday Eucharist, the feasts of the liturgical year. (CCC2720 

and

The Eucharist contains and expresses all forms of prayer: it is "the pure offering" of the whole Body of Christ to the glory of God's name and, according to the traditions of East and West, it is the "sacrifice of praise."(CCC2643)

Worship of the Eucharist is expressed in various ways: 

In the liturgy of the Mass, we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord. "The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession."(CCC378 )

The Church and the world 'have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease.'(St. John Paul II, Dominicae cenae, 3) and visiting the Blessed Sacrament is "a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord" (Pope St. Paul VI, MF 66).  LIkewise, 'The Liturgy of the Hours, which is like an extension of the Eucharistic celebration, does not exclude but rather in a complementary way calls forth the various devotions of the People of God, especially adoration and worship of the Blessed Sacrament. (CCC1178)

Prayer in all its forms, brings us into the presence of God: in personal prayer we recognise the presence of God in creation, in the surroundings and within each one of us. This practice helps us recognise that God is always with us. When we recognise the presence of God within ourselves, we realise who we truly belong to, we are not our own but His and we exist and are able to do all that we do because of His loving grace and mercy. When we recognise the presence of God within each human being in this world, we realise we are all children of God. This insight can help us overcome our ill feelings towards other people and learn to love them as brothers and sisters made in the image and likeness of God, like ourselves. Our spiritual growth is signalled by our growth in charity. As St. John says, 'We love, because he first loved us: If any one says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should love his brother also.' (1Jn 4:19-21)

We worship and adore God in creation. As the Catechism tells us:

'Creation was fashioned with a view to the sabbath and therefore for the worship and adoration of God. Worship is inscribed in the order of creation.  As the rule of St. Benedict says, nothing should take precedence over "the work of God", that is, solemn worship.  This indicates the right order of human concerns.' (CCC347)

All of creation proclaims the glory of God:

 The heavens are telling the glory of God;

    and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

 Day to day pours forth speech,

    and night to night declares knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words;

    their voice is not heard;

yet their voice[a] goes out through all the earth,

    and their words to the end of the world. (Psalm 19)

All of creation lives and thrives owing to the Lord, and His presence can be seen and felt in its being.

PRAYER OF PRAISE

Another way to adore the Lord is through Praise. The Catechism says:

 Praise is the form of prayer which recognizes most immediately that God is God. It lauds God for His own sake and gives Him glory, quite beyond what He does, but simply because HE IS. It shares in the blessed happiness of the pure of heart who love God in faith before seeing Him in glory. By praise, the Spirit is joined to our spirits to bear witness that we are children of God, testifying to the only Son in whom we are adopted and by whom we glorify the Father. Praise embraces the other forms of prayer and carries them toward him who is its source and goal: the "one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist."(CCC 2639)

By praising God, we recognise Him for who He is, and when we praise Him our spirits are joined to the Holy Spirit. Praise carries our prayers up to God:

St. Luke in his gospel often expresses wonder and praise at the marvels of Christ and in his Acts of the Apostles stresses them as actions of the Holy Spirit: the community of Jerusalem, the invalid healed by Peter and John, the crowd that gives glory to God for that, and the pagans of Pisidia who "were glad and glorified the word of God."(CCC2640)

Another form of adoration is blessing:

Blessing expresses the basic movement of Christian prayer: it is an encounter between God and man. In blessing, God's gift and man's acceptance of it are united in dialogue with each other. The prayer of blessing is man's response to God's gifts: because God blesses, the human heart can in return bless the One who is the source of every blessing.Two fundamental forms express this movement (blessing): our prayer ascends in the Holy Spirit through Christ to the Father — we bless him for having blessed us;⁹⁷ it implores the grace of the Holy Spirit that descends through Christ from the Father — he blesses us. (CCC2626-7)

'Because God blesses the human heart, it can in return bless him who is the source of every blessing'(CCC2645): God blesses us first and we bless Him in return for His gifts.

Sacrifice

Sacrifice is a form of adoration to God. Offering our daily life and our daily acts as a sacrifice is also an act of adoration. We render to God all that we have and are as we recognise that it is all because of Him alone:   

It is right to offer sacrifice to God as a sign of adoration and gratitude, supplication and communion: "Every action done so as to cling to God in communion of holiness, and thus achieve blessedness, is a true sacrifice." CCC2099 cf. St. Augustine, De civ Dei 10,6:PL 41,283)

Above we offer to him ourselves as a living sacrifice as St. Paul says in Romans 12:1:

‘I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.’

We are taught by the Lord in the Gospel of John about true worship and the nature of a true worshipper:'...the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him.²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.'(John 4:23-24)

Expressions of prayer: vocal, contemplation, meditation

'All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.' Blaise Pascal

There is a profound need for prayer in the world today. The positive effects of meditation and prayer is well witnessed by even the secular society. Psychological effects of adoration are calming the nervous system, reducing stress and anxiety, and promoting emotional regulation, resilience, and gratitude. A study conducted on the effects of prayer:

‘We focus on prayers of adoration toward God, which involve praise of and interaction with God, as a form of devotional prayer. Prayers of adoration have the psychological benefit of lifting individuals out of themselves and diminish egocentricity (Watts, 2001). Watts (2001) claims that it is psychologically freeing for individuals to open their hearts to God in an act of unwavering appreciation. This form of prayer may help individuals to calm both their mind or body and can help the process of stress recovery. Meisenhelder and Chandler (2001) suggested that this form of prayer is beneficial to mental health because this praise may strengthen one’s relationship with God, fostering a deeper sense of love and appreciation for the divine being. Offering prayers of praise to God as a form of devotion may also increase confidence that the person is praying in accordance with the will of God (Henning, 1981), rather than petitioning for outcomes to happen according to their own timeline. Altogether, prayer with the aim of showing devotion to God could decrease anxiety by reminding individuals that there is a God who cares about our worship.’ (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9713100/)

The Catechism takes us through the different ways that one can pray in adoration.

• VOCAL PRAYER

'Through his Word, God speaks to man. By words, mental or vocal, our prayer takes flesh. Yet it is most important that the heart should be present to him to whom we are speaking in prayer: "Whether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number of words, but on the fervor of our souls."  Vocal prayer is an essential element of the Christian life. To his disciples, drawn by their Master's silent prayer, Jesus teaches a vocal prayer, the Our Father. He not only prayed aloud the liturgical prayers of the synagogue but, as the Gospels show, he raised his voice to express his personal prayer, from exultant blessing of the Father to the agony of Gethsemane. The need to involve the senses in interior prayer corresponds to a requirement of our human nature. We are body and spirit, and we experience the need to translate our feelings externally. We must pray with our whole being to give all power possible to our supplication.'  This need also corresponds to a divine requirement. God seeks worshippers in Spirit and in Truth, and consequently living prayer that rises from the depths of the soul. He also wants the external expression that associates the body with interior prayer, for it renders him that perfect homage which is his due. Because it is external and so thoroughly human, vocal prayer is the form of prayer most readily accessible to groups. Even interior prayer, however, cannot neglect vocal prayer. Prayer is internalized to the extent that we become aware of him "to whom we speak;"4 Thus vocal prayer becomes an initial form of contemplative prayer.'(CCC2700-4)

• II. MEDITATION

 Meditation is above all a quest. The mind seeks to understand the why and how of the Christian life, in order to adhere and respond to what the Lord is asking. The required attentiveness is difficult to sustain. We are usually helped by books, and Christians do not want for them: the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels, holy icons, liturgical texts of the day or season, writings of the spiritual fathers, works of spirituality, the great book of creation, and that of history the page on which the "today" of God is written.To meditate on what we read helps us to make it our own by confronting it with ourselves. Here, another book is opened: the book of life. We pass from thoughts to reality. To the extent that we are humble and faithful, we discover in meditation the movements that stir the heart and we are able to discern them. It is a question of acting truthfully in order to come into the light: "Lord, what do you want me to do?" There are as many and varied methods of meditation as there are spiritual masters. Christians owe it to themselves to develop the desire to meditate regularly, lest they come to resemble the three first kinds of soil in the parable of the sower.5 But a method is only a guide; the important thing is to advance, with the Holy Spirit, along the one way of prayer: Christ Jesus.  Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him. (CCC2705-8)

 

• III. CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER

'What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: "Contemplative prayer [oracion mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us."6 Contemplative prayer seeks him "whom my soul loves." It is Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire him is always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in him. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.  The choice of the time and duration of the prayer arises from a determined will, revealing the secrets of the heart. One does not undertake contemplative prayer only when one has the time: one makes time for the Lord, with the firm determination not to give up, no matter what trials and dryness one may encounter. One cannot always meditate, but one can always enter into inner prayer, independently of the conditions of health, work, or emotional state. The heart is the place of this quest and encounter, in poverty and in faith.  Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering into the Eucharistic liturgy: we "gather up:" the heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place of the Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence of him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our hearts back to the Lord who loves us, so as to hand ourselves over to him as an offering to be purified and transformed. Contemplative prayer is the prayer of the child of God, of the forgiven sinner who agrees to welcome the love by which he is loved and who wants to respond to it by loving even more.8 But he knows that the love he is returning is poured out by the Spirit in his heart, for everything is grace from God. Contemplative prayer is the poor and humble surrender to the loving will of the Father in ever deeper union with his beloved Son. Contemplative prayer is the simplest expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gift, a grace; it can be accepted only in humility and poverty. Contemplative prayer is a covenant relationship established by God within our hearts.9 Contemplative prayer is a communion in which the Holy Trinity conforms man, the image of God, "to his likeness."Contemplative prayer is also the pre-eminently intense time of prayer. In it the Father strengthens our inner being with power through his Spirit "that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts through faith" and we may be "grounded in love." Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed on Jesus. "I look at him and he looks at me": this is what a certain peasant of Ars in the time of his holy Curé used to say while praying before the tabernacle. This focus on Jesus is a renunciation of self. His gaze purifies our heart; the light of the countenance of Jesus illumines the eyes of our heart and teaches us to see everything in the light of his truth and his compassion for all men. Contemplation also turns its gaze on the mysteries of the life of Christ. Thus it learns the "interior knowledge of our Lord," the more to love him and follow him.  Contemplative prayer is hearing the Word of God. Far from being passive, such attentiveness is the obedience of faith, the unconditional acceptance of a servant, and the loving commitment of a child. It participates in the "Yes" of the Son become servant and the Fiat of God's lowly handmaid.  Contemplative prayer is silence, the "symbol of the world to come"12 or "silent love."13 Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they are like kindling that feeds the fire of love. In this silence, unbearable to the "outer" man, the Father speaks to us his incarnate Word, who suffered, died, and rose; in this silence the Spirit of adoption enables us to share in the prayer of Jesus.  Contemplative prayer is a union with the prayer of Christ insofar as it makes us participate in his mystery. The mystery of Christ is celebrated by the Church in the Eucharist, and the Holy Spirit makes it come alive in contemplative prayer so that our charity will manifest it in our acts. Contemplative prayer is a communion of love bearing Life for the multitude, to the extent that it consents to abide in the night of faith. The Paschal night of the Resurrection passes through the night of the agony and the tomb — the three intense moments of the Hour of Jesus which his Spirit (and not "the flesh [which] is weak") brings to life in prayer. We must be willing to "keep watch with [him] one hour."(CCC2709-19)

Examples of adoration in the Bible

I would like to look at some of the examples of adoration in the Bible.  We find this in Isaiah:

'I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:"

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.(Isaiah 6:1-4)

and in Revelation we read:

"...the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,  “Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou didst create all things, and by thy will they existed and were created.”(Revelation 4:8-11)

Pentecost

As we are approaching the feast of the Pentecost, we ask God to send upon us the Holy Spirit, Who, as St Paul tells us,  helps us to pray:  'Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words'(CCCRomans 8:26). We read in the Catechism: 

'The Holy Spirit who teaches the Church and recalls to her all that Jesus said also instructs her in the life of prayer, inspiring new expressions of the same basic forms of prayer: blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise. (CCC2644)

 And again:

On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of the Promise was poured out on the disciples, gathered "together in one place."92 While awaiting the Spirit, "all these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer."In the first community of Jerusalem, believers "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and the prayers."This sequence is characteristic of the Church's prayer: founded on the apostolic faith; authenticated by charity; nourished in the Eucharist.  The Holy Spirit, who thus keeps the memory of Christ alive in his Church at prayer, also leads her toward the fullness of truth and inspires new formulations expressing the unfathomable mystery of Christ at work in his Church's life, sacraments, and mission. (CCC2623 -5)

 It is the Holy Spirit then Who enables us to pray, and is the Object of our worship:

"No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit."21 Every time we begin to pray to Jesus it is the Holy Spirit who draws us on the way of prayer by his prevenient grace. Since he teaches us to pray by recalling Christ, how could we not pray to the Spirit too? That is why the Church invites us to call upon the Holy Spirit every day, especially at the beginning and the end of every important action.

'If the Spirit should not be worshiped, how can he divinize me through Baptism? If he should be worshiped, should he not be the object of adoration?'(CCC2670)

Adoration as an image of the life to come

Adoration is an image of the world that is to come. Our life is directed towards God and adoring Him for eternity when we have passed from this life. When we have finished our journey in exile, we are purified and enter heaven to see the Beatific Vision. Here we adore the Lord God profoundly, in complete reverence, with no distraction for all eternity. It will be our natural state in heaven to adore Him, much like breathing while we are on earth. We will not be overcome with distractions, dryness and the endless attempt to maintain focus on prayer.  Again we read in the Catechism:

The Revelation of "what must soon take place," the Apocalypse, is borne along by the songs of the heavenly liturgy¹²⁷ but also by the intercession of the "witnesses" (martyrs).¹²⁸ The prophets and the saints, all those who were slain on earth for their witness to Jesus, the vast throng of those who, having come through the great tribulation, have gone before us into the Kingdom, all sing the praise and glory of him who sits on the throne, and of the Lamb.¹²⁹ In communion with them, the Church on earth also sings these songs with faith in the midst of trial. By means of petition and intercession, faith hopes against all hope and gives thanks to the "Father of lights," from whom "every perfect gift" comes down.¹³⁰ Thus faith is pure praise. (CCC2642)

and finally: 

For man, this consummation will be the final realization of the unity of the human race, which God willed from creation and of which the pilgrim Church has been "in the nature of sacrament."Those who are united with Christ will form the community of the redeemed, "the holy city" of God, "the Bride, the wife of the Lamb." She will not be wounded any longer by sin, stains, self-love, that destroy or wound the earthly community.  The beatific vision, in which God opens himself in an inexhaustible way to the elect, will be the ever-flowing well-spring of happiness, peace, and mutual communion. (CCC1045 )