We all know that we have to pray. The importance of praying is not something that anyone who takes the spiritual life seriously questions. But how to pray is another matter. And in particular, how do we pray before the Blessed Sacrament? Prayer while we are in Eucharistic Adoration came sometimes seem daunting to the beginner, especially to someone who is not accustomed to the long periods of silence that are often associated with prayer before the Real Presence of Jesus.
It is important to know that there is not only one correct way of praying before the Blessed Sacrament. Prayer is a very intimate union of an individual soul with God; as a result, it is very personal and can therefore take on a variety of forms. Prayer is primarily an act of love, even more than it is an intellectual exercise. And because love is the most personal thing that exists, prayer is as individual and unique as are the ones who pray.
That being said, there are certainly some wrong ways of praying. First of all, prayer is not a theological exercise. Our times of prayer are not primarily meant to be times of theological reasoning. While meditating on the Gospel, or on the scenes of the life of Christ, or on the mysteries of our Holy Catholic Faith, can certainly include some theological reflection, the goal of such spiritual exercises is not primarily to “do theology” in one’s head. If prayer is primarily an act of love, then it must come first of all from the heart. In biblical language, the heart is the place where a human soul encounters God. Thus the heart is the inner sanctuary of the person, where the Holy of Holies [the Presence of the Most Holy Trinity] dwells.
Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament is also not primarily meant to be a long stream of petitions or requests that we make to God. While it is fine to pray "for things", this should not be the sole reason (or even the primary purpose) for which we pray. Prayer should be first of all an act of worship of God, an act of love, and an act of willful submission to, and union with, God's Holy Will. While intercessory prayer (the form of prayer in which we ask God for something) is certainly not wrong, it should not be the exclusive focus of our time of Adoration.
When we pray, it is important to begin by placing ourself in the presence of God. This is most easily done when we pray before the Blessed Sacrament because Jesus is really and truly present there. But if it is not possible to be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, then placing oneself in Our Lord's presence can be done anywhere that we pray — and not just before the Holy Sacrament of the Altar — because God is present everywhere by what is called His Presence of Immensity. This Presence of Immensity flows from the attribute of God that is known as His Omnipresence; God is present everywhere. [Note that we do not mean, here, that God is present everywhere in the way in which pantheism understands it. God is somehow present even in a simple plant or tree because He sustains it in its being and its life: but God is not the plant or the tree. God is not a creature: He is outside the realm of the created as Creator.]
Now of all places where Our Lord is present, apart from the Blessed Sacrament, His presence is strongest within the human soul — and here, we mean a soul that is in the state of grace (that is, a soul that is not in mortal sin). So the first step of prayer is to place oneself in the presence of God by withdrawing interiorly into the depths of one's soul. This is why the spiritual life (the life of prayer and union with God) is also known as The Interior Life.
After placing oneself in the presence of God, it is important to ask God for His help or grace before beginning one’s time of prayer properly speaking. This is because, as Jesus Himself reminds us, without Him we can do nothing. Thus we must not neglect to take some time before entering into prayer to invoke the Holy Spirit, who will teach us how to pray well, and also will pray within us.
Once we have invoked the Holy Spirit, we should set up the material for our reflection. We can do this by opening the Scriptures to a scene from the Holy Gospels, or the Psalms, or the writings of St. Paul. We can also use the prophetic books of the Old Testament to provide material for our reflection. But besides the Scriptures, we may also want to use the writings from a Saint or a Doctor of the Church. The Lives of the Saints can also provide rich material to meditate upon. As we meditate on the life of a particular Saint, it is always good to refer back to the life of Jesus Himself, because all that the Saints really do is show us some particular aspect of the holiness of Christ. This is easier to do when we are actually praying before the Real Presence of Jesus on the Altar or in the Tabernacle.
When we meditate on the life of Christ or the life of a Saint, or on some other aspect of our Faith, it is good to remember what was said before: namely, that prayer must flow above all from the heart. We don't pray primarily to gain knowledge or to satisfy our human curiosity; we pray first of all to enter into communion with God , which is a union of our heart with His. Thus our meditation should produce affections, which are movements of love of the heart. We can express these affections by speaking to God and telling Him how much we love Him. Directing these prayers directly to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is a very powerful way of praying.
Once we have expressed our affections through this conversation of love, it is important to make some resolutions. And these resolutions should not be too vague. In fact, the more concrete they are, the better. For example, you could make the resolution to grow more in the virtue of patience after having meditated on the sufferings endured by a particular Saint. Or you may make the resolve to be more faithful in forgiving your enemies as you meditate on Christ who, from the Cross, prayed to His Father, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Resolutions are important to make during our time of prayer because, without concrete resolutions, our prayer will never help us to grow in virtue and in holiness.
Once resolutions have been made, it is good to take some time to prolong our prayer in a spirit of thanksgiving. This is where we thank God for the graces received during our prayer time, and ask Him for the grace to remain faithful to our resolutions. This time of thanksgiving is not to be omitted, as Our Lord tells us in the narrative of the Ten Lepers. Nine of the ten failed to give thanks to God for their healing, and these hurt the Heart of Jesus. Only one returned to give Him thanks, and this one leper was praised by Our Lord for doing so.
Failing to thank God for His graces is equivalent to taking God for granted. This is why we should be especially careful to do an act of thanksgiving after receiving Holy Communion, for what greater gift could we possibly receive in this life from God than the Gift of His very own Sacred Body in the Holy Host?
So to summarize, here are the key steps for a very simple method of praying before the Blessed Sacrament:
Place yourself in the presence of God by focusing on Jesus who is really there before you in the Blessed Sacrament.
Ask for the help or grace of the Holy Spirit during your time of prayer, for it is the Holy Spirit who teaches us to pray and who prays within us.
Read prayerfully and meditate on a passage from the Holy Gospels, the Psalms, the Letters of St. Paul, the Old Testament, or the writings or lives of the Saints or of some other solid, Catholic author.
Let your reading bring about affections in your heart, and through these affections (acts of love) speak lovingly to God, and express your desire for Him as well as your wish to be united to Him in the Blessed Sacrament.
Make concrete resolutions to grow in particular virtues or ways of holiness.
Thank God for the graces you have received in your time of prayer, and ask Him to help you to remain faithful to your good resolutions.
These are some simple steps that you can follow to deepen your prayer life and your union with Our Lord when you pray before the Blessed Sacrament. There is nothing more important that we can do in this life than prayer. Prayer is the food of the soul. It is the beginning of Eternal Life, already here on earth.
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