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brian
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| Location: | Chicago South Burbs, Illinois USA |
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| First Name: | brian | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | methodist, evangelical, anglican, catholic |
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Posted: Wed Apr 11th, 2007 03:11 pm |
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How comparable is praying in a specific room where the host is exposed (Eucharistic adoration) to simply staying in a church after mass and praying and focusing on the tabernacle. What are the differences? Can I adore Chrit's presence in a unique way directed toard the tabernacle (like genuflecting but more prayer) the same way I can before a monstrance? How hidden is he since we lock the door, and only expose Him when people are going to watch and pray with him. Will I get the same benefit of staing after mass to pray as I would if I went from mass to an adoartion chapel?
The reason I ask is so I know if it would be unnecesary to leave one place to go pray in another if everything I am looking for is already where I was. So therfore I could achieve in one trip what I normally would do separately.
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David W. Emery
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Posted: Wed Apr 11th, 2007 03:52 pm |
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Basically the two scenarios are identical except for the receptacle. Locking the tabernacle door (done for obvious human security reasons) has no effect on Jesus, since as you know from the gospel, he can pass through locked doors and commune with his disciples any time he pleases. So pray in either place to your heart’s content.
David
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brian
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
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| First Name: | brian | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | methodist, evangelical, anglican, catholic |
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Posted: Thu Apr 12th, 2007 01:26 am |
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| Thank you. So you are saying that there is no advantage whatsoever to getting out of a church where Jesus is in the tabernacle and going to a room where he is exposed in a monstrance. And that I can adore him in the tabernacle without being able to see him exposed. But both are somehow superior to praying outside in the parking lot (even though you just said he can go through doors and stuff)? I mean, I know God is everywhere, but there is something special about being in a room where He is present in the sacrament whther locked up or not. So the main reason we lock the tabernacle is to protect the Sacrament and not because he would be lonely exposed with nobody there to pray?
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David W. Emery
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Posted: Thu Apr 12th, 2007 01:58 am |
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The advantage of the monstrance over the tabernacle is that you are able to see the host with your physical eyes. Beyond that, the physical proximity can sometimes be “felt.” These are the main reasons people find praying in the parking lot or even on a mountaintop less inspiring than in church or before the monstrance in the adoration chapel. On the other hand, the virtue of faith should show us how to pray anywhere, anytime, under any conditions. It’s just generally easier for our composite nature to work with the physical closeness.
So the main reason we lock the tabernacle is to protect the Sacrament and not because he would be lonely exposed with nobody there to pray?
So long as you are keeping him company wherever you are and whatever you may be doing, Jesus will not be lonely. And neither will you.
David
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brian
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Posted: Thu Apr 12th, 2007 10:46 am |
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| So then whatever the advantage is of praying before the monstrance with the host exposed we can have the same advantage before the tabernacle and should see no need to do both in one day in the same period of time?
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David W. Emery
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Posted: Thu Apr 12th, 2007 03:47 pm |
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From the personal point of view, this is correct. The only time you will want to consider time in front of the monstrance more valuable, as opposed to before the tabernacle, is if you have made a commitment to be there. Then it becomes a matter of obedience and not prayer only. There is never a reason to do both, because they are virtually the same thing.
On the other hand, your personal spiritual walk, your personal prayer life and your daily schedule of tasks are going to favor one over the other. One way will just “work” better for you. This is where you should make your choice as to what you will do. The purpose of the Christian life, including prayer and visitations to the Blessed Sacrament, is to increase in virtue, especially charity. Whatever “works” best to foster this goal is what you are called to do.
David
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brian
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Posted: Fri Apr 13th, 2007 02:05 am |
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Well then what I imagine is that if I go to a daily mass and am allowed to stay in the church afterward and say some of my prayers and spend time adoring Jesus in the Eucharist in the tabernacle that this will save me time from having to take another trip to the chapel if my purpose was to spend some time in His Eucharistic presence since I will have already done this. Like if it was my goal or desire to spend say one hour praying and adoring his presence in the Eucharist and I can stay and do this after mass, then there is no reason I should have left the church and driven over to another church with a chapel to spend this same hour since everything I needed to devote my love and attention to Christ in the Eucharist was just as manifest to me whether or not he is being displayed in a monstrance or locked in a tabernacle.
Perhaps this way I can do some of my devotions and quiet prayer after mass and then go to the chapel for more reflection or reading later in the evening when I feel like I may want to pray more with the Sacrament, but I should not feel guilty if my time in a church takes my time away I normally spent in the chapel, since it is the same Jesus and the devotion is just as possible in both places. So really if I find myself going staying after mass 3 times more in a week and going to the chapel three times less in a week I have effectively given the same amount of love and not necessarily missed any blessing I would have received from having been in the chapel after mass instead of staying i nthe church.
I am asking because some churches I go to mass for that are closer to my house do not have a chapel and it makes more sense to me to stay in one place then to drive a few miles to do what was already possible if I stayed where I was.
I was wondering if it is the same thing why did Eucharistic adoration even develop if we already were able to do this without the trouble of keeping a room going and keeping a host exposed. I then supposed that the answer was that it is a way for the faithful to be praying and worshipping Jesus 24 hours a day (which I think He is pleased by) and it is available all day whereas you can not keep a church open 24 hours a day, but that it does not necessarily provide people with something that they can not have access to at other times if they are praying in the church. But it is also good I suppose for making devotion to the Eucharist at the very forefront of our mind and strengthens our faith and gives us a chance to express our faith in the "real presence"
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David W. Emery
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Posted: Fri Apr 13th, 2007 08:40 am |
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Your thoughts are very perceptive, Brian. I believe you have charted a good course for yourself.
David
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