Adoration is an opportunity to dialogue personally with Christ, to get to know and love him more intimately, to make reparation for our sins and those of mankind, to thank him for his testimony of self-giving and love, to offer our own struggles in favor of his kingdom, and to pray for the needs of the Church, our own family, the world, and ourselves.
Eucharistic Adoration at St. Raymond’s is every Wednesday from 8:30am to 7pm and Friday from 8:30am to 3pm.
Anyone can come for spontaneous visits. We also have regular visitors that come the same time each week. It is required to have two regular adorers at all times so that our Lord will not be left alone. If you want to sign up but can’t commit to a regular hour, we are always looking for substitutes.
Contact for Wednesday: Leslie Schratz at 703-569-1940 or spoiledk9s@verizon.net
Contact for Fridays:
Virginia Osella at 703-440-0535 or virginia.osella@straymonds.org
QUOTES ON ADORATION
“Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love,” St. John Paul II wrote in Dominicae Cenae, one of his early papal letters. Like many saints throughout the ages, John Paul II felt an intense “need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament,” from which he drew “strength, consolation, and support” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 25).
“The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass is of inestimable value for the life of the Church. This worship is strictly linked to the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The presence of Christ under the sacred species reserved for Mass–a presence which lasts as long as the species of bread and wine remain–derives from the celebration of the sacrifice and is directed toward communion, both sacramental and spiritual. It is the responsibility of pastors to encourage, also by their personal witness, the practice of Eucharistic adoration, and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in particular, as well as prayer of adoration before Christ present under the Eucharistic species.” (St. John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia n. 25)
“Adoration is recognizing that Jesus is my Lord, that Jesus shows me the way to take, and that I will live well only if I know the road that Jesus points out and follow the path he shows me. Therefore, adoration means saying: “Jesus, I am yours. I will follow you in my life, I never want to lose this friendship, this communion with you”. I could also say that adoration is essentially an embrace with Jesus in which I say to him: “I am yours, and I ask you, please stay with me always”.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Catechetical Meeting with Children 10/15/2005)
“Communion and contemplation cannot be separated, they go hand in hand. If I am truly to communicate with another person I must know him, I must be able to be in silence close to him, to listen to him and look at him lovingly. True love and true friendship are always nourished by the reciprocity of looks, of intense, eloquent silences full of respect and veneration, so that the encounter may be lived profoundly and personally rather than superficially. And, unfortunately, if this dimension is lacking, sacramental communion itself may become a superficial gesture on our part.” (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily on the Feast of Corpus Christi 6/7/2012)
While in adoration, St. Catherine Labouré confided fully in the Lord. “I tell him all that passes through my mind; I recount my pains and my joys,” she said. “And then I listen. If you listen to him, he will speak to you also, because with the good God it is necessary to speak and to listen. He will always speak to you if you go to him simply and sincerely.”
