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Is it Catholic or not to Prostrate in Adoration <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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- ADORATION<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
What is adoration?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Regarding the meaning of the word adoration, we can point out that there are three meanings that complement each other and that all serve the purpose of this essay at the same time. Let us see:<\/p>\n
\u00a0a. <\/strong>Etymological meaning<\/strong><\/p>\n
Pope Benedict XVI, in the homily he gave on August 21, 2005, on his apostolic trip to Cologne for the 20th<\/sup> World Youth Day, made brief references to the meaning of the word \u201cadoration\u201d in both Greek and Latin.<\/p>\n
In the Greek language the word for adoration is proskynesis<\/em>, and the pope explains what the gesture of submission means, the recognition of God as our true measure, whose norm we accept to follow. It means that freedom does not mean enjoying life but being oriented to truth and goodness.<\/p>\n
In the Greek dictionary, this same term is understood as bending the knees forward, submitting, humiliating, prostrating \u2013 in such a way that the words \u201cadore\u201d and \u201cprostrate\u201d have the same etymological root in this language. In the Latin language, the term adoration comes from ad-oratio <\/em>which means to pray to, to speak to, to converse with, to ask. Therefore, since adoration is directed exclusively to God, adoration consists of praying to God, speaking to God, conversing with God, asking God, pleading with God. Pope Benedict XVI, in his aforementioned homily, affirms that the words have the same Latin root: \u201cThe Latin word for adoration is ad-oratio<\/em> \u2013 mouth to mouth contact, a kiss, an embrace, and hence, ultimately love. Submission becomes union, because He to whom we submit is Love. In this way submission acquires a meaning, because it does not impose anything on us from the outside, but liberates us deep within.\u201d From these words of the Holy Father, we can infer that when we adore Our Lord Jesus Christ in the consecrated Host, we freely submit to Him, as if giving Him a hug and a kiss, and we allow ourselves to be guided by Him, who is Love, so that He may lead us to be true and good.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
b. Common meaning<\/strong><\/p>\n
In the popular language of our Spanish-speaking people, the term \u201cadore\u201d is understood in the sense of loving excessively. It is a kind of superior, sublime, exalted love. It is a love that is above other loves. The first commandment of the Law of God is: \u201cyou shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might\u201d (Deut. 6,5). This is to adore: to love God for on top of all other loves. It is the first and highest of all the commandments.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
c. Catholic meaning<\/strong><\/p>\n
Number 1378 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em> says: \u201cIn 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.\u201d In number 2096 it states: \u201cAdoration 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.\u201d In number 2628 of the Catechism<\/em>, it states: \u201cAdoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adoration is, then, praying with God, being fully aware of being in front of Him, speaking to Him, blessing Him, asking Him, thanking Him, pleading with Him, prostrating ourselves before Him, because He is our greatest Love, whom we must love above all things and people, and to whom we have the duty to express our faith by recognizing Him for what He is: the only true God, owner and Lord of all that exists, and our Creator; and we, who are His creatures and therefore His children, must thank Him for having given us existence and for having sent His only-begotten Son for the salvation of all souls who want to be saved.<\/p>\n
2. EUCHARISTIC ADORATION<\/strong><\/p>\n
a. <\/strong>What is the Eucharist?<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Eucharist is the source, the culmination, and the vital center of the Church’s mission. It is the greatest gift of love: that of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who invites us to give our lives for friends (cf. Jn. 15,13) as He gave it in its entirety, to the last drop of His precious Blood, to reveal to us God’s infinite love for each man. Jesus is really present in the consecrated Host.<\/p>\n
We can even affirm that He is the Holy Eucharist, that He is the consecrated Host. In the Eucharistic celebration, right at the moment of consecration, the infinite power of God produces transubstantiation (cf. Conc. Trent, session XIII, chap 8, can 2) by turning the substance of bread into the true flesh of Christ and the substance of wine into the true blood of Christ.<\/p>\n
Although the appearances of bread and wine persist, these species are no longer bread and wine \u2013 now they really are the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ: \u201cTake this all of you, and eat of it: for this is my Body, which will be given up for you.\u201d \u201cTake this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of My Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of Me.\u201d These words give a true sense of permanence, manifesting the clear intention of their perpetuation in the Eucharist. In this way Jesus fulfills His promise to be with us every day and until the end of time (cf. Mt. 28,20).<\/p>\n
In the Holy Eucharist, Jesus makes Bread for eternal life and voluntarily sacrifices Himself to the Father as a scapegoat in the most sublime holocaust of love for the redemption of humanity, and all of it is given freely, without regard to people, as real food and as real drink. He is the Bread for eternal life, the Bread that quenches hunger, the Wine that quenches thirst, the heavenly delicacy for the hungry and thirsty man of love, truth and freedom.<\/p>\n
b. Jesus in the Eucharist<\/strong><\/p>\n
At the Last Supper, Jesus made an unbloody advance \u2013 that is, without bloodshed \u2013 of the bloody sacrifice that He would make of Himself the next day at Calvary in His most painful passion and death. Thus He fulfills His promise to become the Bread of eternal Life (cf. Jn. 6,16-46). With the Eucharistic celebration, the priest offers to the Father the bloodless renewal of the sacrifice of Jesus as an eternal revival within the Church of the fulfillment of His mandate: \u201cDo this in remembrance of me\u201d <\/em>(Lk. 22,19). With His Real Presence in the Eucharist, God fulfills another of His promises: \u201cI am with you always, to the close of the age\u201d (Mt. 28,20). It is the Church that celebrates the memorial of the passion, death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, but it is God who offers Himself as a now-bloodless victim, in the perpetuation of His sacrifice on Calvary. That is why the Eucharist, which in the Greek language means thanksgiving, is the thanksgiving carried out by the people of God for the redemptive sacrifice of Christ. Jesus remains in what seems like bread and wine but those are no longer: now it is He who is truly present in Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the consecrated Host.<\/p>\n
c. What is Eucharistic adoration?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Fr. Eugenio Pacelli \u2013 the future Pope Pius XII \u2013 in a small book published in 1908, which he called Spanish Night Adoration<\/em>, wrote the following: \u201cAll the devotions of the Holy Church are beautiful, all are holy, but the most sublime, the most tender and the most fruitful is the Eucharistic adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.\u201d This is Eucharistic adoration: the most sublime devotion of the Catholic Church through which the human soul, recognizing the divine Real Presence of its Redeemer in the Eucharist, professes its witness of love and gratitude.<\/p>\n
The consecrated Host is really the Body and Blood of Christ. All the bread, and not part of it, is transubstantiated into His Body. All the wine, and not part of it, is transubstantiated into His Blood. It is Christ Himself. This is why, from the earliest times, the faithful receive the Eucharist with a deep reverence, preferably communicating on the tongue and on their knees, and the Holy Reserve is kept with the greatest decorum in the tabernacle since ancient times \u2013 a devotional custom about which the Synod of Verdun already bears witness from the 6th century. Eucharistic adoration is, therefore, the paraliturgical manifestation of the faith of the Catholic Church in the real and substantial presence of Christ under the appearances of bread and wine, which, because of our recognition of His divine majesty, we worship Him in adoration,\u00a0 not only during the\u00a0celebration of Holy Mass.<\/p>\n
d. Eucharistic adoration is a continuation of the Eucharistic celebration<\/strong><\/p>\n
The liturgical celebration of Holy Mass is both the prayer and the greatest and most important adoration of the Catholic Church. It commemorates the most sublime act of love that the earth has ever witnessed. In the admirable Eucharistic mystery, God bloodlessly repeats His absolute dedication for the salvation of humanity. And in the Eucharistic Sacrament He continues to love us with such excess that He gives us His Body and Blood until the consummation of time.<\/p>\n
No other ecclesiastical activity can surpass the beauty of the Eucharistic liturgy as a commemoration of the most sublime act of love and of the most sublime being, God Himself, who remains with and for His loved ones in the consecrated Host. The Eucharistic Reserve is kept in the sacrarium or tabernacle with the greatest respect, \u201c\u2026 exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful\u2026\u201d (Catechism<\/em>, 1378). Without priests there is no Holy Mass, without Holy Mass there is no consecrated Host, and without a consecrated Host there is no Eucharistic adoration. Eucharistic adoration is a necessary continuation of the Eucharistic celebration.<\/p>\n
At certain times in history, some came to think that the Eucharist was only for eating and not for worshiping. The Roman Catholic Church, from its earliest times, aware of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, gives the consecrated Host to her faithful both to consume and to adore. In this sense, Saint Augustine writes: \u201cNo one eats this meat without first worshiping it … we would sin if we did not worship it\u201d (\u201cNemo autem illam carnem manducat, nisi prius adoraverit \u2026 peccemus non adorando\u201d) (n. 162 MD, and n. 66 SC). Roman Catholics take Communion and adore Our Lord Jesus Christ, truly present in the Holy Eucharist. We can affirm that we consume what we adore, and we adore what we consume.<\/p>\n
e. Who do we adore in the Eucharist?<\/strong><\/p>\n
We adore Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Sacrament, who is really and substantially present in the consecrated Host, the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, under the appearances of bread and wine. He is the holy Eucharist. He is true God and true man, two natures united, without confusion, in the hypostatic union in a single divine Person. Now, together with God the Son, we also adore God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. God is triune and one, one and triune, and He maintains unity in His three divine Persons. God has existed in a trinity for all time. God the Father is the foundation of divine unity; God the Son is the Logos, the Word, the Wisdom of God; and God the Holy Spirit is the emanation of love from the Father to the Son and from the Son to the Father.<\/p>\n
In the Eucharist, then, we adore Jesus, God the Son, and with Him we adore God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. We adore Our Lord Jesus Christ as God the Son, second divine Person of the Holy Trinity; we also adore Him as Jesus in the Sacrament, really and substantially present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar; and we adore Him equally as Jesus Crucified and Risen, true God and true Man who on the cross consummates the supreme divine sacrifice for the redemption of humanity and the salvation of souls.<\/p>\n
We do not adore the Blessed Virgin Mary because She is not God, but we do venerate Her. To God we owe adoration with the cult of latria; to the angels and saints we offer the cult of dulia; and to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, Queen and Mother of all creation and, therefore, superior to angels and saints, we owe the cult of hyperdulia. She is, according to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, the Mediatrix of All Graces (\u201cMaria mediatrix omnium gratiarum\u201d) and, therefore, She is always spiritually present in the Eucharist, at the side of Jesus, since She is inseparable from Her most holy Son. Since there was no male intervention in the divine conception of Jesus, it is Mary who gives Her body and blood to Her Son. This is how Pope St. Paul VI expresses it: \u201cMay the most blessed Virgin Mary, from whom Christ the Lord took the flesh that \u2018is contained, offered, received\u2019 in this Sacrament under the appearances of bread and wine\u201d (cf .CEMF, n. 8, para. 12). Her womb, eternally virginal, is the first tabernacle on earth. Therefore, we could say that, in a certain sense, the Body and Blood of Jesus, heroically shed by Him on Calvary and by Him voluntarily given in the Eucharist for the salvation of souls, is also the body and blood of Mary. In the Eucharistic adoration of our Blessed Mother, we do not adore Her but we do venerate Her with the cult of hyperdulia, because She is spiritually present next to Jesus in the Eucharist, just as She was at His side and at His feet in His crucifixion and death on the Cross. For this reason, when in the Eucharistic liturgy we approach the Body and Blood of Jesus, we also approach Mary, who fully adhered to the sacrifice of Her Divine Son, and offered it to the nascent Church.<\/p>\n
f. Why do we worship God?<\/strong><\/p>\n
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- Because we owe everything to God, beginning with our own existence.
\n2. Because no one loves us more than He does.
\n3. Because He created us out of nothing (ex nihilo) to worship Him.
\n4. Because it is the first of all the commandments: \u201cyou shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might\u201d (Deut. 6,5).
\n5. Because to Him, and only to Him, do we owe adoration: \u201cYou shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve\u201d (Lk. 4,8; cf. Deut. 6,13). During His fast in the desert, Jesus is tempted by Satan, who, after showing Him the riches of the world, says to Jesus: \u201cIf you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours\u201d (Lk. 4,7) \u2013 and Jesus replies: \u201cYou shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve\u201d (Lk 4,8). From this response it is clear that Jesus is saying to Satan: I am your God, I am the only true God, and it is you who must prostrate before Me. And later Jesus replies: \u201cYou shall not tempt the Lord your God.\u201d That is why Satan flees defeated (cf. Lk. 4,12-13).
\n6. Because it is the most basic and important act of justice. If justice is understood by man as giving each one his due, what cannot correspond to the One who has created all things, and who has given everything to man?
\n7. Because with worship we recognize God for what He is: God, creator, savior, sanctifier, owner, and Lord of all that exists.
\n8. Because we recognize our smallness before His infinite Majesty.
\n9. Because we surrender, we humble ourselves, and lovingly submit our minds and hearts to those who are greater than us.
\n10. Because by worshiping Him, He guides us to the truth, the good, and freedom.
\n11. Because if we do not worship God, we will end up worshiping idols: \u201cHe who is not with me is against me\u201d (Lk. 11,23; Mt. 12,30).
\n12. Because if we adore Him in spirit and in truth, and we abandon ourselves to Him, He will transform us, making us similar to Him: \u201clearn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart\u201d (Mt. 11,29).
\n13. Because the adoration of God frees man from retreating into himself, from slavery to sin, and from the idolatry of the world (cf. Catechism<\/em>, 2097).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nOur Lord Jesus Christ anticipated in several passages of the Gospel the delivery of His Flesh for eternal life. However, it is at the Last Supper when He institutes it as a bloodless advance of His holocaust of love, and in His Passion and Death He consummates it with His bloody, most painful sacrifice, shedding His precious Blood. From the earliest times of the Church, especially after Pentecost, the apostles were clear about the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. At the end of each celebration of the Breaking of Bread, they made the Eucharistic Reserve with great respect and in a private way \u2013 not yet for their adoration but to take it to the sick, the prisoners, and those persecuted for the Faith. Famous is the martyrdom of the adolescent Saint Tarcisius in Rome, who in the year 275 gave his life to prevent the desecration of the Body of Jesus in the consecrated Bread.<\/p>\n
Since the Apostolic Constitutions, around the year 380, the care of the Eucharistic Reserve was foreseen in a place considered sacred \u2013 as indeed it is because of the divine Presence \u2013 and, for this reason, they called it the sacrarium. And already, in the 6th century, during the Synod of Verdun, the Church ordered that the Eucharist be kept in a special place \u2013 \u201ceminent, honest, and, if resources allow it, it must have a permanently lit lamp\u201d \u2013 as an indication that Jesus in the Sacrament is present in that place. Thus were born the sacrarium and tabernacle. In the first Christian temples, the Blessed Sacrament was kept in a veiled form (that is, hidden from the view of the faithful), but centuries later, the holy custom of Exposing the Blessed Sacrament through a glass arises within the Church, ( \u201cIn cristallo\u201d or \u201cpixides cristallum\u201d), and thus the sacred Custodies are configured for the cult of Eucharistic adoration. Since these times, there are clear signs of adoration prescribed in ancient liturgies, such as, for example, before Communion Sancta sanctis<\/em> (God’s holy gifts for God’s holy people), the faithful performed bows and prostrations.<\/p>\n
For several centuries, within numerous monasteries in antiquity and in the Middle Ages, the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament was preserved, and by the unshakeable faith of these monks and innumerable testimonies of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the pious practice of adoration was kept, in the apologetic response of faith and devotion against general incredulity and various heresies typical of the time.<\/p>\n
In the year 1246, the bishop of Liege, Belgium, Robert de Thourotte, instituted the feast of Corpus Christi, thanks to the testimonies that Saint Juliana of Liege, abbess of the Mont-Cornillon Monastery, gave before him on repeated occasions. In 1208 Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him, urging him to sponsor within the Church a liturgical feast in honor of the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. Then, the cardinal-legate for Germany, Hugo de Saint-Cher, extended the feast to the entire territory of his jurisdiction. This draws the attention of Pope Urban IV, who, because of the high esteem in which he held Saint Juliana of Liege, extended this liturgical solemnity to the entire Latin Church through the bull Transiturus de hoc Mundu<\/em> on August 11, 1264. For this solemnity, the Holy Father promoted a contest to establish the official hymn of the Church, which was won by Saint Thomas Aquinas, who defeated, among others, Saint Bonaventure, with his immortal Pange, lingua<\/em>; the most famous, last stanza, called the Tantum ergo<\/em>, is widely sung today, especially in exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. There was strong opposition to the institution of this sacred festival. However, despite this, the Council of Vienne, in 1314, ratified this Papal Bull, and by the year 1324 the feast of Corpus Christi was celebrated throughout the Church. As a result of the institution of such a sacred liturgical festival, the celebration of a traveling Exhibition of the Blessed Sacrament was also made official, which was called a procession, and which inspired the formalization of other ecclesiastical processions.<\/p>\n
In the famous Council of Trent, celebrated between the years 1545 and 1563, the Church established that Our Lord Jesus Christ is \u201ctruly, really, and substantially contained under the\u201d consecrated bread and wine (cf. n. 3.f EM). In the Eucharistic celebration, the conversion of all the bread and all the wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus occurs right at the moment of consecration, and this sublime, divine mystery, according to the Council of Trent, is appropriately called transubstantiation (cf. Conc Trento session XXIII, chap 8, can 2).<\/p>\n
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- RECENT DOCUMENTS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
4.1. Encyclical Letter Mediator Dei<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
It was written by Pope Pius XII on November 20, 1947. From its text it is worth highlighting number 18, which establishes that it is the fundamental duty of man to direct his person and his own life toward God. For its part, number 161 affirms that the Eucharistic delicacy contains truly, really and substantially, the body, the blood, together with the soul and the divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and, therefore, the Church from its beginnings has worshiped it under the species of bread, commanding the sacred ministers to worship the Blessed Sacrament on their knees, or with deep obeisances. Number 163 teaches that from the conservation of the sacred species for the sick and those in danger of death, the laudable custom of worshiping this heavenly food reserved in temples was born. Finally, number 170, when it speaks of the Eucharistic blessing that the priest must give at the end of adoration, hopes that the faithful will be more and more numerous and that, called to the feet of Our Savior, we will listen to His sweetest invitation:<\/p>\n
\u201cCome to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest\u201d (Mt. 11,28).<\/p>\n
4.2 Conciliar Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n
It is one of the main documents that the Church produced in 1963, during the Second Vatican Council. In all fairness, the council members give little importance to the worship of Eucharistic adoration since they focus more of their efforts on the liturgical rite of the Eucharistic celebration. In this famous Constitution, the bishops exhort the faithful to participate more actively in the celebration of the sacred Eucharistic mystery with great piety. For our purposes, numbers 2 and 7 stand out, in which the Church emphasizes the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic liturgy. Number 9 invites us in the liturgy to intensify the celebration of faith, and in a particular way in the Eucharist, which is the summit to which the Church’s action tends and also the source from which all its strength flows. Pope Benedict XVI, in his last audience with the clergy of Rome, spoke of this constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, in whose writing he participated. He said these words: \u201cI think it was very successful to begin with the liturgy. This is how the primacy of God is manifested, the primacy of adoration… His first and substantial act was to speak of God and to open everyone, the entire, holy people, to the adoration of God in the common celebration of the liturgy of the Body and the Blood of Christ.<\/p>\n
4.3. Encyclical Letter Mysterium Fidei<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
It corresponds to the papacy of Saint Paul VI, who wrote it on September 3, 1965. Its number 1 establishes that the mystery of faith, the ineffable gift of the Eucharist, was received by the Church of Christ as a pledge of her immense love, and that she has kept it religiously as the most precious treasure. Later, this same number adds that the Eucharistic Mystery is the heart and center of the Sacred Liturgy. Its number 3 includes that the Eucharist is the mystery of faith, and that in it, citing Pope Leo XIII, all supernatural realities are contained with singular richness and a variety of miracles. Number 7 confirms that the Church renders latreutic worship to the Eucharistic Sacrament not only during Holy Mass but also outside of its celebration. Number 8 makes an exhortation to the parishioners to promote the worship of Eucharistic adoration. Emmanuel \u2013 God with us \u2013 full of grace and truth, lives with us. Number 8 also orders customs, feeds the virtues, comforts the afflicted, strengthens the weak. It also teaches that a visit to the Blessed Sacrament is a sign of gratitude, a sign of love and adoration.<\/p>\n
4.4 Instruction Eucharisticum Mysterium<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
May 25, 1967. It was also written by Pope Saint Paul VI. Its number 3.e establishes that the Eucharistic celebration in the sacrifice of the Mass is really the origin and the end of the worship being offered outside of Mass. In number 3.f,\u00a0 he affirms that Christians give tribute to this most holy Sacrament by the worship of latria that is due to the true God, because it must does not cease to be adored by the fact of having been instituted by Christ the Lord to be consumed, and that also in the Eucharistic reserve He must be adored. In number 49, he states that the laudable custom of worshiping this delicacy from heaven preserved in the churches has a solid and firm foundation: faith in the Real Presence of the Lord that naturally leads to the external and public manifestation of this faith. Number 50 of this Instruction expresses that in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, the faithful must remember that this presence derives from sacrifice and tends towards sacramental and spiritual communion at the same time; that we must be grateful for God’s gift, enjoy His intimate relationship, open our hearts, ask, among other things, for the salvation of the world, and apply ourselves with ardor to the veneration of the Lord, according to the conditions of our own state of life. He exhorts pastors to lead the faithful by example and encourage them with words. It also warns pastors, in number 51, to take care to keep churches and public oratories open for many hours in the morning and in the afternoon so that the faithful can easily pray before the Blessed Sacrament.<\/p>\n
4.5. Ritual of Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside of Mass <\/strong><\/p>\n
It also belongs to the papacy of Saint Paul VI who wrote it in 1974. From this ritual it is worth highlighting these provisions: Number 80 reminds us that the presence of Christ in the Sacrament comes from the Sacrifice and tends toward sacramental and spiritual communion. In adoration of the Holy Eucharist, one participates more fully in the paschal mystery and responds with gratitude, enjoying intimate contact with Christ, opening His Heart and praying for peace and the salvation of the world.<\/p>\n
This increases faith, hope and charity. He invites the faithful to worship Christ, and encourages shepherds to follow his example and exhort them with his words. In number 90 it is recommended to organize the pious custom of perpetual or prolonged adoration, and that this is carried out with the participation of the whole community \u2013 with sacred readings, songs, sacred silence \u2013 to promote the spiritual life, practicing the cult of the Sacrament of noblest form. Number 95 encourages the organization of prayers, songs and readings during the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, as well as keeping sacred silence at appropriate times \u2013 all to achieve a greater esteem for the Eucharistic mystery.<\/p>\n
It is of special importance for the subject that we propose here the rendering into English the Tantum ergo<\/em> \u2013 the last stanza of the famous liturgical hymn composed by Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Pange lingua<\/em>, makes this Ritual on page 81 of its publication on the website, liturgiapapal.org. On this page it is evident that the Latin phrase with which this last stanza begins: \u201cTantum ergo Sacramentum Veneremur cernui\u201d is rendered in English by the Church with these words: \u201cDown in adoration falling, Lo! the sacred Host we hail.\u201d<\/p>\n
4.6. Apostolic Exhortation Dominicae Cenae<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
On February 24, 1980, Pope Saint John Paul II wrote a precious Letter on the mystery and worship of the Eucharist, which he called Dominicae Cenae (On the Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist)<\/em>, addressed to all Bishops of the Church. He begins by saying in number 2 that the institution of the Eucharist is the main and central reason for the sacrament of the priesthood, effectively born at the time of the institution of the Eucharist.<\/p>\n
It affirms that priests are responsible for the Eucharist, since the great \u201cSacrament of our faith\u201d is entrusted to them, so that they give a particular witness of veneration. (And we ask ourselves: how many priests have forgotten to give this testimony?) In number 3 the Holy Father expresses his desire that the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, rooted above all in the celebration of the Eucharistic liturgy, should fill our temples even outside of the Mass schedule. It calls for the animation and strengthening of Eucharistic worship as a proof of the authentic renewal that the Council proposed. The Church and the world are in great need of Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in the Sacrament of love. You cannot spare the time to go worship Him?<\/p>\n
We must look at it full of faith and open to repairing the serious crimes of the world, and pray that our worship never ceases. In number 4 this illustrious pope affirms: \u201cJust as the Church \u2018makes the Eucharist\u2019 so \u2018the Eucharist builds up\u2019 the Church.\u201d And in number 13 he concludes that the Eucharist, which is a sacrament of piety, a sign of unity and a bond of love, cannot constitute a point of division or a source of disagreement. It pleads for the unity of the Church and is a call to avoid saddening the Holy Spirit. Finally, he asks that the bishops and priests make the maximum effort to achieve the universal unity of the Church of Christ on earth, and expresses his fervent desire that the Eucharist become more and more a source of life and light for the conscience of all our brothers, in all communities.<\/p>\n
4.7. Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
This masterful compilation of the general and moral doctrine of the Church, whose initiative corresponded to Pope Saint John Paul II, includes from numbers 1322 to 1419 norms related to devotion and Eucharistic worship. Of these provisions, we consider four numbers particularly relevant for this essay; namely, 1378, 1418, 2096, 2097 and 2628. For this consideration we share them:<\/p>\n
1378 <\/strong>Worship of the Eucharist<\/em>. 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. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
1418 <\/strong>Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be honored with the worship of adoration. \u201cTo visit the Blessed Sacrament is .\u00a0.\u00a0. a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord\u201d (Paul VI, MF <\/em>66).<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
2096<\/strong> 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. \u201cYou shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve,\u201d says Jesus, citing Deuteronomy<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
2097 <\/strong>To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute submission, the \u201cnothingness of the creature\u201d 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. 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.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
2628 <\/strong>Adoration <\/em>is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator. It exalts the greatness of the Lord who made us and the almighty power of the Savior who sets us free from evil. Adoration is homage of the spirit to the \u201cKing of Glory,\u201d respectful silence in the presence of the \u201cever greater\u201d God. Adoration of the thrice-holy and sovereign God of love blends with humility and gives assurance to our supplications. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
As a corollary to these five catechetical provisions we can conclude the following: The Holy Catholic Church recognizes the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, invites the faithful to express it on their knees or with a deep bow, and exhorts them to Eucharistic adoration during and outside of the Mass (1378). The Real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament is honored with a worship service by visiting the Blessed Sacrament, which is, at the same time, a proof of gratitude, a sign of love, and a duty of adoration (1418).<\/p>\n
Adoration, as the first act of the virtue of religion, is to recognize God as the All, infinite and merciful Love, whom we must adore\/render exclusive worship of adoration (2096). When we worship God we acknowledge with absolute submission that we are \u201cnothing,\u201d as the Catechism<\/em> expressly indicates in number 2097, and we praise and exalt God, who is \u201cAll.\u201d We humble ourselves with gratitude, as did Mary. By worshiping God, man is freed by God from pride, sin and idolatry (2097). By worshiping God, we, who are His creatures, humbly acknowledge Him as our Creator; before Him we humble the spirit, and He gives assurance to our supplications (2628).<\/p>\n
4.8. Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
On February 22, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI wrote a precious apostolic exhortation which he called, in a very clear allusion to the Eucharist, Sacramentum Caritatis<\/em>, the Sacrament of Charity. It is remarkable. First of all, its number 1, in which the Holy Father recognizes that the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of Himself, revealing to us the infinite love of God for each man, because in it He manifests the greatest love, the one that encourages us to give our lives for our friends. In number 35 he admirably captures the beauty of the Eucharistic liturgy, in which shines forth the Paschal Mystery of Christ, who draws us to Himself and calls us to communion in love, a sign of the beauty and harmony of the cosmos created by Him.<\/p>\n
Beauty, therefore, is not a decorative element of liturgical action, but a constitutive element of it as an attribute of God Himself and of His revelation. In number 65 the Pope refers to the growth among the faithful of the sense of the mystery of God present among us, which is verified with specific manifestations of veneration of the Eucharist, and gives importance to gestures and posture, such as kneeling during the main moments of the Eucharistic prayer, as a conscious expression of being in every celebration before the infinite majesty of God, who humbly reaches us in the sacramental signs. Number 66 highlights Eucharistic adoration as an obvious continuation of the Eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church’s greatest act of adoration.<\/p>\n
To receive the Eucharist means to adore the one we receive; we become one with Him, and we taste in advance the beauty of the heavenly liturgy. Adoration outside of Holy Mass prolongs and intensifies what happened in the liturgical celebration itself. The personal encounter with the Lord must mature the social mission contained in the Eucharist, which wants to break down the barriers between Him and us, and the barriers that separate us from each other. In number 67 the Holy Father ardently recommends the practice of Eucharistic adoration, both personal and communal. It invites a proper catechesis on this act of worship, especially for children preparing for First Communion, to become aware of the beauty of being with Jesus and the amazement at His presence in the Eucharist. And, in number 68, he proclaims that personal relationship with Jesus leads to a sense of belonging to the Body of Christ. Invite the faithful to find time to be in prayer before the Sacrament of the altar, and ask parishes and other ecclesial groups to promote times of communal worship. It establishes that existing forms of Eucharistic devotion retain all their value, and thinks of traditional practices, allowing other similar initiatives that, duly updated and adapted to the various circumstances, deserve to be cultivated today as well. When we read these words of Pope Benedict XVI, we cannot think of anything other than the devotion of the Eucharistic adoration of The Six Kowtows, as another analogous initiative that deserves to be cultivated today, and whose generalized practice we are asking for official approval by the competent ecclesiastical authorities.<\/p>\n
4.9. Speech by Pope Benedict XVI in Cologne, at the vigil with young people, on August 20, 2005<\/strong><\/p>\n
Although it is not a document, this speech deserves special mention. This famous papal speech was delivered on the occasion of the twentieth World Youth Day. In it, and in several of its passages based on Matthew 2,11, Pope Benedict XVI recognizes that the Magi came to Bethlehem to worship the Infant Jesus in prostration. Let\u2019s look at some passages from this discourse: \u201cIt was in order to seek this King that they had set off on their journey:\u00a0deep within themselves they felt prompted to go in search of the true justice that can only come from God, and they wanted to serve this King, to fall prostrate at His feet and so play their part in the renewal of the world.\u201d Further on we read: \u201cYet now they were bowing down before the child of poor people, and they soon came to realize that Herod, the King they had consulted, intended to use his power to lay a trap for him,\u00a0forcing\u00a0the\u00a0family to flee into exile.\u201d We also find in this discourse: \u201cThe new King, to whom they now paid homage, was quite unlike what they were expecting.\u201d \u201cThis was where their inner journey began. It started at the very moment when they knelt down before this child and recognized Him as the promised King.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it is important to discover the true face of God. The Magi from the East found it when they knelt down before the Child of Bethlehem. \u2018He who has seen me has seen the Father,\u2019 said Jesus to Philip (Jn 14:9).\u201d Benedict XVI continues in his famous speech: \u201cThis means that we are not constructing a private God, we are not constructing a private Jesus, but that we believe and worship the Jesus who is manifested to us by the Sacred Scriptures…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him\u201d (Mt 2,11). Dear friends, this is not a distant story that took place long ago. It is with us now. Here in the Sacred Host He is present before us and in our midst. As at that time, so now He is mysteriously veiled in a sacred silence; as at that time, it is here that the true face of God is revealed. For us He became a grain of wheat that falls on the ground and dies and bears fruit until the end of the world (cf. Jn 12,24). He is present now as He was then in Bethlehem. He invites us to that inner pilgrimage which is called adoration. Let us set off on this pilgrimage of the spirit and let us ask him to be our guide. Amen.\u201d<\/p>\n
- \n
- THE KOWTOW AS A BODY POSTURE IN EUCHARISTIC WORSHIP<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
We consider that to worship God, any body posture that the worshiper freely wishes to adopt is valid, as long as he maintains decorum, respect, love, piety and, fundamentally, the gratitude that we should feel toward the One who is the Whole, the One who has given us everything, and the One who loves us to the point of giving His life for us. Therefore, we consider that standing or sitting, kneeling, genuflecting, with the palms of the hands joined, with the arms raised to Heaven or extended forward, prostrate face on the ground, or prostrate lying face down, are all suitable corporal positions to adore God, provided that they are practiced with the necessary honor toward the Author of life. We also think that, more than the physical position, God prefers the spiritual disposition of man at the moment of worshiping Him. We have to adore God in spirit and in truth, with a humbled heart, repentant for the sins committed, since a contrite and humbled heart He does not despise (cf. Ps. 51,19); it is the absolute respect and submission to which number 2097 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em> refers. However, we practice and recommend the body posture of kowtowing on the ground because we testify that it motivates the humble awareness in man of his deep and intimate need to worship the one true God.<\/p>\n
Many priests give the same testimony, and some even claim to have increased their Eucharistic faith after having worshiped Our Lord Jesus Christ in the consecrated Host, kowtowing or lying down. Our simple opinion is that we adore God with all our being, with words, with silence, with songs, and also with bodily gestures that could manifest \u2013 if they are authentic \u2013 desires for intimate communion with God. Within the corporal positions, we believe that the kowtow is the expression par excellence of adoration as a gesture of humility before the Eucharistic Mystery. It would be desirable, but it is not imperative, that the unity of the faithful give prominence to this bodily posture of kowtow in public and private Eucharistic adoration, as evidence of courageous recognition of Catholic faith in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the consecrated Host. In the General Audience of May 11, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI affirmed: \u201cIn the dynamic of this relationship with the one who gives meaning to existence, with God, prayer has one of its typical expressions in the gesture of kneeling. It is a gesture that has in itself a radical ambivalence. In fact, I can be forced to kneel \u2014 a condition of indigence and slavery \u2014 but I can also kneel spontaneously, declaring my limitations and therefore my need of Another. To him I declare I am weak, needy, \u2018a sinner.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
- \n
- PROSTRATIONS IN THE BIBLE<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Numerous are the biblical passages that refer to prostrating, putting one\u2019s face to the ground, kneeling, humiliating oneself, showing reverence, making a deep bow, or other similar phrases describing the corporal position that denotes the humble recognition of the smallness of man before the infinite majesty of God. In this essay we have compiled a list of 172 quotations from the Holy Scriptures on prostrations, which we present as irrefutable testimony the Word of God makes for this bodily gesture of devotion to the only true God. Let us see:<\/p>\n
OLD TESTAMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
GENESIS: 13.3, 17.17, 18.2, 19.1, 22.5, 24.26, 24.52, 24.6, 24.48, 24.86, 48.13<\/p>\n
EXODUS: 4.31, 24.1, 33.10, 34.8<\/p>\n
LEVITICUS: 9.24<\/p>\n
NUMBERS: 14.5, 16.22, 16.4, 17.10, 20.6, 22.31, 24.4, 24.16<\/p>\n
DEUTERONOMY: 9,18, 9.25, 26.10, 33.3<\/p>\n
JOSHUA: 5.14, 7.6, 7.10<\/p>\n
JUDGES: 7.15, 13.20<\/p>\n
1 SAMUEL: 1.3, 1.19, 1.28, 2.17, 5.4, 15.25, 15.31, 20.41, 24.8, 25.23, 28.14<\/p>\n
2 SAMUEL: 12.16, 12.20, 15.32<\/p>\n
1 KINGS: 18.42<\/p>\n
2 KINGS: 1.36, 17.36, 18.39<\/p>\n
1 CHRONICLES: 16.29, 21.16, 29.20<\/p>\n
2 CHRONICLES: 7.3, 16.29, 20.18, 29.29, 33.33<\/p>\n
EZRA: 10.1<\/p>\n
NEHEMIAH: 8.6, 9.3, 9.6<\/p>\n
JUDITH: 6.18<\/p>\n
2 MACCABEES: 3.12, 10.26<\/p>\n
JOB: 1.20, 16.15<\/p>\n
PSALMS: 4.55, 5.7, 5.9, 22.27, 22.29, 29.2, 66.4, 72.11, 86.9, 95.6, 96.9, 97.7, 116.6, 132.7, 138.2<\/p>\n
SIRACH: 50.17, 50.21<\/p>\n
ISAIAH: 27.13, 36.7, 45.23, 49.7, 60.14, 66.23<\/p>\n
JEREMIAH: 7.2, 26.2<\/p>\n
EZEKIEL: 1.28, 9.8, 46.2, 46.3<\/p>\n
DANIEL: 8.17<\/p>\n
MICAH: 6.6<\/p>\n
ZEPHANIAH: 1.5, 2.11, 3.10<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
NEW TESTAMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
MATTHEW: 2.2, 2.8, 2.11, 4.10, 8.2, 9.18, 13.12, 14.33, 15.22, 17.6, 18.26, 20.20, 26.39, 28.9, 28.17<\/p>\n
MARK: 1.40, 5.6, 5.22, 5.33, 7.25, 10.17, 14.35<\/p>\n
LUKE: 4.8, 5.8, 5.12, 7.28, 8.32, 8.41, 8.47, 17.16, 18.13, 22.41, 24.5, 24.52<\/p>\n
JOHN: 4.10, 4.20, 4.24, 9.24, 9.38, 11.3<\/p>\n
ACTS: 8.7, 9.4, 9.27, 16.14, 17.23<\/p>\n
ROMANS: 12.1, 14.11<\/p>\n
1 CORINTHIANS: 1.45, 14.25, 29.20<\/p>\n
EPHESIANS: 3.14<\/p>\n
PHILIPPIANS: 2.10<\/p>\n
HEBREWS: 1.6, 9.9, 11.21<\/p>\n
JAMES: 4.10<\/p>\n
1 PETER: 5.6<\/p>\n
REVELATION: 1.17, 3.9, 4.10, 5.8, 5.14, 7.11, 11.16, 14.7, 15.4, 19.4, 19.10, 19.14, 22.8<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
- \n
- THE<\/strong> EUCHARISTIC ADORATION OF THE SIX KOWTOWS COMES FROM A PRIVATE REVELATION<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
This practice of kowtowing, which is not obligatory but recommended, in Eucharistic adoration (though The Six Kowtows can be practiced outside of adoration) comes from a private revelation. Its immediate origin is found in a private revelation that Jesus and Mary gave in 2014 to a Vietnamese immigrant in the United States of America whose name is Lucia Phan; she is a humble, poor woman of deep prayer whose life belongs to God and the Holy Catholic Church. And a Venezuelan lawyer, a sinner, on the difficult road of conversion, who today writes these lines, received from the Virgin Mary on July 5, 2017, in the city of Houston, Texas, United States, through the Lucia Phan herself, the task of making this form of Eucharistic adoration known, first in Venezuela, and later in other countries, for the spiritual liberation of our peoples.<\/p>\n
According to what is established in number 67 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em>, some private revelations have been recognized by the authority of the Church, even though they do not belong to the Deposit of Faith. For a private revelation to be recognized as authentic, it cannot attempt to improve or complete the only public and definitive revelation, which is that of Jesus Christ to His Church.<\/p>\n
The private revelation given to Lucia Phan seeks only to help people to live more fully the definitive and public revelation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in this time of history so convulsed, with so much spiritual confusion, and in which it is so difficult for humanity to recognize His real, living, loving and substantial presence in the Holy Eucharist. It is not a private revelation that wishes to impose new elements on the Catholic faith, nor does it claim to change a single letter of the revelation of Christ that is perfect, holy, complete, and unsurpassable. It is a gift from the Mother of God supported by the very ancient practice of the Judeo-Christian tradition of prostrating before God. This devotion has, as we have pointed out, a vast biblical foundation, and its purpose is the growth of faith in the clergy and the faithful, the spiritual liberation of all peoples, the peace of the world, the invitation to conversion for sinners, and the salvation of many souls.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
- \n
- THE EUCHARISTIC ADORATION OF KOWTOWS: CONTINUITY OF THE MESSAGE OF FATIMA?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
An example of private revelation officially approved by the Church is the case of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal. In the Vatican archives there is the testimony of Sister Lucia Dos Santos, one of the three little shepherds to whom the Blessed Mother of God appeared six times in 1917. She relates that before the encounters with the Virgin, an angel appeared to them three times. In the first appearance of the angel, they saw a figure of \u201ca young man about fourteen or fifteen years old, whiter than snow, transparent as crystal when the sun shines through it, and of great beauty. On reaching us, he said: \u2018Do not be afraid! I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.\u2019 Kneeling on the ground, he bowed down until his forehead touched the ground, and made us repeat these words three times: \u2018My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You! I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You.\u2019 Then, rising, he said: \u2018Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
About the third appearance of the angel, Sister Lucia dos Santos testified to the following: [they] \u201cbeheld the Angel. He was holding a chalice in his left hand, with the Host suspended above it, from which some drops of blood fell into the chalice. Leaving the chalice suspended in the air, the Angel knelt down beside us [\u2026] Then, rising, he took the chalice and the Host in his hands. He gave the Sacred Host to me, and shared the Blood from the chalice between Jacinta and Francisco, saying as he did so: ‘Take and drink of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men! Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.\u2019 Once again, he prostrated on the ground and repeated with us, three times more, the same prayer [\u2026]\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
- \n
- HOW IS THE EUCHARISTIC ADORATION OF THE SIX KOWTOWS PRACTICED?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
This practice consists only of a different way of worshiping Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, but it is not new, since, as we have pointed out already, the posture of prostrating is ancient \u2013 it comes from the Judeo-Christian tradition, having a vast foundation in both the Old and New Testaments.<\/p>\n
It begins with a bodily posture of great respect and decorum before the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, to accompany Jesus, whom we have abandoned in almost all the tabernacles in the world. We make the Sign of the Cross and invoke the Holy Spirit, also praying a Catholic prayer such as the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, or another similar one and, if possible, we sing a hymn of Eucharistic adoration. At this moment we place at the feet of Our Lord Jesus Christ our personal, family, ecclesiastical and spiritual intentions, to which we must add the necessary blessing, gratitude, the offering of reparation and redress, praise, love and adoration of God. We also include the petition for the holy Catholic Church, especially for the pope, the bishops, and the priests, beloved children of God. The Blessed Virgin has also recommended two special intentions:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
- \n
- World peace and that, to achieve it, God touches the hearts of the rulers of all countries; and<\/li>\n
- Spiritual liberation, the conversion of sinners, the reconciliation of their children, and the salvation of all souls. This practice consists of six main prayers, in this order:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- \n
- God the Father, 2. God the Son, 3. God the Holy Spirit, 4. The Body and Blood of Jesus, 5. The Five Holy Wounds of Jesus, and 6. The Immaculate Heart of Mary and for Her triumph. The first five prayers are for worship and the last one is for veneration. As it is a preferably communal adoration, in each kowtow the people present take turns to pray aloud, freely and spontaneously, their prayers in adoration of God, or in veneration of the Virgin, in the form of a confident, humble dialogue, respectful and loving, in very simple words.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Also, on some occasions we practice silent and individual worship. Only during the prayers of each kowtow do we recommend placing our face on the ground. It is recommended that each of these prayers be of a maximum of five minutes and that, at the end of each one, to repeat the words of the Angel of Peace to the little shepherds of Fatima: \u201cMy God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love you! I beg pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love you!\u201d We immediately ask God for religious vocations with these words: \u201cAnd I pray for the pope and the bishops, and for the increase, perseverance, and sanctification of the pope, bishops, priests, religious, and seminarians.\u201d We end the prayer of each kowtow with the phrase of Saint Louis Grignon de Montfort, which Pope Saint John Paul II took as his pontifical motto: \u201cTotus tuus,\u201d or simply \u201cAll yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
- \n
- IS THE EUCHARISTIC ADORATION OF THE SIX KOWTOWS CATHOLIC?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Some people have objected to the Eucharistic worship of The Six Kowtows because the face-to-ground body position is similar to the prostration practiced by devotees of other religions, especially Islam. Others inquire if we are non-Catholic Christians, or New Age, or some strange sect. And for this reason, in good faith they have asked us: is this Eucharistic adoration Catholic? Is prostration on the ground Catholic? Faced with such uncertainty, we make the following observations:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
a, Face-to-ground prostration belongs to the Judeo-Christian tradition, in which it has been practiced since time immemorial. This is how the Holy Scriptures testify. For example, in chapter 17 of the Book of Genesis it is recorded that Abraham fell, face down, to the ground when he realized the presence of God. Historians estimate that Abraham lived about 4,000 years ago.<\/p>\n
b. In the Holy Bible there are about 172 passages that make direct references to prostrating, face to the ground in the presence of God. And there are other passages, but since they are prostrations before men, we have not taken them into account for the purposes of this essay.<\/p>\n
c. Muslims took face-to-ground prostration from the Judeo-Christian tradition, and began to practice it from the foundation of Islam by Muhammad, which occurred in the year 630 after the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ to earth. This means that they began to practice it several centuries after the Jews and the Christians. A radical note of the Muslim prostration is that they practice it at certain times of the day, wherever they are and orienting themselves in the direction of Mecca, while we Catholics prostrate ourselves primarily in our churches or adoration chapels, in processions, and in Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. We do this because the only true God is physically present \u2013 real, alive, and loving in the Holy Eucharist. Muslims do not know. Other religions and sects do not know. The world does not know. We do. Therefore, it is our inescapable and urgent duty to proclaim to them and invite them to come to the holy Catholic Church, the only religion on earth instituted by God Himself. This is what the Second Vatican Council reminds us when it affirms in number 16 of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium<\/em> that: \u201c[\u2026] the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator. In the first place amongst these there are the Muslims, who, professing to hold the faith of Abraham, along with us adore the one and merciful God, who on the last day will judge mankind.\u201d<\/p>\n
d. In the Eucharistic adoration of The Six Kowtows we adore Jesus in the Sacrament, whose real and substantial presence has been recognized by the Holy Catholic Church since its earliest times. We worship only God. We adore Him in His Eucharistic presence. In Jesus, God the Son \u2013 with Him, in Him, and in His divinity \u2013 we adore God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. We worship Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. We worship Jesus crucified, because on the cross He consummated the supreme, bloody sacrifice for the salvation of our souls. We worship the risen Jesus for our salvation and that of souls. And we venerate, with the cult of hyperdulia, the Immaculate Heart of our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, who is spiritually and inseparably united to Jesus in the Eucharist, just as She was at His crucifixion and death.<\/p>\n
Because of the simplicity of the pious language and the humility of the worship, some have said that this form of Eucharistic worship is a simple, pietistic devotion with little or no theological foundation. However, the first foundation of Eucharistic worship is the real, divine presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the consecrated Host. In it is Jesus, true God and true man, who deserves our adoration and raises it up through the Holy Spirit. Is there a need for another theological foundation? So it is not based on pure sentiment or pious sentimentality, but on faith.<\/p>\n
e. Eucharistic adoration is based exclusively on faith, on the Mystery of faith (Mysterium fidei) that complements the defect of the senses (\u201cpraestet fides supplementum sensuum defectui\u201d \u2013 Saint Thomas Aquinas in the Pange, lingua<\/em>).<\/p>\n
f.\u00a0 As we adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, we go to the place where He is: to the Catholic church to prostrate ourselves before His Real Presence in the tabernacle or in the monstrance when Our Lord Jesus Christ is sacramentally exposed or when He walks joyfully with His people in procession.<\/p>\n
g. Only in the case of the impossibility of going to the Catholic church to perform worship, as is the case with the current coronavirus pandemic, we recommend that worship be done in our homes. In these cases we advise facing a Catholic image, blessed by a priest, and that worshipers necessarily remember that we do not worship images, but only worship God, who at that moment is only represented by that image.<\/p>\n
h. In any case of promotion and invitation in a parish for the realization of adoration, we go to the competent parish authorities and, if possible, we also visit the Ordinary of the place, in order to request the necessary permission, and always submitting your decision. In places where the bishop or the parish priest do not authorize, we do not carry out this form of community worship. When they allow it, we are subject to their instructions and we endeavor, as far as possible, to make kowtows coincide with Holy Hours, processions, Eucharistic vigils, or other activities of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We generally ask the pastor to allow us one hour a week to perform this worship, even if the parish has a perpetual adoration chapel.<\/p>\n
i. We always start by making the Sign of the Cross. We pray the Catholic prayers, we sing Catholic songs, we observe the greatest decorum out of respect and love for Our Lord, we evangelize about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Sacrament, we invite to Confession, to Holy Mass, Communion, and frequenting the sacraments. Finally, we invite all those who want to listen to us to convert, repent, and return to the arms of the Father and ask for forgiveness. In each parish we offer ourselves to collaborate in the way that the parish authority needs it most.<\/p>\n
j. We attach greater importance to the Eucharistic celebration than to adoration because the latter is a necessary continuity of the former.<\/p>\n
k. We sing Catholic hymns appropriate for Eucharistic adoration, following the recommendation contained in numbers 90 and 95 of the ritual book, Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass<\/em>. Indeed, these numbers of the ritual urge us to accompany with sacred songs to practice the cult of the sacrament in a more noble way, and to promote the spiritual life.<\/p>\n
l. The prostration on the ground is the corporal posture that the Holy Church commands in some moments of the liturgical rites of the sacramental ordination of deacons, priests and bishops (cf. n. 127 of the Rite of Ordination<\/em>).<\/p>\n
m.Prostration on the ground is recommended for all celebrating priests throughout the world at the beginning of the Good Friday liturgy.<\/p>\n
n.We have many examples of saints, both ancient and modern, who bequeathed us the testimony of praying prostrate on the ground. The episodes in the life of Saint Thomas Aquinas are famous; in his Dominican community, he was \u201cthe first to get up at night, and he was going to prostrate himself before the Blessed Sacrament … his favorite devotion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other famous saints who prostrated themselves in prayer and adoration were Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Teresa of Jesus, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Saint Paul of the Cross, the Cure d\u2019Ars, Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Saint Paschal Baylon, Saint Margaret of Hungary, Saint John of God, Saint Josemar\u00eda Escriv\u00e1, Saint John Paul II, and Saint Teresa of Calcutta, just to give a few examples. It is worth remembering here the prayer that Pope Francis recently prostrated before the Blessed Sacrament, which was broadcast live to the whole world.<\/p>\n
o. In the same way, there are innumerable institutions of our holy Catholic Church in which prostrations are practiced, both in daily periods as an ordinary means of praying, as well as in other solemn moments in the lives of these institutions. Of the former, we can cite as an example the faithful of the Personal Prelature, Opus Dei, who prostrate themselves to kiss the ground at least two times a day; of the latter, we can point out that the norms of many religious orders and congregations establish that their members must prostrate with their faces to the ground for the imposition of the religious habit, for the profession of vows, to receive some solemn blessings from their superiors, and also as an extraordinary form of penance.<\/p>\n
p. And finally, we leave you with the image that face-to-the-ground prostration was the bodily position adopted by Our Lord Jesus Christ during His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane the night He was imprisoned after the Last Supper. There is proof of this in two biblical quotations: 1. \u201cAnd going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him\u201d (Mk. 14,35); and 2. \u201cAnd going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, \u201cMy Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt\u201d (Mt. 26,39). So, we ask ourselves: how can the physical position that God the Son adopts to address God the Father be non-Catholic? As a corollary to this point, we can conclude that the Eucharistic adoration of kowtows in no way contradicts the doctrine of the Catholic faith. Some people have asked me: \u201cWhy are you prostrating?\u201d And my answer is always: \u201cIn the Eucharist, Jesus Christ, my God and Lord, is really present. Why cannot I bow down to worship Him? Perhaps, in the words of Saint Augustine, \u201cDoes the soul love something more ardently than the truth?\u201d (n. 2 SC).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
- \n
- DESIRABLE SPIRITUAL FRUITS<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
a. Personal fruits: <\/strong>The Holy Church recognizes in general terms that Eucharistic adoration produces five great spiritual fruits in the worshipers of the Blessed Sacrament:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Sanctification: as an effect of having an enjoyable time at the feet of Jesus in the Sacrament, the soul feels such a need to love Him that one of his greatest experiences is the aspiration to holiness.
\n2. Reparation and redress: to the extent that the worshiper enjoys spiritual intimacy with his Savior, he desires the purgation of his sins, the repair of others\u2019 sins, and to make amends for so much sin, desecration, sacrilege, lack of love, mockery, and indifference to others that offends the Holy Eucharist.
\n3. Transformation: the worshiper must allow the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist to transform his heart and radically change his life in meekness and humility. Jesus is transfiguring us in Him: \u201clearn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart\u201d (Mt. 11,29).
\n4. Salvation: another sublime mission of adoration of the Sacrament of Love is that it should not only help in the salvation of the soul of the worshiper, but also the prayer addressed to the one and true God should also serve as an instrument of intercession for the conversion and salvation of other souls.
\n5. Restoration: to worship Jesus is to know the infinite love that He has for each one of us. This should serve to heal our wounds, free us from the slavery of sin and the idolatries of the world, change us internally, and restore dignity lost by selfishness.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nb. Parish fruits:<\/strong> Some of the priests who have allowed the Eucharistic adoration of kowtows to be carried out periodically in their parishes bear witness, as do many of their parishioners, to the fact that, in addition to preserving the traditional doctrine of the Holy Church, they also obtain fruits impressive externalities, which have served to recover Catholic identity, through its periodic practice. Among these spiritual fruits we can cite the following:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
- \n
- Evangelization\/catechesis on the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist
\n2. Significant increase in confessions, especially among people who had been away from the Church for several years
\n3. Manifestation in some young people of the desire to become priests
\n4. Interest on the part of clergy and laity to better form themselves about the Eucharist and the cult of adoration of this Blessed Sacrament
\n5. Increase in the fervor of the membership
\n6. Increase in attendance and in frequency of the sacraments
\n7. Increase in prayer for other religions to recognize that only in the Catholic Church can true ecumenism occur, given the Real Presence of the one God, Creator of all things, in the Holy Eucharist. Only in this way would the desire of man to have a single flock with a single shepherd be possible (cf. Jn 10,16).
\n8. Increase in prayer for the salvation of all souls (\u201csalus animarum\u201d), the sole purpose of the Church founded by our Lord Jesus Christ, who ardently desires to tear them out of the clutches of Satan, especially in this time of so much confusion in the world.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n- \n
- PASTORAL PROPOSAL TO PARISHES<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
We are one of the ecclesial groups that, together with the parishes, want to promote Eucharistic adoration, preferably communal adoration. Indeed, those of us who practice and make this devotion known simply fulfill the ardent recommendation (n. 67) of Pope Benedict XVI who, in his Encyclical Letter Sacramentum Caritatis<\/em> (n. 68), invites the faithful to personally find time for prayer before the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, and asks parishes and other ecclesial groups to promote times of community adoration.<\/p>\n
Our proposal regarding parish pastoral activity is to awaken and increase Eucharistic faith in believers, promote communal Eucharistic adoration, preserve the dignity of the acts of latreutic worship of Jesus the Sacrament, encourage effective solidarity that, starting first from the Eucharistic celebration and then going through Eucharistic adoration to reach out to the poorest.<\/p>\n
Finally, we want to put in hearts the words of the sacred writer who, in various biblical passages, expressed his prophetic desire that the only true God be worshiped by His children, prostrate in all the corners of the earth (cf. Ps. 72,11, Ps. 89,6, App. 14.5). Consequently, we express our deepest desire that the devotion of the Eucharistic adoration of The Six Kowtows reach all the corners of the earth so that Our Lord Jesus Christ may be loved, praised and adored in His living, real and loving presence in the Holy Eucharist, for the greater glory of God, for the conversion of sinners, and for the salvation of souls.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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\u00bfEs cat\u00f3lico postrarse para adorar a <\/strong><\/p>\nNuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo en la Eucarist\u00eda?<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1. LA ADORACI\u00d3N:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\u00bfQu\u00e9 es adorar?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Acerca del significado de la palabra adorar podemos se\u00f1alar que existen tres acepciones que se complementan y que sirven todas al mismo tiempo al prop\u00f3sito del presente ensayo.<\/p>\n
Veamos:<\/p>\n
a. Acepci\u00f3n etimol\u00f3gica:<\/strong><\/p>\n
El papa Benedicto XVI en su Homil\u00eda del viaje apost\u00f3lico a Colonia, con motivo de la XX Jornada Mundial de la Juventud, pronunciada el 21 de agosto de 2005, hizo breves referencias al significado de la palabra adoraci\u00f3n tanto en griego como en lat\u00edn.<\/p>\n
En el idioma griego adoraci\u00f3n se dice: proskynesis, y el papa explica que significa el gesto de sumisi\u00f3n, el reconocimiento de Dios como nuestra verdadera medida, cuya norma aceptamos seguir. Significa que la libertad no quiere decir gozar de la vida sino orientarse a la verdad y el bien. En el diccionario griego, este mismo t\u00e9rmino se entiende como inclinar las rodillas hacia adelante, someterse, humillarse, postrarse. De tal manera que las palabras adorar y postrarse tienen en este idioma la misma ra\u00edz etimol\u00f3gica.<\/p>\n
En el idioma lat\u00edn, el t\u00e9rmino adorar proviene de ad-oratio que significa orar a, hablar con, conversar, pedir, rogar. Por tanto, en virtud de que la adoraci\u00f3n se dirige exclusivamente a Dios, adorar consiste en orar a Dios, hablar con Dios, conversar con Dios, pedirle a Dios, rogarle a Dios.<\/p>\n
El papa Benedicto XVI en su aludida Homil\u00eda afirma que se trata de la misma ra\u00edz latina de las palabras espa\u00f1olas \u201ccontacto boca a boca, beso, abrazo y por tanto, en resumen, amor. La sumisi\u00f3n se hace union, porque aquel al cual nos sometemos es Amor. As\u00ed la sumisi\u00f3n adquiere sentido, porque no nos impone cosas extra\u00f1as, sino que nos libera desde lo m\u00e1s \u00edntimo de nuestro ser.\u201d De estas palabras del Santo Padre podemos inferir que cuando adoramos a Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo en la Hostia consagrada nos sometemos libremente a \u00c9l, como d\u00e1ndole un abrazo y un beso, y nos dejamos orientar por \u00c9l, quien es el Amor, para que nos lleve a ser verdaderos y buenos.<\/p>\n
b. Acepci\u00f3n com\u00fan:<\/strong><\/p>\n
En el lenguaje popular de nuestros pueblos hispano parlantes se entiende el t\u00e9rmino adorar en el sentido de amar en exceso. Es una especie de amor superior, sublime, excelso. Es un amor que est\u00e1 por encima de los dem\u00e1s amores. El primer mandamiento de la Ley de Dios es: \u201cAmar\u00e1s al Se\u00f1or, tu Dios, con todo tu coraz\u00f3n, con toda tu alma y con todas tus fuerzas\u201d (cf. Deut. 6,5) Esto es adorar: amar a Dios por encima de todo otro amor. Es el primero y el m\u00e1s alto de todos los mandamientos.<\/p>\n
c. Acepci\u00f3n cat\u00f3lica:<\/strong><\/p>\n
El n\u00famero 1378 del Catecismo de la Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica establece que adorar es \u201c\u2026 expresar nuestra fe en la presencia real de Cristo bajo las especies de pan y vino, entre otras maneras, arrodill\u00e1ndonos o inclin\u00e1ndonos profundamente en se\u00f1al de adoraci\u00f3n al Se\u00f1or.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asimismo el n\u00famero 2096 del Catecismo dispone que \u201c\u2026Adorar a Dios es reconocerle como Dios, como creador y salvador, Se\u00f1or y Due\u00f1o de todo lo que existe, como Amor infinito y misericordioso.\u201d Y el n\u00famero 2628 tambi\u00e9n del Catecismo manifiesta que la adoraci\u00f3n es \u201cla primera actitud del hombre que se reconoce criatura ante su Creador.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adorar es, entonces, orar con Dios, tener plena conciencia de estar frente a \u00c9l, hablarle, bendecirle, pedirle, agradecerle, rogarle, postrarnos ante \u00c9l, porque es nuestro m\u00e1s grande Amor, a quien debemos amar por encima de todas las cosas y personas, y a quien tenemos el deber de expresarle nuestra fe reconoci\u00e9ndole como lo que es: el \u00fanico Dios verdadero, due\u00f1o y Se\u00f1or de todo cuanto existe, y nuestro Creador; y nosotros, que somos sus criaturas y, por tanto hijos suyos, debemos agradecerle por habernos dado la existencia y por haber enviado a su Hijo unig\u00e9nito para la salvaci\u00f3n de todas las almas que quieran salvarse.<\/p>\n
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2. LA ADORACI\u00d3N EUCAR\u00cdSTICA:<\/strong><\/p>\na. \u00bfQu\u00e9 es la Eucarist\u00eda?<\/strong><\/p>\n
La Eucarist\u00eda es la fuente, el culmen, y el centro vital de la misi\u00f3n de la Iglesia. Es el regalo del amor m\u00e1s grande: el de Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo, quien nos invita a dar la vida por los amigos (cf. Jn, 15,13) como \u00c9l la dio \u00edntegramente, hasta la \u00faltima gota de su preciosa Sangre, para revelarnos el amor infinito de Dios por cada hombre. Jes\u00fas est\u00e1 presente realmente en la hostia consagrada. Incluso podr\u00edamos afirmar que \u00c9l es la santa Eucarist\u00eda, que \u00c9l es la Hostia consagrada. En la celebraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica, justo en el momento de la consagraci\u00f3n, el infinito poder de Dios produce la transubstanciaci\u00f3n (cf. Conc. Trento, sesi\u00f3n XIII, cap 8, can 2) al convertir la sustancia del pan en la verdadera carne de Cristo y el vino en la verdadera sangre de Cristo. Aunque persisten las apariencias del pan y del vino, esas especies ya no son m\u00e1s pan y vino: ahora son realmente el Cuerpo y la Sangre de Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo,
\npues \u00c9l dijo: \u201cTomen y coman todos de \u00e9l, porque esto es mi Cuerpo, que ser\u00e1 entregado por ustedes\u201d. Luego, acabada la cena, pas\u00f3 el c\u00e1liz a sus disc\u00edpulos diciendo: \u201cTomen y beban todos de \u00e9l, porque \u00e9ste es el c\u00e1liz de mi Sangre, Sangre de la alianza nueva y eterna, que ser\u00e1 derramada por ustedes y por muchos para el perd\u00f3n de los pecados. Hagan esto en conmemoraci\u00f3n m\u00eda\u201d. A estas palabras \u00c9l dio un verdadero sentido de permanencia, manifestando la clara intenci\u00f3n de su perpetuaci\u00f3n en la Eucarist\u00eda. De esa manera Jes\u00fas cumple su promesa de estar con nosotros todos los d\u00edas y hasta el final de los tiempos (cf. Mt 28,20).<\/p>\nEn la Santa Eucarist\u00eda Jes\u00fas se hace Pan para la vida eterna y se inmola voluntariamente al Padre como v\u00edctima propiciatoria en el m\u00e1s sublime holocausto de amor para la redenci\u00f3n de la humanidad, y a toda ella se entrega gratuitamente, sin acepci\u00f3n de personas, como verdadera comida y como verdadera bebida. \u00c9l es el Pan para la vida eterna, el Pan que sacia el hambre, el Vino que mitiga la sed, el manjar celestial para el hombre hambriento y sediento de amor, de verdad y de libertad.<\/p>\n
b. Jes\u00fas en la Eucarist\u00eda:<\/strong><\/p>\n
En la \u00daltima Cena Jes\u00fas realiza un adelanto incruento, esto es, sin derramamiento de sangre, del sacrificio cruento que de S\u00ed mismo har\u00e1 al d\u00eda siguiente en el Calvario, con su pasi\u00f3n y muerte doloros\u00edsimas. Cumple as\u00ed su promesa de convertirse en el Pan de Vida eterna (cf. Jn. 6,16-46).<\/p>\n
Con la celebraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica el sacerdote ofrece al Padre la renovaci\u00f3n incruenta del sacrificio de Jes\u00fas, como un revivir eterno en el seno de la Iglesia del cumplimiento de su mandato: \u201cHagan esto en memoria m\u00eda\u201d (cf. Lc 22,19).<\/p>\n
Con su presencia real en la Eucarist\u00eda, Dios cumple otra de sus promesas: \u201cYo estar\u00e9 con ustedes todos los d\u00edas hasta el fin del mundo\u201d (Mt. 28,16-20). Es la Iglesia quien celebra el memorial de la pasi\u00f3n, muerte y resurrecci\u00f3n de Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo, pero es Dios quien se ofrece como v\u00edctima ahora incruenta, en la perpetuaci\u00f3n de su sacrificio en el Calvario. Por eso la Eucarist\u00eda, que en idioma griego significa agradecer, es la acci\u00f3n de gracias que realiza el pueblo de Dios por el sacrificio redentor de Cristo. Jes\u00fas se queda en lo que parece pan y vino pero ya no lo es m\u00e1s: ahora es \u00c9l quien est\u00e1 realmente presente en Cuerpo, Sangre, Alma y Divinidad en la Hostia consagrada.<\/p>\n
c. \u00bfQu\u00e9 es la adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica?<\/strong><\/p>\n
El papa san P\u00edo XII en un peque\u00f1o libro publicado en 1908, al cual denomin\u00f3 A la adoraci\u00f3n nocturna espa\u00f1ola, escribi\u00f3 lo siguiente: \u201cTodas\u00a0 las devociones de la santa Iglesia son bellas, todas son santas, pero la m\u00e1s sublime, la m\u00e1s tierna y la m\u00e1s fructuosa es la adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica al Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento.\u201d Esto es la adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica: la m\u00e1s sublime devoci\u00f3n de la Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica mediante la cual el alma humana reconociendo la divina presencia real de su Redentor en la Eucarist\u00eda, le profesa su testimonio de amor y de agradecimiento.<\/p>\n
La Hostia consagrada es realmente el Cuerpo y la Sangre de Cristo. Todo el pan, y no parte de \u00e9l, se transubstancia en su Cuerpo. Todo el vino, y no parte de \u00e9l, se transubstancia en su Sangre. Es Cristo mismo. \u00c9sta es la raz\u00f3n por la cual, desde los primeros tiempos, los fieles reciben la Eucarist\u00eda con una reverencia profunda, comulgando preferiblemente en la boca y de rodillas, y la Santa Reserva se guarda con el mayor decoro en el sagrario desde muy antiguo, devota costumbre de la cual ya deja testimonio el S\u00ednodo de Verd\u00fan, desde el siglo VI.<\/p>\n
La adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica es, por tanto, la manifestaci\u00f3n lit\u00fargica de la fe de la Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica en la presencia real y substancial de Cristo bajo las apariencias del pan y el vino, que, como consecuencia de nuestro reconocimiento a su majestad divina, le rendimos culto de adoraci\u00f3n no solo durante la celebraci\u00f3n de la Santa Misa sino incluso fuera de ella.<\/p>\n
d. La adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica es continuidad de la celebraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica:<\/strong><\/p>\n
La celebraci\u00f3n lit\u00fargica de la Santa Misa es tanto la oraci\u00f3n como la adoraci\u00f3n m\u00e1s grande e importante de la Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica. En ella se conmemora el acto m\u00e1s sublime de amor que la tierra haya presenciado jam\u00e1s. En el admirable misterio eucar\u00edstico Dios repite en forma incruenta su entrega absoluta por la salvaci\u00f3n de la humanidad. Y en el sacramento eucar\u00edstico contin\u00faa am\u00e1ndonos con tal exceso que nos regala su Cuerpo y su Sangre hasta la consumaci\u00f3n de los tiempos.<\/p>\n
Ninguna otra actividad eclesi\u00e1stica puede superar la hermosura de la liturgia eucar\u00edstica en cuanto conmemoraci\u00f3n del acto de amor m\u00e1s sublime y del m\u00e1s sublime ser: Dios mismo, que se queda con y por sus amados en la Hostia consagrada. La Reserva Eucar\u00edstica se guarda en el sagrario o tabern\u00e1culo con el mayor respeto, \u201c\u2026present\u00e1ndolas a los fieles para que las veneren con solemnidad\u2026\u201d (cf. CEC n. 1378). De tal manera que, sin sacerdotes no hay Santa Misa, sin Santa Misa no hay Hostia consagrada, y sin Hostia consagrada no hay adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica. La adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica es continuaci\u00f3n necesaria de la celebraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica.<\/p>\n
En ciertas \u00e9pocas de la historia algunos llegaron a pensar que la Eucarist\u00eda era solo para comerla y no para adorarla. Incluso alguna Iglesia oriental, como la Ortodoxa, por ejemplo, contin\u00faa pensando as\u00ed. La Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica desde sus primeros tiempos, consciente de la presencia real de Jes\u00fas en el Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento, da la Hostia consagrada a sus fieles tanto para comerla como para adorarla. En este sentido, san Agust\u00edn escribe: \u201cNadie coma de esta carne sin antes adorarla\u2026 pecar\u00edamos si no la ador\u00e1ramos.\u201d (\u201cnemo autem illam carnem manducat, nisi prius adoraverit\u2026 peccemus non adorando\u201d) (cf. citado en: n. 162 MD, y n. 66 SC). Nosotros, los cat\u00f3licos, comulgamos y adoramos a Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo, presente realmente en la santa Eucarist\u00eda. Podemos afirmar que comemos a quien adoramos, y adoramos a quien comemos.<\/p>\n
e. \u00bfA qui\u00e9n adoramos en la Eucarist\u00eda?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Adoramos a Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo Sacramentado, quien est\u00e1 real y substancialmente presente en la Hostia consagrada, en el Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento del altar, bajo las apariencias de pan y vino. \u00c9l es la santa Eucarist\u00eda. \u00c9l es Dios verdadero y hombre verdadero, dos naturalezas unidas, sin confusi\u00f3n ni separaci\u00f3n, en la uni\u00f3n hipost\u00e1tica de una sola Persona divina. Ahora bien, en su divinidad y junto con \u00c9l, que es Dios Hijo, adoramos tambi\u00e9n a Dios Padre y a Dios Esp\u00edritu Santo. Dios es trino y uno, uno y trino, y conserva la unidad en sus tres divinas personas. Dios existe trinitariamente desde que \u00c9l existe, es decir, desde siempre. Dios Padre es el fundamento de la Unidad divina; Dios Hijo es el Logos, el Verbo, la Sabidur\u00eda de Dios; y Dios Esp\u00edritu Santo es la emanaci\u00f3n del amor del Padre al Hijo y del Hijo al Padre.<\/p>\n
En la Eucarist\u00eda adoramos, entonces, a Jes\u00fas, Dios Hijo, y, en su divinidad y con \u00c9l, adoramos a Dios Padre y a Dios Esp\u00edritu Santo. Adoramos a Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo como Dios Hijo, segunda divina Persona de la Sant\u00edsima Trinidad; lo adoramos tambi\u00e9n como Jes\u00fas Sacramentado, real y substancialmente presente en el Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento del altar; y lo adoramos igualmente como Jes\u00fas Crucificado y Resucitado, Dios verdadero y Hombre verdadero que en la cruz consuma el supremo divino sacrificio para la redenci\u00f3n de la humanidad y la\u00a0salvaci\u00f3n de las almas.<\/p>\n
A la sant\u00edsima Virgen Mar\u00eda no la adoramos porque Ella no es Dios, pero s\u00ed la veneramos. A Dios debemos adoraci\u00f3n con culto de latr\u00eda; a los \u00e1ngeles y santos ofrendamos el culto de dul\u00eda; y a la sant\u00edsima Virgen Mar\u00eda, la Madre de Dios, Reina y Madre de toda la creaci\u00f3n y, por tanto, superior a \u00e1ngeles y santos, debemos el culto de hiperdul\u00eda. Ella es, seg\u00fan san Bernardo de Claraval, la mediadora de todas las gracias (\u201cMaria mediatrix omnium gratiarum\u201d) y, por eso, est\u00e1 siempre presente espiritualmente en la Eucarist\u00eda, al lado de Jes\u00fas, pues es inseparable de su sant\u00edsimo Hijo. Al no haber habido intervenci\u00f3n de var\u00f3n alguno en la divina concepci\u00f3n de Jes\u00fas, es Mar\u00eda quien da su cuerpo y su sangre a su Hijo. As\u00ed lo expresa el papa Pablo VI: \u201cLa Sant\u00edsima Virgen Mar\u00eda, de la que Cristo Se\u00f1or tom\u00f3 aquella carne, que en este Sacramento, bajo las especies del pan y el vino, se contiene, se ofrece, y se come\u2026\u201d (cf.CEMF, n. 8, p\u00e1rr. 12). Su vientre, eternamente virginal, es el primer sagrario de la tierra. Por tanto, podr\u00edamos decir que, en un cierto sentido, el Cuerpo y la Sangre de Jes\u00fas por \u00c9l derramada heroicamente en el calvario y por \u00c9l entregada voluntariamente en la Eucarist\u00eda para la salvaci\u00f3n de las almas, es tambi\u00e9n el cuerpo y la sangre de Mar\u00eda. En la adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica a Nuestra Sant\u00edsima Madre no la adoramos pero s\u00ed la veneramos con culto de hiperdul\u00eda, porque est\u00e1 presente espiritualmente al lado de Jes\u00fas en la Eucarist\u00eda, as\u00ed como estuvo a su lado y a sus pies en su crucifixi\u00f3n y muerte en la cruz. Por esto, cuando en la liturgia eucar\u00edstica nos acercamos al Cuerpo y la Sangre de Jes\u00fas, nos acercamos tambi\u00e9n a Mar\u00eda, quien se adhiri\u00f3 totalmente al sacrificio de su Divino Hijo, y lo ofrend\u00f3 a la naciente Iglesia.<\/p>\n
f. \u00bfPor qu\u00e9 adoramos a Dios?<\/strong><\/p>\n
1. Porque a Dios le debemos todo, comenzando por nuestra propia existencia.
\n2. Porque nadie nos ama m\u00e1s que \u00c9l.
\n3. Porque \u00c9l nos cre\u00f3 a partir de la nada (ex nihilo) para adorarle.
\n4. Porque es el primero de todos los mandamientos: \u201cAmar\u00e1s al Se\u00f1or, tu Dios, con todo tu coraz\u00f3n, con toda tu alma, con todas tus fuerzas\u201d (Deut. 6,5).
\n5. Porque a \u00c9l, y s\u00f3lo a \u00c9l, debemos adoraci\u00f3n: \u201cAdorar\u00e1s al Se\u00f1or, tu Dios, y s\u00f3lo a \u00c9l dar\u00e1s culto\u201d (Lc. 4,8 y Deut. 6,13). Durante su ayuno en el desierto Jes\u00fas es tentado por Satan\u00e1s, quien luego de mostrarle las riquezas del mundo, le dice a Jes\u00fas: \u201cTodo esto te lo dar\u00e9 si te postras y me adoras (Lc. 4,7) y Jes\u00fas le replica: \u201cAdorar\u00e1s al Se\u00f1or, tu Dios, y s\u00f3lo a \u00c9l dar\u00e1s culto\u201d (Lc. 4,8). De esta respuesta queda claro que Jes\u00fas le est\u00e1 diciendo a Satan\u00e1s: Yo Soy tu Dios, Yo Soy el \u00fanico Dios verdadero, y eres t\u00fa quien debe postrarse ante M\u00ed. Y m\u00e1s adelante Jes\u00fas le replica: \u201cNo tentar\u00e1s al Se\u00f1or, tu Dios.\u201d Por eso Satan\u00e1s huye derrotado (cf. Lc. 4,12-13).
\n6. Porque es el m\u00e1s elemental e importante acto de justicia. Si la justicia la entiende el hombre como el dar a cada uno lo que le corresponde, \u00bfqu\u00e9 cosa no podr\u00e1 corresponderle a Aquel que ha creado todas las cosas, y que al hombre le ha dado todo?
\n7. Porque con la adoraci\u00f3n reconocemos a Dios como lo que es: como Dios, creador, salvador, santificador, due\u00f1o y Se\u00f1or de todo cuanto existe.
\n8. Porque reconocemos nuestra peque\u00f1ez ante su Majestad infinita.
\n9. Porque nos rendimos, nos humillamos, y sometemos con amor nuestra mente y nuestro coraz\u00f3n a quien es m\u00e1s grande que nosotros.
\n10. Porque ador\u00e1ndolo \u00c9l nos orienta a la verdad, al bien y a la libertad.
\n11. Porque si no adoramos a Dios, terminaremos adorando \u00eddolos: \u201cEl que no est\u00e1 conmigo, est\u00e1 contra m\u00ed\u201d (Lc. 11,15; y Mt. 12,30).
\n12. Porque si lo adoramos en esp\u00edritu y en verdad, y en \u00c9l nos abandonamos, Dios nos transformar\u00e1 haci\u00e9ndonos semejantes a \u00c9l: \u201cAprended de m\u00ed que soy manso y humilde de coraz\u00f3n\u201d (Mt. 11,29).
\n13. Porque la adoraci\u00f3n a Dios libera al hombre del repliegue sobre s\u00ed mismo, de la esclavitud del pecado, y de la idolatr\u00eda del mundo (cf. CEC n. 2097).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/nrtte.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/PHOTO-202-4-294x300.jpg\")
3. BREV\u00cdSIMA RESE\u00d1A HIST\u00d3RICA:<\/strong><\/p>\nNuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo anticip\u00f3 en varios pasajes del Evangelio la entrega de su Carne para la vida eterna. Sin embargo, es en la \u00daltima Cena cuando la instituye como adelanto incruento de su holocausto de amor, y en su Pasi\u00f3n y Muerte la consuma con su Sacrificio cruento, doloros\u00edsimo, derramando su preciosa Sangre. Desde los primeros tiempos de la Iglesia, especialmente despu\u00e9s de Pentecost\u00e9s, los ap\u00f3stoles tuvieron clara la presencia real de Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo en la Eucarist\u00eda. Al terminar cada celebraci\u00f3n de la Fracci\u00f3n del pan hac\u00edan con sumo respeto y en forma privada la Reserva eucar\u00edstica, a\u00fan no para su adoraci\u00f3n sino para llevarla a los enfermos, a los presos, y a los perseguidos por causa de la fe. C\u00e9lebre es el martirio del adolescente san Tarcisio, en Roma, quien en el a\u00f1o 275 entreg\u00f3 su vida para evitar la profanaci\u00f3n del Cuerpo y la Sangre de Jes\u00fas en el Pan consagrado.<\/p>\n
Desde las Constituciones apost\u00f3licas, alrededor del a\u00f1o 380, se previ\u00f3 el cuidado de la Reserva Eucar\u00edstica en un lugar considerado sagrado -como en efecto lo es por la presencia divina- y, por eso lo denominaron sacrarium. Y ya, en el siglo VI, durante el S\u00ednodo de Verd\u00fan, la Iglesia orden\u00f3 guardar la Eucarist\u00eda en un lugar especial, \u201ceminente y
\nhonesto, y, si los recursos lo permiten, debe tener una l\u00e1mpara permanentemente encendida\u201d, como indicaci\u00f3n de que Jes\u00fas Sacramentado est\u00e1 presente en ese lugar. Nacieron as\u00ed los sagrarios o tabern\u00e1culos. En los primeros templos cristianos el Sant\u00edsimo se manten\u00eda en forma velada, es decir, oculto a la vista de los fieles, pero siglos m\u00e1s tarde, surge en el seno de la Iglesia la santa costumbre de Exponer al Sant\u00edsimo a trav\u00e9s de un cristal, (\u201cin cristallo\u201d o \u201cpixides cristallum\u201d), y as\u00ed se configuran las sagradas Custodias para el culto de adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica. Desde estos tiempos existen signos claros de adoraci\u00f3n prescritos en las antiguas liturgias como, por ejemplo, antes de la comuni\u00f3n Sancta santis (lo santo para los santos), los fieles realizaban inclinaciones y postraciones.<\/p>\nPor varios siglos dentro de numerosos Monasterios en la antig\u00fcedad y en la Edad media se conserv\u00f3 la adoraci\u00f3n al Sant\u00edsimo, y por la fe inquebrantable de estos monjes y por innumerables testimonios de la presencia real de Jes\u00fas en la Eucarist\u00eda, se conserv\u00f3 la piadosa pr\u00e1ctica del culto de adoraci\u00f3n, en apolog\u00e9tica respuesta de fe y devoci\u00f3n contra la incredulidad general y contra diversas herej\u00edas propias del siglo.<\/p>\n
En el a\u00f1o de 1246 el obispo de Lieja, B\u00e9lgica, Roberto de Thourotte, instituye la fiesta del Corpus Christi, merced a los testimonios que ante \u00e9l rindi\u00f3 santa Juliana de Lieja, abadesa del Monasterio de Mont-Cornillon, a quien en repetidas oportunidades desde 1208 se le apareci\u00f3 Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo, inst\u00e1ndole a auspiciar en el seno de la Iglesia una fiesta lit\u00fargica en honor al Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento del altar. Luego, el cardenal legado para Alemania, Hugo de Saint-Cher, extiende la fiesta a todo el territorio de su legaci\u00f3n. Esto llama la atenci\u00f3n del papa Urbano IV, quien por la alta estima en que ten\u00eda a santa Juliana de Lieja, extiende esta solemnidad lit\u00fargica a toda la Iglesia latina a trav\u00e9s de la bula Transiturus de hoc Mundu, el 11 de agosto de 1264. Para esta solemnidad el Santo Padre promovi\u00f3 un concurso para instaurar el Himno oficial de la Iglesia, el cual fue ganado por santo Tom\u00e1s de Aquino, quien venci\u00f3, entre otros, a san Buenaventura, con su inmortal Pange, lingua, de cuyo canto la m\u00e1s c\u00e9lebre estrofa es la \u00faltima, denominada Tantum ergo, muy cantada en la actualidad, especialmente en las Exposiciones del Sant\u00edsimo. Hubo fuerte oposici\u00f3n a la instituci\u00f3n de esta fiesta sagrada. Sin embargo, y a pesar de ella, el Concilio de Vienne, en 1314, ratifica esta bula papal, y para el a\u00f1o 1324 la fiesta del Corpus Christi se celebra en todo la Iglesia. Como consecuencia de la instituci\u00f3n de tan sacra fiesta lit\u00fargica tambi\u00e9n se oficializ\u00f3 la celebraci\u00f3n en ella de una Exposici\u00f3n ambulante del Sant\u00edsimo, a la cual se le denomin\u00f3 procesi\u00f3n, y que inspir\u00f3 a la formalizaci\u00f3n de otras procesiones eclesi\u00e1sticas.<\/p>\n
En el famoso Concilio de Trento, celebrado entre los a\u00f1os de 1545 y 1563 la Iglesia estableci\u00f3 que Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo est\u00e1 \u201cverdadera, real y substancialmente presente en el pan y el vino consagrados\u201d (cf. n.3.f EM). En la celebraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica ocurre justo en el momento de la consagraci\u00f3n la conversi\u00f3n de todo el pan y de todo el vino en el Cuerpo y la Sangre de Jes\u00fas, y este sublime misterio divino, seg\u00fan el Concilio de Trento, se llama apropiadamente transubstanciaci\u00f3n (cf. Conc Trento sesi\u00f3n XXIII, cap 8, can 2).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/nrtte.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/PHOTO-202-2-294x300.jpg\")
4. DOCUMENTOS RECIENTES DE LA IGLESIA CAT\u00d3LICA:<\/strong><\/p>\n4.1. Carta Enc\u00edclica Mediator Dei:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Fue escrita por el papa P\u00edo XII el 20 de noviembre de 1947. De su texto cabe resaltar el n\u00famero 18 que establece que es deber fundamental del hombre orientar hacia Dios su persona y su propia vida. Por su parte, el n\u00famero 161 afirma que el manjar eucar\u00edstico contiene verdadera, real y sustancialmente, el cuerpo, la sangre, junto con el alma y la divinidad de Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo, y, por ello la Iglesia desde sus principios lo ha adorado bajo la especie del pan, mandando a los ministros sagrados a que de rodillas, o con reverencias profundas, adoren al Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento. El n\u00famero 163 ense\u00f1a que de la conservaci\u00f3n de las sagradas especies para enfermos y los que estuviesen en peligro de muerte naci\u00f3 la laudable costumbre de adorar este celestial alimento reservado en los templos. Finalmente, el n\u00famero 170, cuando habla de la bendici\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica que debe dar el sacerdote al finalizar la adoraci\u00f3n, anhela que los fieles seamos cada vez m\u00e1s numerosos y que llamados a los pies de Nuestro Salvador, escuchemos su dulc\u00edsima invitaci\u00f3n:<\/p>\n
\u201cVenid a m\u00ed todos los que and\u00e1is agobiados con trabajos y cargas, que yo os aliviar\u00e9.\u201d (cf. Mt. 11,28).<\/p>\n
4.2 Constituci\u00f3n Conciliar Sacrosantum Concilium:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Es uno de los principales documentos que la Iglesia produjo en el a\u00f1o 1963, durante el Concilio Vaticano II. En honor a la verdad, poca importancia dan los miembros conciliares al culto de adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica pues centran m\u00e1s sus esfuerzos en el rito lit\u00fargico de la celebraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica. En esta c\u00e9lebre Constituci\u00f3n los obispos exhortan a los fieles para que, con suma piedad, participen m\u00e1s activamente en la celebraci\u00f3n del sacrosanto misterio eucar\u00edstico. Resaltan de \u00e9l, a nuestros efectos, los n\u00fameros 2 y 7, en los cuales la Iglesia hace hincapi\u00e9 en la presencia real de Cristo en la liturgia eucar\u00edstica. El n\u00famero 9 invita a intensificar la celebraci\u00f3n de la fe en la liturgia, y de modo particular en la Eucarist\u00eda, que es la cumbre a la que tiende la acci\u00f3n de la Iglesia y tambi\u00e9n la fuente de donde mana toda su fuerza. El papa Benedicto XVI, en su \u00faltima audiencia al clero de Roma habl\u00f3 de esta Constituci\u00f3n sobre la Sagrada Liturgia, en cuya redacci\u00f3n \u00e9l particip\u00f3, dice estas palabras: \u201cCreo que fue muy acertado comenzar por la liturgia. As\u00ed se manifiesta la primac\u00eda de Dios, la primac\u00eda de la adoraci\u00f3n\u2026 su primer y sustancial acto fue hablar de Dios y abrir a todos, al pueblo santo por entero, a la adoraci\u00f3n de Dios en la celebraci\u00f3n com\u00fan de la liturgia del Cuerpo y la Sangre de Cristo.<\/p>\n
4.3. Carta Enc\u00edclica Mysterium Fidei:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Corresponde al papado de san Pablo VI, quien lo escribi\u00f3 el 3 de septiembre de 1965. Su n\u00famero 1 establece que el misterio de fe, el inefable don de la Eucarist\u00eda, lo recibi\u00f3 la Iglesia de Cristo, su Esposo, como prenda de su inmenso amor, y que ella lo ha guardado religiosamente como el tesoro m\u00e1s precioso. A\u00f1ade m\u00e1s adelante este mismo n\u00famero que el Misterio Eucar\u00edstico es el coraz\u00f3n y el centro de la Sagrada Liturgia. Su n\u00famero 3 recoge que la Eucarist\u00eda es el misterio de fe, y que en ella, citando al papa Le\u00f3n XIII, se contienen con singular riqueza y variedad de milagros todas las realidades sobrenaturales. Por su parte, el n\u00famero 7 ratifica que la Iglesia rinde culto latr\u00e9utico al sacramento eucar\u00edstico no solo durante la Santa Misa sino tambi\u00e9n fuera de su celebraci\u00f3n. El n\u00famero 8 hace una exhortaci\u00f3n a la feligres\u00eda a promover el culto de adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica, el Enmanuel, el Dios con nosotros, habita con nosotros lleno de gracia y de verdad; ordena las costumbres, alimenta las virtudes, consuela a los afligidos, fortalece a los d\u00e9biles; y que la visita al Sant\u00edsimo es se\u00f1al de gratitud, signo de amor y deber de adoraci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n
4.4. Instrucci\u00f3n Eucharisticum Mysterium:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Escrita tambi\u00e9n por el papa san Pablo VI el 25 de mayo de 1967. En su n\u00famero 3.e establece que la celebraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica en el sacrificio de la misa es realmente el origen y el fin del culto que se le tributa fuera de la misa. En el n\u00famero 3.f afirma que los cristianos tributan a este sant\u00edsimo sacramento el culto de latr\u00eda que se debe al Dios verdadero, porque no debe dejar de ser adorado por el hecho de haber sido instituido por Cristo, el Se\u00f1or, para ser comido, y que tambi\u00e9n en la reserva eucar\u00edstica debe ser adorado. En su n\u00famero 49 manifiesta que la laudable costumbre de adorar este manjar del cielo conservado en las iglesias tiene un s\u00f3lido y firme fundamento: la fe en la presencia real del Se\u00f1or que conduce naturalmente a la manifestaci\u00f3n externa y p\u00fabica de dicha fe. El n\u00famero 50 de esta Instrucci\u00f3n expresa que en la oraci\u00f3n ante el Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento los fieles debemos recordar que esta presencia deriva del sacrificio y tiende a la comuni\u00f3n sacramental y espiritual a la vez, que debemos agradecer el don de Dios, disfrutar de su trato \u00edntimo, abrir el coraz\u00f3n, pedir, entre otras cosas, por la salvaci\u00f3n del mundo, y aplicarnos con ardor a la veneraci\u00f3n del Se\u00f1or, seg\u00fan las condiciones del propio estado de vida. A los pastores les exhorta a preceder a los fieles con el ejemplo y a animarlos con las palabras. Asimismo previene a los pastores, en el n\u00famero 51, que cuiden de mantener abiertos las iglesias y oratorios p\u00fablicos durante bastantes horas de la ma\u00f1ana y de la tarde para que los fieles puedan f\u00e1cilmente orar ante el Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento.<\/p>\n
4.5. Ritual de la sagrada comuni\u00f3n y del culto a la Eucarist\u00eda fuera de la Misa:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Tambi\u00e9n pertenece al papado de san Pablo VI quien lo escribi\u00f3 en el a\u00f1o 1974. De este ritual cabe resaltar estas disposiciones: El n\u00famero 80 se recuerda que la presencia de Cristo en el Sacramento proviene del Sacrificio y tiende a la comuni\u00f3n sacramental y espiritual. En la adoraci\u00f3n a la santa Eucarist\u00eda se participa m\u00e1s plenamente en el misterio pascual y se responde con agradecimiento, disfrutando del trato intimo con Cristo, abri\u00e9ndole el coraz\u00f3n y rogando por la paz y por la salvaci\u00f3n del mundo.<\/p>\n
Con ello se aumenta la fe, la esperanza y la caridad. Invita a los fieles a venerar a Cristo e incita a los pastores a ir adelante con su ejemplo y a exhortarlos con sus palabras. En el n\u00famero 90 se recomienda organizar la piadosa costumbre de la adoraci\u00f3n perpetua o prolongada, y que \u00e9sta se realice con participaci\u00f3n de toda la comunidad, con sagradas lecturas, c\u00e1nticos, sagrado silencio, para fomentar la vida espiritual, practicando el culto al Sacramento de forma m\u00e1s noble. El n\u00famero 95 anima a que se organicen preces, cantos y lecturas durante la exposici\u00f3n del Sant\u00edsimo, as\u00ed como a guardar silencio sagrado en momentos oportunos, todo para alcanzar una mayor estima del misterio eucar\u00edstico.<\/p>\n
Especial importancia reviste para el tema que aqu\u00ed proponemos la traducci\u00f3n al idioma espa\u00f1ol que del Tantum ergo, \u00faltima estrofa del famoso himno lit\u00fargico compuesto por santo Tom\u00e1s de Aquino, el Panem, lingua, hace este Ritual en la p\u00e1gina 81 de su publicaci\u00f3n en la p\u00e1gina web liturgiapapal.org. En esta p\u00e1gina se evidencia que la frase en lat\u00edn con que inicia esta \u00faltima estrofa: \u201cTantum ergo Sacramentum veneremur cernui\u2026\u201d es traducida al espa\u00f1ol por la Iglesia con estas palabras: \u201cAdorad postrados este Sacramento\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
4.6. Exhortaci\u00f3n Apost\u00f3lica Dominicae Cenae:<\/strong><\/p>\n
El papa san Juan Pablo II escribe el 24 de febrero de 1980 una preciosa Carta sobre el misterio y el culto de la Eucarist\u00eda, a la cual denomina Dominicae Cenae, (La Cena del Se\u00f1or), dirigida a todos los Obispos de la Iglesia. Comienza diciendo en el n\u00famero 2 que la instituci\u00f3n de la Eucarist\u00eda es la principal y central raz\u00f3n de ser del Sacramento del sacerdocio, nacido efectivamente en el momento de la instituci\u00f3n de la Eucarist\u00eda y a la vez que ella.<\/p>\n
Afirma que los sacerdotes son los responsables de la Eucarist\u00eda pues a ellos est\u00e1 encomendado el gran \u201cSacramento de nuestra fe\u201d, para que den un particular testimonio de veneraci\u00f3n. (Y nosotros nos preguntamos: \u00bfcu\u00e1ntos sacerdotes han olvidado dar este testimonio?) En el n\u00famero 3 el Santo Padre expresa su deseo de que la adoraci\u00f3n al Sant\u00edsimo, enraizado ante todo en la celebraci\u00f3n de la liturgia eucar\u00edstica, debe llenar nuestros templos a\u00fan fuera del horario de la misa. Hace un llamado a la animaci\u00f3n y el robustecimiento del culto eucar\u00edstico como una prueba de la aut\u00e9ntica renovaci\u00f3n que se propuso el Concilio. La Iglesia y el mundo tienen una gran necesidad del culto eucar\u00edstico. Jes\u00fas nos espera en el Sacramento del amor. No puede escatimarse el tiempo para ir a adorarlo.<\/p>\n
Debemos contemplarlo llenos de fe y abiertos a reparar los graves delitos del mundo. Y ruega que no cese nunca nuestra adoraci\u00f3n. En el n\u00famero 4 este preclaro papa afirma que as\u00ed como \u201cla Iglesia hace la Eucarist\u00eda\u201d, as\u00ed tambi\u00e9n \u201cla Eucarist\u00eda construye la Iglesia\u201d. Y en el n\u00famero 13 concluye que la Eucarist\u00eda que es sacramento de piedad, signo de unidad y v\u00ednculo de amor no puede constituir punto de divisi\u00f3n ni fuente de disconformidad. Implora la unidad de la Iglesia y llama a evitar entristecer al Esp\u00edritu Santo. Finalmente pide que los obispos y sacerdotes hagan el m\u00e1ximo esfuerzo para lograr la unidad universal de la Iglesia de Cristo sobre la tierra, y expresa su ferviente deseo de que la Eucarist\u00eda se convierta cada vez m\u00e1s en fuente de vida y luz para la conciencia de todos nuestros hermanos, en todas las comunidades.<\/p>\n
4.7. Catecismo de la Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Esta magistral obra recopiladora de la doctrina general y moral de la Iglesia, cuya iniciativa correspondi\u00f3 al papa san Juan Pablo II, recoge desde el n\u00famero 1322 al 1419 normas relativas a la devoci\u00f3n y al culto eucar\u00edstico. De estas disposiciones consideramos relevantes para este ensayo cuatro n\u00fameros en particular, a saber: 1378, 1418, 2096, 2097 y 2628. Por esta consideraci\u00f3n los transcribimos a continuaci\u00f3n: 1378: \u201cEl culto de la Eucarist\u00eda: En la liturgia de la misa expresamos nuestra fe en la presencia real de Cristo bajo las especies de pan y vino, entre otras maneras, arrodill\u00e1ndonos o inclin\u00e1ndonos profundamente, en se\u00f1al de adoraci\u00f3n al Se\u00f1or. La Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica ha dado y contin\u00faa dando este culto de adoraci\u00f3n que se debe al Sacramento de la Eucarist\u00eda, no solamente durante la misa, sino tambi\u00e9n fuera de su celebraci\u00f3n, conservando con el mayor cuidado las hostias consagradas, present\u00e1ndolas a los fieles para que las veneren con solemnidad, llev\u00e1ndolas en procesi\u00f3n en medio de la alegr\u00eda del pueblo.\u201d<\/p>\n
1418:<\/strong> \u201cPuesto que Cristo mismo est\u00e1 presente en el Sacramento del altar es preciso honrarlo con culto de adoraci\u00f3n. La visita al Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento es una prueba de gratitud, un signo de amor, y un deber de adoraci\u00f3n.\u201d<\/p>\n
2096:<\/strong> \u201cLa adoraci\u00f3n es el primer acto de la virtud de la religi\u00f3n. Adorar a Dios es reconocerle como Dios, como creador y salvador, Se\u00f1or y Due\u00f1o de todo lo que existe, como Amor infinito y misericordioso. \u201cAdorar\u00e1s al Se\u00f1or, tu Dios, y s\u00f3lo a \u00c9l dar\u00e1s culto\u201d dice Jes\u00fas en Lucas 4,8, citando al Deuteronomio en 6,13.\u201d<\/p>\n
2097:<\/strong> \u201cAdorar a Dios es reconocer con respeto y sumisi\u00f3n absolutos la \u201cnada\u201d de la criatura que s\u00f3lo existe por Dios. Adorar a Dios es alabarlo, exaltarle y humillarse a s\u00ed mismo como hace Mar\u00eda en el Magnificat, confesando con gratitud que \u00c9l ha hecho grandes cosas y que su nombre es santo (Lc. 1, 46-49). La adoraci\u00f3n al Dios \u00fanico libera al hombre del repliegue sobre s\u00ed mismo, de la esclavitud del pecado, y de la idolatr\u00eda del mundo.\u201d<\/p>\n
2628:<\/strong> \u201cLa adoraci\u00f3n es la primera actitud del hombre que se reconoce criatura ante su Creador. Exalta la grandeza del Se\u00f1or que nos ha hecho (cf Sal 95,1-6) y la omnipotencia del Salvador que nos libera del mal. Es la acci\u00f3n de humillar el esp\u00edritu ante el \u201cRey de la gloria\u201d (Sal 14,9-10) y el silencio respetuoso en presencia de Dios \u201csiempre (\u2026) mayor\u201d (San Agust\u00edn, Enarratio in Psalmum 62,16). La adoraci\u00f3n de Dios tres veces santo y soberanamente amable nos llena de humildad y da seguridad a nuestras s\u00faplicas\u201d.<\/p>\n
Como corolario de estas cinco disposiciones catequ\u00e9ticas podemos concluir lo siguiente: La Santa Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica reconoce la presencia real de Cristo en la Eucarist\u00eda, invita a los fieles a expresarla de rodillas o con una inclinaci\u00f3n profunda, y exhorta a la adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica durante y uera de la Misa (n. 1378). La presencia real de Cristo en el Sacramento se honra con culto de adoraci\u00f3n visitando al Sant\u00edsimo que es, al mismo tiempo, prueba de gratitud, signo de amor y deber de adoraci\u00f3n (n. 1418).<\/p>\n
La adoraci\u00f3n como primer acto de la virtud de la religi\u00f3n es reconocer a Dios como El Todo, Amor infinito y misericordioso, a quien debemos adorar y rendir culto exclusivo de adoraci\u00f3n (n. 2096). Cuando adoramos a Dios reconocemos con sumisi\u00f3n absoluta que somos la \u201cnada\u201d, como lo se\u00f1ala expresamente el Catecismo en su n\u00famero 2097, y a Dios, que es el \u201cTodo\u201d, lo alabamos, lo exaltamos, y nos humillamos con gratitud como lo hizo Mar\u00eda. Ador\u00e1ndolo, Dios libera al hombre de la soberbia, del pecado y de las idolatr\u00edas (n. 2097) Al adorar a Dios nosotros, que somos sus criaturas, lo reconocemos con humildad como nuestro Creador, ante \u00c9l humillamos el esp\u00edritu, y \u00c9l da seguridad a nuestras s\u00faplicas (n. 2628).<\/p>\n
4.8. Exhortaci\u00f3n Apost\u00f3lica Sacramentum Caritatis:<\/strong><\/p>\n
El actual papa em\u00e9rito Benedicto XVI escribi\u00f3 el 22 de febrero de 2007 una preciosa exhortaci\u00f3n apost\u00f3lica a la cual denomin\u00f3, en clar\u00edsima alusi\u00f3n a la Eucarist\u00eda, Sacramentum Caritatis, el Sacramento del Amor. De ella es resaltable, en primer lugar, su n\u00famero 1, en el cual el Santo Padre reconoce que la Sant\u00edsima Eucarist\u00eda es el don que Jesucristo hace de s\u00ed mismo, revel\u00e1ndonos el amor infinito de Dios por cada hombre, pues en ella manifiesta el amor m\u00e1s grande, aquel que impulsa a dar la vida por los amigos. En el n\u00famero 35 plasma admirablemente la belleza de la liturgia eucar\u00edstica, en la cual resplandece el Misterio pascual de Cristo quien nos atrae hacia s\u00ed y nos llama a la comuni\u00f3n en el amor, signo de la belleza y la armon\u00eda del cosmos por \u00c9l creado.<\/p>\n
La belleza, por tanto, no es un elemento decorativo de la acci\u00f3n lit\u00fargica, sino un elemento constitutivo de ella como atributo de Dios mismo y de su revelaci\u00f3n. En el n\u00famero 65 el Papa se refiere al crecimiento entre los fieles del sentido del misterio de Dios presente entre nosotros, que se comprueba con manifestaciones espec\u00edficas de veneraci\u00f3n de la Eucarist\u00eda, y le da importancia a los gestos y a la postura, como arrodillarse, durante los momentos principales de la plegaria eucar\u00edstica, como expresi\u00f3n consciente de encontrarse en toda celebraci\u00f3n ante la majestad infinita de Dios, que llega a nosotros de manera humilde en los signos sacramentales. El n\u00famero 66 resalta la adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica como continuaci\u00f3n obvia de la celebraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica, la cual es en s\u00ed misma el acto m\u00e1s grande de adoraci\u00f3n de la Iglesia.<\/p>\n
Recibir la Eucarist\u00eda significa adorar al que recibimos, nos hacemos una sola cosa con \u00c9l, y gustamos anticipadamente la belleza de la liturgia celestial. La adoraci\u00f3n fuera de la santa Misa prolonga e intensifica lo acontecido en la misma celebraci\u00f3n lit\u00fargica. El encuentro personal con El Se\u00f1or debe hacer madurar la misi\u00f3n social contenida en la Eucarist\u00eda, que quiere romper las barreras entre \u00c9l y nosotros, y las barreras que nos separan a los unos de los otros. En el n\u00famero 67 el Santo Padre recomienda ardientemente la pr\u00e1ctica de la adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica, tanto personal como comunitaria. Invita a una catequesis adecuada sobre este acto de culto, especialmente a los ni\u00f1os que se preparan para la Primera Comuni\u00f3n, para la toma de conciencia sobre la belleza de estar con Jes\u00fas y el asombro por su presencia en la Eucarist\u00eda. Y, en el n\u00famero 68, proclama que la relaci\u00f3n personal con Jes\u00fas conlleva al sentido de pertenencia al Cuerpo de Cristo. Invita a los fieles que encuentren tiempo para estar en oraci\u00f3n ante el Sacramento del altar, y pide a las parroquias y a otros grupos eclesiales que promuevan momentos de adoraci\u00f3n comunitaria. Establece que conservan todo su valor las formas de devoci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica ya existentes, y piensa en pr\u00e1cticas tradicionales, permitiendo otras iniciativas an\u00e1logas que, debidamente actualizadas y adaptadas a las diversas circunstancias, merecen ser cultivadas tambi\u00e9n hoy. Cuando leemos estas palabras del papa Benedicto XVI no podemos pensar en otra cosa que en la devoci\u00f3n de la adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica de las seis postraciones, como otra iniciativa an\u00e1loga que merece ser cultivada hoy, y cuya pr\u00e1ctica generalizada estamos rogando sea aprobada oficialmente por las competentes autoridades eclesi\u00e1sticas.<\/p>\n
4.9. Discurso del papa Benedicto XVI en Colonia, en la vigilia con los j\u00f3venes, el d\u00eda 20 de agosto de 2005:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Menci\u00f3n especial, aunque no se trate de un documento, merece este c\u00e9lebre discurso papal pronunciado con motivo de la XX Jornada Mundial de la Juventud. En \u00e9l, y en varios de sus pasajes, con fundamento en la cita b\u00edblica de Mateo 2,11, el papa Benedicto XVI reconoce que los Reyes Magos llegaron hasta Bel\u00e9n para adorar postrados al Ni\u00f1o Jes\u00fas. Veamos algunos pasajes de este discurso: \u201cSe hab\u00edan puesto en camino para encontrar a este Rey; en lo m\u00e1s hondo de su ser buscaban el derecho, la justicia que deb\u00eda venir de Dios, y quer\u00edan servir a ese Rey, postrarse a sus pies, y as\u00ed servir tambi\u00e9n ellos a la renovaci\u00f3n del mundo\u2026\u201d; m\u00e1s adelante leemos: \u201cNo obstante ahora se postran ante una criatura de gente pobre, y pronto se enterar\u00e1n de que Herodes, -el rey al que hab\u00edan acudido-, le acechaba con su poder\u2026\u201d; asimismo encontramos en este discurso: \u201cEl nuevo Rey ante el que se postraron en adoraci\u00f3n era muy diferente de lo que se esperaban\u2026\u201d; \u201cAqu\u00ed comenz\u00f3 su camino interior. Comenz\u00f3 en el mismo momento en que se postraron ante este Ni\u00f1o y lo reconocieron como el Rey prometido\u2026\u201d;<\/p>\n
\u201cPor tanto, es importante descubrir el verdadero rostro de Dios. Los Magos de Oriente lo encontraron cuando se postraron ante el ni\u00f1o de Bel\u00e9n. \u2018Quien me ha visto a m\u00ed ha visto al Padre\u2019, dijo Jes\u00fas a Felipe (Jn. 14,9)\u2026\u201d; y contin\u00faa Benedicto XVI en su c\u00e9lebre discurso: \u201cEsto significa que no nos construimos un Dios privado, un Jes\u00fas privado, sino que creemos y nos postramos ante el Jes\u00fas que nos muestran las Sagradas Escrituras\u2026\u201d; \u201c\u2026 \u2018Entraron en la casa, vieron al ni\u00f1o con Mar\u00eda, y cayendo de rodillas lo adoraron\u2019 (Mt. 2,11). Queridos amigos, esto no es una historia lejana, de hace mucho tiempo. Es una presencia. Aqu\u00ed, en la Hostia consagrada, \u00c9l est\u00e1 ante nosotros y entre nosotros\u2026 Est\u00e1 presente como en Bel\u00e9n. Y nos invita a la peregrinaci\u00f3n interior que se llama adoraci\u00f3n. Pong\u00e1monos ahora en camino para esta peregrinaci\u00f3n\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/nrtte.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/PHOTO-2020-06-18-07-48-56-245x300.jpg\")
5. LA POSTRACI\u00d3N COMO POSTURA CORPORAL EN LA ADORACI\u00d3N EUCAR\u00cdSTICA:<\/strong><\/p>\nConsideramos que para adorar a Dios es v\u00e1lida toda postura corporal que el adorador desee libremente adoptar, siempre y cuando guarde el decoro, el respeto, el amor, la piedad y, fundamentalmente, el agradecimiento que debemos sentir hacia Aquel que es el Todo, el que nos ha dado todo, y el que nos ama hasta el extremo de dar su vida por nosotros. Por tanto, estimamos que estar de pie o sentados, ponerse de rodillas, hacer la genuflexi\u00f3n, con las palmas de las manos unidas, con los brazos levantados al Cielo o extendidos hacia adelante, postrados rostro en tierra, o postrados acostados boca abajo, son todas posiciones corporales id\u00f3neas para adorar a Dios, siempre que se practiquen con el honor necesario hacia el autor de la vida. Asimismo pensamos que m\u00e1s que la posici\u00f3n f\u00edsica, a Dios le agrada la disposici\u00f3n espiritual del hombre en el momento de adorarlo. A Dios tenemos que adorarlo en esp\u00edritu y en verdad, con un coraz\u00f3n humillado, arrepentido por los pecados cometidos, pues un coraz\u00f3n contrito y humillado, \u00c9l no lo desprecia (cf. Sal 51,19). Es el respeto y la sumisi\u00f3n absolutos a los cuales se refiere el n\u00famero 2097 del Catecismo de la Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica. Sin embargo, nosotros practicamos, y recomendamos, la postura corporal de la postraci\u00f3n rostro en tierra porque testimoniamos que motiva la humilde toma de conciencia en el hombre de su necesidad profunda e \u00edntima de adorar al Dios \u00fanico y verdadero.<\/p>\n
Muchos sacerdotes dan id\u00e9ntico testimonio e, incluso, algunos aseguran haber aumentado su fe eucar\u00edstica despu\u00e9s de haber adorado postrados rostro en tierra o postrados acostados a Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo en la Hostia consagrada. Nuestra sencilla opini\u00f3n es que a Dios le adoramos con todo nuestro ser, con las palabras, con el silencio, con c\u00e1nticos, y tambi\u00e9n con gestos corporales que pudieran manifestar, -si son aut\u00e9nticos-, deseos de comuni\u00f3n \u00edntima con Dios. Dentro de las posiciones corporales creemos que la postraci\u00f3n es la expresi\u00f3n por excelencia de adoraci\u00f3n como gesto de humildad ante el Misterio eucar\u00edstico. Ser\u00eda deseable, mas no es imperativa, la unidad de los fieles en cuanto a darle preeminencia a esta postura corporal de postraci\u00f3n en la adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica p\u00fablica y comunitaria, como evidencia de reconocimiento valiente de la fe cat\u00f3lica en la presencia real de Jesucristo en la Hostia consagrada. En la Audiencia General del 11 de mayo de 2011 el papa Benedicto XVI afirma que \u201cla din\u00e1mica de orar de rodillas significa postrarse declarando nuestro l\u00edmite y manifestando nuestra necesidad de Dios en el cual alcanzamos la verdadera felicidad.\u201d (cf. Aud Gen 11-V-11).<\/p>\n
6. LAS POSTRACIONES EN LA BIBLIA:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Numerosos son los pasajes b\u00edblicos que se refieren a postrarse, poner el rostro en tierra, caer de rodillas, arrodillarse, humillarse, reverenciar, hacer una reverencia profunda, una inclinaci\u00f3n profunda, una inclinaci\u00f3n reverente, u otras frases similares, como expresi\u00f3n ling\u00fc\u00edstica de la posici\u00f3n corporal que denota el reconocimiento humilde de la peque\u00f1ez del hombre ante la majestad infinita de Dios. En este ensayo hemos recopilado una lista de 174 citas de las Sagradas Escrituras sobre las postraciones, la cual presentamos como testimonio b\u00edblico irrefutable del claro reconocimiento que hace la Palabra de Dios por este gesto p\u00fablico corporal de adoraci\u00f3n al \u00fanico Dios verdadero.<\/p>\n
Veamos:<\/p>\n
ANTIGUO TESTAMENTO:<\/strong>
\nG\u00c9NESIS: 13,3; 17,17; 18,2; 19,1; 22,5; 24,26; 24,52; 24,6; 24,48;
\n24,86; 48,13.
\n\u00c9XODO: 4,31; 24,1; 33,10; 34,8.
\nLEV\u00cdTICO: 9,24.
\nN\u00daMEROS: 14,5; 16,22; 16,4; 17,10; 20,6; 22,31, 24,4; 24,16.
\nDEUTERONOMIO: 9,18; 9,25; 26,10; 33,3.
\nJOSU\u00c9: 5,14; 7,6; 7,10.
\nJUECES: 7,15; 13,20.
\n1 SAMUEL: 1,3; 1,19; 1,28; 2,17; 5,4; 15,25; 15,31; 20,41; 24,8;
\n25,23; 28,14.
\n2 SAMUEL: 12,16; 12,20; 15,32.
\n1 REYES: 18,42<\/p>\n2 REYES: 1,36; 17,36; 18,39.
\n1 CR\u00d3NICAS: 16,29; 21,16; 29,20.
\n2 CR\u00d3NICAS: 7,3; 16,29; 20,18; 29,29, 33,33.
\nESDRAS: 10,1.
\nNEHEM\u00cdAS: 8,6; 9,3; 9,6.
\nJUDITH: 6,18.
\n2 MACABEOS: 3,12; 10,26.
\nJOB: 1,20; 16,15.
\nSALMOS: 4,55; 5,7; 5,9; 22,27; 22,29; 29,2; 66,4; 72,11; 86,9; 95,6;
\n96,9; 97,7; 116,6; 132,7; 138,2.
\nECLESI\u00c1STICO: 50,17; 50,21.
\nISA\u00cdAS: 27,13; 36,7; 45,23; 49,7; 60,14; 66,23.
\nJEREM\u00cdAS: 7,2; 26,2.
\nEZEQUIEL: 1,28; 9,8; 46,2; 46,3.
\nDANIEL: 8,17.
\nMIQUEAS: 6,6.
\nSOFON\u00cdAS: 1,5; 2,11; 3,10.
\nZACAR\u00cdAS: 14,6; 14,17<\/p>\nNUEVO TESTAMENTO:<\/strong>
\nMATEO: 2,2; 2,8; 2,11; 4,10; 8,2; 9,18; 13,12; 14,33; 15,22; 17,6;
\n18,26; 20,20; 26,39; 28,9; 28,17.
\nMARCOS: 1,40; 5,6; 5,22; 5,33; 7,25; 10,17; 14,35.
\nLUCAS: 4,8; 5,8; 5,12; 7,28; 8,32; 8,41; 8,47; 17,16; 18,13; 22,41;
\n24,5; 24,52.
\nJUAN: 4,10; 4,20; 4,24; 9,24; 9,38; 11,3.
\nHECHOS: 8,7; 9,4; 9,27; 16,14; 17,23.
\nROMANOS: 12,1; 14,11.
\n1 CORINTIOS: 1,45; 14,25; 29,20.
\nEFESIOS: 3,14.
\nFILIPENSES: 2,10.
\nHEBREOS: 1,6; 9,9; 11,21.
\nSANTIAGO: 4,10.
\n1 PEDRO: 5,6.
\nAPOCALIPSIS: 1,17; 3,9; 4,10; 5,8; 5,14; 7,11; 11,16; 14,7; 15,4;
\n19,4; 19,10; 19,14, 22,8.<\/p>\n7. LA ADORACI\u00d3N EUCAR\u00cdSTICA DE LAS SEIS POSTRACIONES PROVIENE DE UNA REVELACI\u00d3N PRIVADA:<\/strong><\/p>\n
Esta devoci\u00f3n en cuanto a la forma de la posici\u00f3n corporal de postrarse rostro en tierra, que no es obligatoria pero s\u00ed recomendable, para practicar la adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica procede de una revelaci\u00f3n privada. Su origen inmediato se encuentra en una revelaci\u00f3n privada que la Sant\u00edsima Virgen Mar\u00eda hizo en febrero de 2014 a una inmigrante vietnamita en los Estados Unidos de Am\u00e9rica, cuyo nombre es Lucia Phan, mujer humilde, pobre, de profunda oraci\u00f3n, y de una vida totalmente entregada a la Santa Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica. Y un abogado venezolano, pecador, en el nada f\u00e1cil camino a la conversi\u00f3n, quien hoy escribe estas lineas, recibi\u00f3 de la Virgen Mar\u00eda el d\u00eda 5 de julio de 2017, en la ciudad de Houston, Texas, Estados Unidos, a trav\u00e9s de la misma Lucia Phan, el encargo de dar a conocer esta forma de adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica, primero en Venezuela, y despu\u00e9s en otros pa\u00edses, para la liberaci\u00f3n espiritual de nuestros pueblos.<\/p>\n
Conforme a lo establecido en el n\u00famero 67 del Catecismo de la Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica algunas revelaciones privadas han sido reconocidas por la autoridad de la Iglesia, a\u00fan cuando no pertenecen al dep\u00f3sito de la fe. Para que una revelaci\u00f3n privada sea reconocida como tal debe partir del principio de que no puede mejorar ni completar la \u00fanica Revelaci\u00f3n p\u00fablica y definitiva, que es la de Cristo, y fuera de la cual no habr\u00e1 otra.<\/p>\n
La revelaci\u00f3n privada de la adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica de las seis postraciones (The Six Kowtows, en ingl\u00e9s) solo persigue ayudar a vivir m\u00e1s plenamente la Revelaci\u00f3n definitiva y p\u00fablica de Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo en esta \u00e9poca de la historia tan convulsionada, de tanta confusi\u00f3n espiritual, y en la cual a la humanidad le cuesta tanto reconocer su presencia real, viva, amorosa y substancial en la santa Eucarist\u00eda. No es una revelaci\u00f3n privada que desee venir a imponer elementos nuevos en la fe cat\u00f3lica, ni tiene la pretensi\u00f3n de cambiar una sola letra de la Revelaci\u00f3n de Cristo que es perfecta, santa, completa e inmejorable. Se trata de un regalo de la Madre de Dios apoyado en la antiqu\u00edsima pr\u00e1ctica propia de la tradici\u00f3n judeocristiana de postrarse ante la presencia real de Dios. Esta devoci\u00f3n cuenta, como hemos apuntado anteriormente, con vasto fundamento b\u00edblico, y tiene como prop\u00f3sito el crecimiento de la fe en el clero y la feligres\u00eda, la liberaci\u00f3n espiritual de todos los pueblos, la paz del mundo, la invitaci\u00f3n a la conversi\u00f3n de los pecadores, y la salvaci\u00f3n de muchas almas.<\/p>\n
8. LA ADORACI\u00d3N EUCAR\u00cdSTICA DE LAS POSTRACIONES:<\/strong><\/p>\n
\u00bfCONTINUIDAD DEL MENSAJE DE F\u00c1TIMA?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Un ejemplo de revelaci\u00f3n privada oficialmente aprobada por la Iglesia lo constituye el caso de las apariciones de la Sant\u00edsima Virgen Mar\u00eda en F\u00e1tima, Portugal. En los archivos del Vaticano reposa el testimonio de la hermana Lucia Dos Santos, una de los tres pastorcitos a los cuales se les apareci\u00f3 seis veces la Sant\u00edsima Madre de Dios, en el a\u00f1o de 1917. Ella relata que antes de los encuentros con la Virgen, un \u00e1ngel se les apareci\u00f3 tres veces. En la primera aparici\u00f3n del \u00e1ngel, ellos vieron una figura \u201ccon la apariencia de un joven de catorce o quince a\u00f1os, m\u00e1s blanco que la nieve, que con el sol se volvi\u00f3 transparente como si fuera de cristal y de gran belleza\u2026 \u00e9l dijo: \u00a1No temas! Soy el \u00e1ngel de la paz. Reza conmigo. Y arrodillado en la tierra, inclin\u00f3 la frente hacia el suelo. Impulsados por un movimiento sobrenatural lo imitamos y repetimos las palabras que le o\u00edmos pronunciar: \u201cDios m\u00edo, yo creo en ti, te adoro, te espero y te amo. Te pido perd\u00f3n por todos aquellos que no creen en ti, no te adoran, no te esperan y no te aman.\u201d Habiendo repetido esa oraci\u00f3n tres veces, se levant\u00f3 nuevamente y nos dijo:<\/p>\n
\u201cOren de esta manera. Los corazones de Jes\u00fas y Mar\u00eda est\u00e1n atentos a la voz de sus s\u00faplicas.\u201d Y desapareci\u00f3\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Sobre la tercera aparici\u00f3n del \u00e1ngel, la hermana Lucia Dos Santos testimonia lo siguiente: \u201c\u2026volvimos a ver al \u00c1ngel que ten\u00eda en su mano izquierda un c\u00e1liz sobre el que estaba suspendida una Hostia, de la que cayeron unas gotas de sangre en el c\u00e1liz. Dejando el c\u00e1liz y la Hostia suspendidos en el aire, se postr\u00f3 a la tierra, cerca de los ni\u00f1os\u2026mientras le daba la preciosa sangre del c\u00e1liz a Francisco y Jacinta, dijo: \u2018Come y bebe del Cuerpo y la Sangre de\u00a0 Jesucristo, horriblemente indignado por hombres desagradecidos. Repara sus cr\u00edmenes y consuela a tu Dios. Luego, postr\u00e1ndose en el suelo, repiti\u00f3 con los ni\u00f1os la misma oraci\u00f3n\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
9. \u00bfC\u00d3MO SE PRACTICA LA ADORACI\u00d3N EUCAR\u00cdSTICA DE LAS SEIS POSTRACIONES?<\/strong><\/p>\n
Esta devoci\u00f3n consiste solo en una forma diferente de adorar a Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo en la Santa Eucarist\u00eda, pero no nueva, pues, como lo hemos se\u00f1alado en otro lugar, la postura corporal de postrarse es antiqu\u00edsima ya que proviene de la milenaria tradici\u00f3n judeocristiana, y tiene vasto fundamento b\u00edblico tanto en el Antiguo como en el Nuevo Testamento.<\/p>\n
Se comienza con una postura corporal de mucho respeto y decoro ante el Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento del altar, para acompa\u00f1ar a Jes\u00fas, a quien hemos abandonado en casi todos los sagrarios del mundo. Nosotros practicamos y recomendamos la posici\u00f3n de postraci\u00f3n rostro en tierra, pero no es obligatoria. Los adoradores pueden adoptar otra postura f\u00edsica con humildad y verdadero amor, pero siempre ser\u00e1 necesaria la postraci\u00f3n espiritual, pues un coraz\u00f3n contrito y humillado Dios no lo desprecia (cf. Sal 51,19). Hacemos la se\u00f1al de la santa cruz e invocamos al Esp\u00edritu Santo, rezando tambi\u00e9n alguna oraci\u00f3n cat\u00f3lica como el Credo, el Padrenuestro, el Avemar\u00eda, u otra semejante y, de ser posible, entonamos alg\u00fan c\u00e1ntico de adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica. En este momento ponemos a los pies de Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo nuestras intenciones personales, familiares, eclesi\u00e1sticas y espirituales, a las cuales debemos sumar la necesaria bendici\u00f3n, el agradecimiento, la ofrenda de reparaci\u00f3n y desagravio, la alabanza, el amor y la adoraci\u00f3n a Dios. Tambi\u00e9n incluimos la petici\u00f3n por la Santa Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica, especialmente por el papa, los obispos, y los sacerdotes, hijos amados de Dios. La Sant\u00edsima Virgen tambi\u00e9n ha recomendado dos intenciones especiales:<\/p>\n
1. La paz del mundo y que, para alcanzarla, Dios toque los corazones de los gobernantes de todos los pa\u00edses; y<\/p>\n
2. La liberaci\u00f3n espiritual, la conversi\u00f3n de los pecadores, la reconciliaci\u00f3n de sus hijos, y la salvaci\u00f3n de todas las almas. Este acto de adoraci\u00f3n consta de seis oraciones principales, en este orden: 1. Dios Padre; 2. Dios Hijo; 3. Dios Esp\u00edritu Santo; 4. Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento del altar; 5. Cinco santas llagas de Jes\u00fas; y 6. Inmaculado coraz\u00f3n de Mar\u00eda y su triunfo. Las cinco primeras oraciones son de adoraci\u00f3n y la \u00faltima es de veneraci\u00f3n. Por tratarse de una adoraci\u00f3n preferentemente comunitaria, en cada postraci\u00f3n las personas presentes van turn\u00e1ndose para rezar en voz alta, de forma libre y espont\u00e1nea, sus oraciones en adoraci\u00f3n a Dios, o en veneraci\u00f3n a la Virgen, en forma de di\u00e1logo confidente, humilde, respetuoso y amoroso, tratando en lo posible de encontrar apoyo b\u00edblico o teol\u00f3gico, pero en palabras muy sencillas.<\/p>\n
Tambi\u00e9n en algunas ocasiones practicamos la adoraci\u00f3n en silencio e individual. Solo durante las oraciones de cada postraci\u00f3n recomendamos colocar nuestro rostro en tierra. Se aconseja que cada una de estas oraciones sea de un m\u00e1ximo de cinco minutos y que, al finalizar cada una, se repitan las palabras del \u00c1ngel de la paz a los pastorcitos de F\u00e1tima: \u201cDios m\u00edo yo creo, te adoro, te espero y te amo. Te pido perd\u00f3n por aquellos que no creen, no te adoran, no te esperan, y no te aman.\u201d Inmediatamente pedimos a Dios por las vocaciones religiosas con estas palabras: \u201cY te ruego por el papa y los obispos, y por el aumento, la perseverancia, y la santificaci\u00f3n del papa, los obispos, los sacerdotes, las religiosas, los religiosos, y los seminaristas.\u201d Finalizamos la oraci\u00f3n de cada postraci\u00f3n con la frase de san Luis Grignon de Monfort, de la cual hizo su lema pontificio el papa san Juan Pablo II: \u201cTotus tuus\u201d o, simplemente: \u201cTodo tuyo.\u201d<\/p>\n
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10. \u00bfES CAT\u00d3LICA LA ADORACI\u00d3N EUCAR\u00cdSTICA DE LAS SEIS POSTRACIONES?<\/strong><\/p>\nAlgunas personas han puesto objeciones a la adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica de las seis postraciones porque la posici\u00f3n corporal de rostro en tierra que adoptamos y recomendamos es similar a la postraci\u00f3n practicada por devotos de otras religiones, especialmente la musulmana. Otros inquieren si somos cristianos no cat\u00f3licos, o de la Nueva Era, o de alguna secta extra\u00f1a. Y, por ello, de buena fe nos han preguntado: \u00bfes cat\u00f3lica esta adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica?, \u00bfes cat\u00f3lica la postraci\u00f3n rostro en tierra? Ante tal incertidumbre, hacemos las siguientes observaciones:<\/p>\n
a. La postraci\u00f3n rostro en tierra pertenece a la tradici\u00f3n judeocristiana, en cuyo seno se practica desde tiempos inmemoriales. As\u00ed lo testimonian las Sagradas Escrituras. Por ejemplo, en el cap\u00edtulo 17 del Libro del G\u00e9nesis consta que Abraham se postr\u00f3 rostro en tierra al percatarse de la presencia de Dios. Los historiadores estiman que Abraham vivi\u00f3 alrededor de unos 4.000 a\u00f1os atr\u00e1s.<\/p>\n
b. En la Santa Biblia existen unos 174 pasajes que hacen referencias directas a la postraci\u00f3n rostro en tierra ante la presencia de Dios. Y existen otros pasajes m\u00e1s en ella, pero por tratarse de postraciones ante hombres, no las hemos tomado en cuenta para los fines de este ensayo.<\/p>\n
c. Los musulmanes tomaron la postraci\u00f3n rostro en tierra de la tradici\u00f3n judeocristiana, y empezaron a practicarla desde la fundaci\u00f3n del Islamismo por Mahoma, acaecida en el a\u00f1o 630 despu\u00e9s de la venida de Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo a la tierra. Esto significa que comenzaron a practicarla varios siglos despu\u00e9s de los jud\u00edos y los cristianos. Una radical nota de la postraci\u00f3n musulmana es que ellos la practican a determinadas horas del d\u00eda, en cualquier lugar donde se encuentren y orient\u00e1ndose en direcci\u00f3n a La Meca; mientras que los cat\u00f3licos nos postramos en nuestras iglesias o capillas de adoraci\u00f3n, en las procesiones, en las minervas, en las Exposiciones del Sant\u00edsimo, y siempre solo a los pies de Jes\u00fas Sacramentado. Esto lo hacemos as\u00ed porque el \u00fanico Dios verdadero est\u00e1 presente f\u00edsicamente; real, vivo, amoroso, en la santa Eucarist\u00eda por la celebraci\u00f3n lit\u00fargica cat\u00f3lica. Los musulmanes no lo saben. Otras religiones y sectas no lo saben. El mundo no lo sabe. Nosotros s\u00ed. Por tanto, es nuestro deber ineludible e impostergable proclam\u00e1rselos e invitarlos a venir a la santa Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica, \u00fanica religi\u00f3n de la tierra instituida por Dios mismo. As\u00ed nos lo recuerda el Concilio Vaticano II al afirmar en el n\u00famero 16 de la Constituci\u00f3n dogm\u00e1tica Lumen gentium que: \u201c\u2026el designio de salvaci\u00f3n abarca tambi\u00e9n a los que reconocen al Creador, entre los cuales est\u00e1n en primer lugar los musulmanes, que, confesando adherirse a la fe de Abraham, adoran con nosotros a un Dios \u00fanico, misericordioso, que juzgar\u00e1 a los hombres en el d\u00eda postrero.\u201d<\/p>\n
d. En la adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica de las seis postraciones adoramos a Jes\u00fas Sacramentado, cuya presencia real y substancial ha sido reconocida por la Santa Iglesia Cat\u00f3lica desde sus primeros tiempos. Adoramos solo a Dios. Lo adoramos en su presencia eucar\u00edstica. En Jes\u00fas, Dios Hijo, con \u00c9l, en \u00c9l, y en su divinidad trinitaria, adoramos a Dios Padre y a Dios Esp\u00edritu Santo. Adoramos postrados a Jes\u00fas en el Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento del altar. Adoramos a Jes\u00fas crucificado, porque en la cruz consum\u00f3 el supremo sacrificio cruento para la salvaci\u00f3n de nuestras almas. Adoramos a Jes\u00fas resucitado para la salvaci\u00f3n nuestra y de las almas. Y veneramos, con culto de hiperdul\u00eda, al Inmaculado Coraz\u00f3n de nuestra Sant\u00edsima Madre, la Virgen Mar\u00eda, quien est\u00e1 espiritual e inseparablemente unida a Jes\u00fas en la Eucarist\u00eda, as\u00ed como lo estuvo en su crucifixi\u00f3n y muerte.<\/p>\n
e. Por lo sencillo del lenguaje piadoso y por la humildad de la adoraci\u00f3n, algunas personas han dicho que esta forma de adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica es una simple devoci\u00f3n pietista con escaso o nulo fundamento teol\u00f3gico. Sin embargo, el fundamento primero del culto eucar\u00edstico es la divina presencia real de Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo en la Hostia consagrada. En ella est\u00e1 Jes\u00fas, Dios y hombre verdadero, quien merece nuestra adoraci\u00f3n y la suscita por medio del Esp\u00edritu Santo. \u00bfHace falta otro fundamento teol\u00f3gico? Entonces, no est\u00e1 fundamentada en un puro sentimiento ni en un sentimentalismo piadoso, sino en la fe. La adoraci\u00f3n eucar\u00edstica se fundamenta exclusivamente en la fe, en el Mysterium fidei que complementa el defecto de los sentidos (\u201cpraestet fides supplementum sensuum defectui\u2026\u201d Santo Tom\u00e1s de Aquino en: Pange, lingua)<\/p>\n
f. Como adoramos a Jes\u00fas en el Sant\u00edsimo Sacramento del altar, vamos al lugar donde \u00c9l est\u00e1: a la iglesia cat\u00f3lica para postrarnos ante su real presencia en los sagrarios o en las custodias, cuando Nuestro Se\u00f1or Jesucristo est\u00e1 sacramentalmente expuesto, o camina jubiloso con su pueblo en procesi\u00f3n.<\/p>\n
g. Solo en caso de imposibilidad de asistir a la Iglesia cat\u00f3lica para realizar la adoraci\u00f3n, como ocurre con la actual pandemia del coronavirus, recomendamos que se haga en nuestros hogares. En estos casos aconsejamos que se haga frente a una imagen cat\u00f3lica, bendecida por un sacerdote, y que los adoradores necesariamente recordemos que no adoramos im\u00e1genes, sino que solo adoramos a Dios, que en ese momento est\u00e1 tan solo representado por esa imagen.<\/p>\n
h. En todo caso de promoci\u00f3n e invitaci\u00f3n en una parroquia para la realizaci\u00f3n de la adoraci\u00f3n nos dirigimos a las autoridades parroquiales competentes y, en caso de ser posible, tambi\u00e9n visitamos al Ordinario del lugar, a objeto de pedir el necesario permiso, y someti\u00e9ndonos siempre a su decisi\u00f3n. En los lugares donde el se\u00f1or Obispo o el cura p\u00e1rroco no autorizan, no realizamos esta forma de adoraci\u00f3n comunitaria. Cuando lo permiten, estamos sujetos a sus instrucciones y procuramos, en la medida de lo posible, hacer coincidir las postraciones con los jueves eucar\u00edsticos, la hora santa, las procesiones, las minervas, las vigilias eucar\u00edsticas u otras actividades de adoraci\u00f3n a
- PASTORAL PROPOSAL TO PARISHES<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- Evangelization\/catechesis on the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist
- Sanctification: as an effect of having an enjoyable time at the feet of Jesus in the Sacrament, the soul feels such a need to love Him that one of his greatest experiences is the aspiration to holiness.
- DESIRABLE SPIRITUAL FRUITS<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- IS THE EUCHARISTIC ADORATION OF THE SIX KOWTOWS CATHOLIC?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- God the Father, 2. God the Son, 3. God the Holy Spirit, 4. The Body and Blood of Jesus, 5. The Five Holy Wounds of Jesus, and 6. The Immaculate Heart of Mary and for Her triumph. The first five prayers are for worship and the last one is for veneration. As it is a preferably communal adoration, in each kowtow the people present take turns to pray aloud, freely and spontaneously, their prayers in adoration of God, or in veneration of the Virgin, in the form of a confident, humble dialogue, respectful and loving, in very simple words.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- HOW IS THE EUCHARISTIC ADORATION OF THE SIX KOWTOWS PRACTICED?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- THE EUCHARISTIC ADORATION OF KOWTOWS: CONTINUITY OF THE MESSAGE OF FATIMA?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- THE<\/strong> EUCHARISTIC ADORATION OF THE SIX KOWTOWS COMES FROM A PRIVATE REVELATION<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- PROSTRATIONS IN THE BIBLE<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- THE KOWTOW AS A BODY POSTURE IN EUCHARISTIC WORSHIP<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- RECENT DOCUMENTS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- Because we owe everything to God, beginning with our own existence.