Canons 6 and 7 of the Thirteenth Session of the Council of Trent (October 11, 1551):
888 [DS 1656] Can. 6: If anyone says that in the holy sacrament of
the Eucharist the only-begotten Son of God is not to be adored even outwardly
with the worship of latria (the act
of adoration), and therefore not to be venerated with a special festive
celebration, nor to be borne about in procession according to the praiseworthy
and universal rite and custom of the holy Church, or is not to be set before
the people publicly to be adored, and that the adorers of it are idolators: let
him be anathema.
889 [DS 1657] Can. 7. If anyone says that it is not lawful that the
Holy Eucharist be reserved in a sacred place, but must necessarily be
distributed immediately after the consecration among those present; or that it
is not permitted to bring it to the sick with honor: let him be anathema.
It is generally agreed that eucharistic adoration and veneration
developed and flourished in the second millennium:
Eucharistic devotion presupposes
faith in the Blessed Sacrament as well as the reservation of the Blessed
Sacrament outside Mass, a practice that can be traced at least to St. Justin in
the 2nd century. For centuries the practice inspired respect for the Blessed
Sacrament, but it did not give rise to special religious practices until the
13th century, when several factors contributed to their emergence.
Theological controversies over
the reality of Christ’s presence in the Blessed Sacrament invited private and
public expressions of faith. Developments in the liturgy itself encouraged such
manifestations by emphasizing the elevation after each consecration. By
excluding the faithful from participating in the cup, the liturgy also gave
greater prominence to the host.
The earliest Eucharistic devotion
consisted in private visits to the Blessed Sacrament. These became popular at
the beginning of the 13th century. Later in the same century public processions
with the Blessed Sacrament originated in connection with the Feast of Corpus
Christi in the city of Liège, and the practice soon spread throughout Europe.
Exposition of the Blessed
Sacrament began at the end of the 14th century as an extension of the feast of
Corpus Christi in response to popular piety. Benediction of the Blessed
Sacrament arose in the 14th century as a conclusion for Compline and Vespers. A
precedent for this practice had been set in the Benediction stations that
became part of the Corpus Christi processions.
The primary spiritual attitude in
all these devotional practices was adoration, but they also invited other basic
attitudes inspired by the Eucharistic liturgy, especially faith, charity, hope,
thanksgiving, reparation and petition.
In the course of the centuries
Eucharistic devotions acquired such importance as to displace the Mass in
popular religiosity. This displacement tended to obscure the relationship
between the devotional practices and the liturgical celebration from which they
had sprung. (Eugene Laverdiere, “Eucharistic Devotion,” in The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality, ed. Michael Downey [Collegeville, Minn.:
Liturgical Press, 2000], 360–361)
eucharistic adoration, a devotion
centered on worshiping Christ as Divine Lord and Savior in the consecrated
bread (and wine). Though such adoration is expressed in the liturgy itself,
this term has come to designate nonliturgical worship, usually involving exposition
of the Blessed Sacrament. Many persons also have engaged in such adoration
privately through visits to the Blessed Sacrament.
Though special reverence and
adoration were offered the eucharistic Christ in the early Church, eucharistic
adoration outside of Mass rose to prominence only in the thirteenth century. Often
in the popular mind, it replaced the Mass and reception of Communion as the
most significant Christian experience of worship. Current ecclesiastical
legislation governing worship seeks to reintegrate eucharistic worship outside
of Mass with the Mass itself. Devotions are seen as prolongations of
thanksgiving, of interior communion with one’s saving Lord, of prayer for the Church
and world, all of which are celebrated and actualized in the Eucharistic
Liturgy. (Gerard H. Luttenberger, “Eucharistic Adoration,” in The Harper
Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism, ed. Richard P. McBrien [San Francisco:
Harper Collins, 1995], 480)
eucharistic devotions, nonliturgical
religious practices centered on Christ’s presence to the Church in the reserved
Sacrament. Public or private, they include exposition of the Blessed Sacrament
(for long or short periods), usually followed by Benediction, holy hours of
adoration, and eucharistic processions and visits.
Eucharistic devotions developed
from the thirteenth century, inspired by the desire of the faithful to look at
and to contemplate Christ in the sacred species (the consecrated bread and
wine) in order to foster interior communion with him. Emphasis on the divinity
of Jesus, convictions of personal unworthiness to receive Communion, and the
coldness and distance of the Latin Mass created a need for such devotions. Their
simplicity, their use of local languages, and the warmth of their hymns and
prayers filled that need, engaging persons not only in mind but also in heart. (Gerard
H. Luttenberger, “Eucharistic Devotions,” in The Harper Collins Encyclopedia
of Catholicism, ed. Richard P. McBrien [San Francisco: Harper Collins,
1995], 480)
monstrance (mon’struhnts),
a vessel used to expose to view the eucharistic bread. The monstrance is
usually made of a precious metal. It has a broad base, a stem with a node, and
a round opening usually surrounded by some design. A round flat window—known as
a lunula, luna, or lunette—encases the consecrated Host. The monstrance is
placed on the altar or in some place of reverence for adoration during the rite
of exposition and benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and is sometimes carried
in processions. The use of this vessel originated in fourteenth-century France
and Germany, where eucharistic devotion outside of the Mass flourished. (Charles
E. Curran, “Monstrance,” in The Harper Collins Encyclopedia of Catholicism,
ed. Richard P. McBrien [San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1995], 890)
If one reads Justin’s 1 Apology 65 and 67, one will see that
the eucharist itself was not venerated/worshiped, but it was taken to the sick
and others who would not come to the liturgical service itself. One can read
the First Apology here.
As Allan Bouley noted:
Originally, the sacrament was
reserved for the communion of those unable to celebrate the eucharist with the
church. Justin notes (1 Apol. 65, 67) that at Rome c. 150 the deacons took the
eucharist to those who were absent. Communion. (Allan Bouley, “Reservation,
Eucharistic,” in The New Dictionary of Theology, ed. Joseph A.
Komonchak, Mary Collins, and Dermot A. Lane [Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical
Press, 2000], 878)
