Adoration
How to Pray Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
Eucharistic Adoration · 7 steps
The rite of Benediction as the Church celebrates it: exposition with the O Salutaris, a time of adoration, the Tantum Ergo, the versicle and prayer, the blessing with the monstrance, the Divine Praises and reposition.
7 steps · About 20 minutes
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is the blessing given to the people with the Host in the monstrance at the close of a period of exposition. The Church's rite, in Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist Outside Mass, asks that exposition always include a real time of adoration with prayer, Scripture, song and silence; exposition merely in order to give the blessing is not permitted. Only a priest or deacon may give the blessing itself, though an acolyte or extraordinary minister may expose and repose the Sacrament when no priest or deacon is available. The Directory on Popular Piety commends the rite warmly. This guide follows it as a lay person in the pew experiences it, with the texts to sing and say.
What you need
- A parish celebration of exposition and Benediction (Sunday evening, First Friday, Forty Hours, Corpus Christi, or after a holy hour)
- The hymns O Salutaris Hostia and Tantum Ergo, in Latin or English; a card is usually provided
- The Divine Praises
When to pray it
Whenever the parish schedules it: commonly at the end of a holy hour, on Sunday afternoons, First Fridays, during Forty Hours devotion, on Corpus Christi and its procession, and at the close of retreats and missions.
Steps
Step 1: Exposition and the O Salutaris
The priest or deacon, wearing a cope or surplice and stole, brings the Host from the tabernacle and places it in the monstrance on the altar, then kneels and incenses it. Meanwhile the people sing the : ', opening wide the gate of heaven to man below; our foes press on from every side; thine aid supply, thy strength bestow.' Kneel as the Sacrament is exposed, and genuflect if you arrive afterward.
Step 2: The time of adoration
There follows a period of adoration, longer or shorter according to the occasion: readings from Scripture, a homily or reflection, hymns, litanies, the Rosary, and above all silence. This is not a preamble to the blessing but the substance of the rite; the Church forbids exposition solely for the sake of Benediction. Pray as at any holy hour: adore, thank, ask, and rest. The is a fitting prayer here.
Step 3: The Tantum Ergo
Toward the end the minister returns to the altar, kneels, and the people sing the , the last two verses of Saint Thomas Aquinas' hymn Pange Lingua: ', lo, the sacred Host we hail; lo, o'er ancient forms departing, newer rites of grace prevail; faith for all defects supplying, where the feeble senses fail. To the everlasting Father, and the Son who reigns on high, with the Holy Spirit proceeding forth from each eternally, be salvation, honour, blessing, might and endless majesty. Amen.' The minister incenses the Sacrament again during the hymn. Kneel.
Step 4: The versicle and the prayer
The minister stands and sings or says: 'You have given them bread from heaven.' All answer: 'Having all sweetness within it.' In Easter time 'alleluia' is added to both. Then: 'Let us pray. O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption. Who live and reign for ever and ever.' All: 'Amen.' Other Eucharistic prayers from the rite may be used instead.
Step 5: The blessing with the monstrance
The minister puts on the humeral veil, takes the monstrance in veiled hands, and makes the Sign of the Cross over the people with it, in silence, while a server may ring the bells and incense the Sacrament. Kneel, bow your head, and receive the blessing without making the Sign of the Cross yourself; it is Christ himself who blesses. This is Benediction properly so called, and it may be given only by a priest or deacon.
Step 6: The Divine Praises
After the blessing, the minister kneels and, by widespread custom, leads , the people repeating each line: 'Blessed be God. Blessed be his holy Name. Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man. Blessed be the Name of Jesus. Blessed be his most Sacred Heart. Blessed be his most Precious Blood. Blessed be Jesus in the most holy Sacrament of the altar. Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy. Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception. Blessed be her glorious Assumption. Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother. Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse. Blessed be God in his angels and in his saints.'
Step 7: Reposition and the closing hymn
The minister returns the Host to the tabernacle and genuflects; the people stand and sing a closing hymn, very often 'Holy God, We Praise Thy Name', the English paraphrase of the , or a Marian antiphon. Genuflect toward the tabernacle as you leave, and carry the blessing out with you.
Tips
- Kneel from the Tantum Ergo through the blessing; stand or sit for the rest as the community does.
- Bow your head, do not make the Sign of the Cross, as the monstrance is raised over you; the blessing is Christ's own, given in silence.
- Learn the Latin of the Tantum Ergo once and you will be able to sing it anywhere in the world.
- The Divine Praises were composed as an act of reparation for blasphemy; say them slowly, with that in mind.