Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, also called Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament or the Rite of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction, is a devotional ceremony, celebrated especially in the Roman Catholic Church, but also in some other Christian traditions such as Anglo-Catholicism, [1] [2] whereby a bishop, a priest, or a deacon blesses the congregation with the Eucharist at the end of a period of adoration. [3]
The actual benediction or blessing follows exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, i.e., the placing of the consecrated Host in a monstrance set upon the altar or at least exposition of a ciborium containing the Blessed Sacrament. [4] Thus "the blessing with the Eucharist is preceded by a reasonable time for readings of the word of God, songs, prayers, and a period for silent prayer", while "exposition merely for the purpose of giving benediction is prohibited". [5]
The readings, songs and prayers are meant to direct attention to worship of Christ in the Eucharist. A prayerful spirit is encouraged also by periods of silence and by a homily or brief exhortations aimed at developing a better understanding of the mystery of the Eucharist. [6]
Latin hymns traditionally sung during the exposition are "O Salutaris Hostia", "Tantum Ergo", "Laudate Dominum" (Psalm 117) and "Ave verum corpus". The Divine Praises are a prayer traditionally recited but no specific hymn or prayer is required, except that, immediately before the blessing, one or other of seven prayers given in the Rite of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction, 98 and 224-229 is to be recited. [6]
Before publication of the 1973 Rite of Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction, there was no codification of the rite. However, the guidelines for the Diocese of Rome issued under Pope Clement XII (and hence called the Clementine Instruction) and drawn up by the Cardinal Vicar, Prospero Lambertini (later Pope Benedict XIV), were widely adopted.
The rite now in force for the Latin Church requires the use of incense at the beginning of the exposition and before the blessing, if the Blessed Sacrament is exposed in a monstrance, but not if a ciborium is used [7] (although sometimes this is omitted). Similarly, the priest or deacon, wearing an alb or a surplice, should also put on a cope and use a humeral veil when giving the blessing with the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance, but the cope is not required when using a ciborium. [8]
A person other than a priest or deacon authorized to expose the Eucharist for adoration cannot give the blessing with it. [3]
Immediately after the benediction, the Blessed Sacrament is replaced in the church tabernacle, while an acclamation such as "O Sacrament Most Holy", [9] or the hymn Holy God, We Praise Thy Name. (An exception is if the Divine Praises in expiation of blasphemies, "Blessed be God" etc., follow; in that case, the Blessed Sacrament is put back to the altar, and the Divine Praises are said while an altar server removes the humeral veil from the celebrant and puts it back aside, usually to the credence table. The celebrant then reposes the Blessed Sacrament once the Divine Praises are finished.)
Zucchetti are to be removed during the Benediction (and the preceding adoration) – they may only be donned again once the Blessed Sacrament is replaced.
Among the Eastern Catholic churches, the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the Ruthenian Catholic Church, the Melkite Catholic Church, [10] and the Maronite Catholic Church, have a rite of Benediction.
While Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament is not a practice of most Eastern Orthodox or Oriental Orthodox churches, or of the Assyrian Church of the East, these churches do believe in the Real Presence. As a sign of this, in many Eastern Orthodox churches, the Eucharist is venerated during the Divine Liturgy; however, this is part of the liturgy and not a distinct form of benediction. When the deacon brings the chalice out before the Communion of the Faithful, all either make a full prostration or bow. Also, at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, during the Great Entrance, as the priest carries the chalice and diskos (paten) to the Holy Doors, everyone prostrates themselves in veneration before the Eucharist. [11] The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA has had a rite of Benediction. [12]
The Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper, the night before his crucifixion, giving his disciples bread and wine. Passages in the New Testament state that he commanded them to "do this in memory of me" while referring to the bread as "my body" and the cup of wine as "the blood of my covenant, which is poured out for many". According to the Synoptic Gospels this was at a Passover meal.
Mass is the main Eucharistic liturgical service in many forms of Western Christianity. The term Mass is commonly used in the Catholic Church, Western Rite Orthodoxy, Old Catholicism, and Independent Catholicism. The term is also used in some Lutheran churches, as well as in some Anglican churches, and on rare occasion by other Protestant churches.
Divine Liturgy or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service.
A benediction is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service. It can also refer to a specific Christian religious service including the exposition of the eucharistic host in the monstrance and the blessing of the people with it.
The humeral veil is one of the liturgical vestments of the Roman Rite, also used in some Anglican and Lutheran churches. It consists of a piece of cloth about 2.75 metres (108 in) long and 90 centimetres (35 in) wide draped over the shoulders and down the front, normally of silk or cloth of gold. At the ends there are sometimes pockets in the back for hands to go into so that the wearer can hold items without touching them with the hands.
Making the sign of the cross, also known as blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. This blessing is made by the tracing of an upright cross or Greek cross across the body with the right hand, often accompanied by spoken or mental recitation of the Trinitarian formula: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."
A monstrance, also known as an ostensorium, is a vessel used in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, High Church Lutheran and Anglican churches for the display on an altar of some object of piety, such as the consecrated Eucharistic Sacramental bread (host) during Eucharistic adoration or during the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. A monstrance may also serve as a reliquary for the public display of relics of some saints. The word monstrance comes from the Latin word monstrare, while the word ostensorium comes from the Latin word ostendere. Either term, each expressing the concept of "showing", can refer to a vessel intended for the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, but ostensorium has only this meaning.
Eucharistic adoration is a devotional practice primarily in Western Catholicism, but also to a lesser extent in certain Lutheran and Anglican traditions, in which the Blessed Sacrament is adored by the faithful. This practice may occur either when the Eucharist is exposed, or when it is not publicly viewable because it is reserved in a place such as a tabernacle.
Christian liturgy is a pattern for worship used by a Christian congregation or denomination on a regular basis. The term liturgy comes from Greek and means "public work". Within Christianity, liturgies descending from the same region, denomination, or culture are described as ritual families.
A tabernacle or a sacrament house is a fixed, locked box in which the Eucharist is stored as part of the "reserved sacrament" rite. A container for the same purpose, which is set directly into a wall, is called an aumbry.
The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is a Byzantine Rite liturgical service which is performed on the weekdays of Great Lent wherein communion is received from Gifts that are sanctified (consecrated) in advance, hence its name; this Divine Liturgy has no anaphora.
A paten or diskos is a small plate, used during the Mass. It is generally used during the liturgy itself, while the reserved sacrament are stored in the tabernacle in a ciborium.
The Roman Rite is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the sui iuris particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs rites such as the Roman Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours as well as the manner in which sacraments and blessings are performed.
During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the second part of the Mass, the elements of bread and wine are considered to have been changed into the veritable Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The manner in which this occurs is referred to by the term transubstantiation, a theory of St. Thomas Aquinas, in the Roman Catholic Church. Members of the Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran communions also believe that Jesus Christ is really and truly present in the bread and wine, but they believe that the way in which this occurs must forever remain a sacred mystery. In many Christian churches, some portion of the consecrated elements is set aside and reserved after the reception of Communion and referred to as the reserved sacrament. The reserved sacrament is usually stored in a tabernacle, a locked cabinet made of precious materials and usually located on, above, or near the high altar. In Western Christianity usually only the Host, from Latin: hostia, meaning "victim", is reserved, except where wine might be kept for the sick who cannot consume a host.
Anglican eucharistic theology is diverse in thought and practice. Its sources include prayer book rubrics, writings on sacramental theology by Anglican divines, and the regulations and orientations of ecclesiastical provinces. The principal source material is the Book of Common Prayer, specifically its eucharistic prayers and Article XXVIII of the Thirty-Nine Articles. Article XXVIII comprises the foundational Anglican doctrinal statement about the Eucharist, although its interpretation varies among churches of the Anglican Communion and in different traditions of churchmanship such as Anglo-Catholicism and Evangelical Anglicanism.
Eucharist is the name that Catholic Christians give to the sacrament by which, according to their belief, the body and blood of Christ are present in the bread and wine consecrated during the Catholic eucharistic liturgy, generally known as the Mass. The definition of the Eucharist in the 1983 Code of Canon Law as the sacrament where Christ himself "is contained, offered, and received" points to the three aspects of the Eucharist according to Catholic theology: the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, Holy Communion, and the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross, is present and offered in an unbloody manner". The Church describes the Mass as the "source and summit of the Christian life", and teaches that the Mass is a sacrifice, in which the sacramental bread and wine, through consecration by an ordained priest, become the sacrificial body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ as the sacrifice on Calvary made truly present once again on the altar. The Catholic Church permits only baptised members in the state of grace to receive Christ in the Eucharist.
The Divine Service is a title given to the Eucharistic liturgy as used in the various Lutheran churches. It has its roots in the Pre-Tridentine Mass as revised by Martin Luther in his Formula missae of 1523 and his Deutsche Messe of 1526. It was further developed through the Kirchenordnungen of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that followed in Luther's tradition.
Forty Hours' Devotion, in Italian called Quarant'ore or written in one word Quarantore, is a Roman Catholic liturgical action in which continuous prayer is made for forty hours before the Blessed Sacrament in solemn exposition. It often occurs in a succession of churches, with one finishing prayers at the same time as the next takes it up.
The Mass of the Lord's Supper, also known as A Service of Worship for Maundy Thursday, is a Holy Week service celebrated on the evening of Maundy Thursday. It inaugurates the Easter Triduum, and commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, more explicitly than other celebrations of the Mass.
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