Pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. (James 5:16)

On Holy Thursday, sitting before my loving Lord in His Blessed Sacrament, I was privileged to pray with my mom’s Adoration Holy Hour prayer book from 1934. I felt like she was holding it with me, turning every page. The timelessness of our faith…the truth that in prayer we breach time and space as God lifts us up into His Heart to experience His love for us…the grace this brings into the world…truly there are no other people more blessed on the earth than the Catholics sitting in front of His Blessed Sacrament. 

Over its 2000 year history, our Catholic Church has gifted us with perhaps thousands of devotions to pray. Yet the greatest gift remains praying before Jesus Himself in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar or in the tabernacle. Indeed, it is a privilege to be in His presence at any time. Over the millennia and through our magisterium and saints, God has taught us what prayer actually is and what happens with those words that leave our heart to His ear. Our prayers for ourselves and our loved ones are more efficacious than we could ever imagine. 

Christian prayer is conversation with God and is always Christ-centered. This would seem obvious but New Age and Eastern religions often consider Jesus or the saints as one of ‘many paths to enlightenment’. The term “Christ-centered prayer” comes from these pagan spiritualities, which by its name informs us to NOT engage in these. True prayer is other-centered and not intended to be a method of our own doing to achieve our own self-actualization. Whether we are praying to God our Father, Christ His Son, the Holy Spirit, a saint, or an angel, all prayer goes through Jesus who is the one mediator between us and God (1 Timothy 2:5).  United to Jesus’ prayer, our prayer is carried through Jesus to our Father in the love of the Holy Spirit. Regarding intercessory prayer specifically, our prayer is the instrument God chooses to use to bring His grace into the world. This is incredible to think about. 

The beauty of our Catholic devotions is that this truth is already embedded within them. We don’t need to be theologians to know this. The ‘old’ devotions form our mind and heart in these truths. In prayer, we also are spiritually active in the Communion of Saints: the Church militant on earth, Church penitent in Purgatory, and Church triumphant in Heaven. We join in the prayer already taking place in Heaven and on earth. 

When pleading to God and His saints, we often may feel isolated and alone in the struggle. Our classic Catholic devotions remind us we are never alone and that our prayer goes much farther than merely the space in which we sit. The following prayer of the 18^th century saint (and Doctor of the Church) Alfonsus Ligori invites us to thanksgiving, to reparation for sins including our own, and “by this visit” to visit Jesus in the tabernacles around the world where He is ignored. He has called you to this particular church, at this particular moment, to be with Him in this special way. Remembering this, place yourself in the silence that St. Joseph mastered and with the docility of our Blessed Mother, full of grace, pray with confidence:

Prayer for a Visit to the Blessed Sacrament

by St. Alfonsus Liguori

From the Eucharistic Holy Hour, compiled by Rev. Joseph W. Printon, imprimatur 1934.

My Lord Jesus Christ, Who, for the love which Thou bearest to men, remainest night and day in this Sacrament full of compassion and of love, awaiting, calling, and welcoming all who come to visit Thee; I believe that Thou are present in the Sacrament of the Altar. I adore Thee from the abyss of my nothingness, and I thank Thee for all the graces which Thou has bestowed upon me, and in particular for having given me Thyself in this Sacrament, for having given me Thy most holy Mother Mary as my Advocate, and for having called me to visit Thee in this church. I now salute Thy most loving Heart and this for three ends: 

• First, in thanksgiving for this great gift;
• Secondly, to make amends to Thee for all the outrages which Thou receives in this Sacrament from all Thine enemies;
• Thirdly, I intend by this visit to adore Thee in all the places on earth in which Thou art present in this Sacrament, and in which Thou art the least revered and the most abandoned.

My Jesus, I love Thee with my whole heart. I grieve for having hitherto so many times offended Thy infinite goodness. I purpose by Thy grace never more to offend Thee for the time to come and now, miserable and unworthy though I be, I consecrate myself to Thee without reserve; I give Thee and renounce my entire will, my affections, my desires, and all that I possess. Henceforward do Thou dispose of me and all that I have as Thou pleases. All that I ask of Thee and desire is Thy holy love, final perseverance, and the perfect accomplishment of Thy will. I recommend to Thee the souls in Purgatory, but especially those who had the greatest devotion to the most Blessed Sacrament and to the most Blessed Virgin Mary. I also recommend to Thee all poor sinners. In fine, my dear Savior, I unite all my affections with the affections of Thy most loving Heart and I offer them thus united to Thy Eternal Father, and beseech Him in Thy name to vouchsafe for Thy love, to accept and grant them. Amen. (Indulgence 5 yrs)

(Image by Jacob Bentzinger via Unsplash)