The Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Manual
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Table of Contents Pastor 1 Information Packet Head Coordinator 2 Organization Information Packet Sign-up Sunday 3 Weekend Preparation 4 Chapel Preparation Adorer 5 Information Packet Eucharistic Adoration 6 Resources Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association 718 Liberty Lane Lombard, Illinois 60148 www.therealpresence.org email: [email protected] Copyright © 2 001-2011 by Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association All rights reserved worldwide Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Parish Start-Up Information “O my Jesus, wholly and entirely present in the most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, open our hearts and the hearts of people throughout the world to accept and receive Your grace, Your mercy, and Your love. Merciful Jesus, we ask this of You in Your most Holy Name. Amen.” Anno Domini 2000 Introduction This manual should be used as a guide to start Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in your parish. For purposes of clarification sections have been created to define specific functions that make up the different components that go into putting together a successful Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel. In reality, however, all these functions are actually taking place at the same time in varying degrees of progress. The subject matter is sometimes presented in a checklist format and at other times in an explanatory context. It is our sincere hope that this manual will serve the needs of those people who have accepted God’s Call to Adoration. This manual follows the decree, statutes and guidelines from the Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration handbook, P.O. Box 878, La Habra, California 90633. Contents 1. Pastor Information Packet 2. Head Coordinator - Organization Information Packet 3. Sign-up Sunday Weekend Preparation 4. Chapel Preparation 5. Adorer Information Packet 6. Eucharistic Adoration Resources Pastor 1 Information Packet The Real Presence Association Pastor Information Packet 1. Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., M.A., S.T.D. - endorsement. 2. His Eminence Francis Cardinal George O.M.I., PH.D., S.T.D. Archbishop of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois - endorsement 3. Most Rev. Raymond E. Goedert, S.T.L., J.C.L. Vicar General, Chicago, Illinois - endorsement 4. (Most Rev.) Raymond L. Burke, D.D., J.C.D. Bishop of La Crosse, La Crosse, Wisconsin - endorsement. 5. Frequently asked questions and answers. 6. Letters from Pastors on the benefits of PEA. 7. Perpetual Adoration of the Holy Eucharist by Pope John Paul II. 8. The History of Eucharistic Adoration by John A. Hardon, S.J. 9. PEA handbook – Decree, Statutes and Guide. 10. Call to Adoration flyer. 11. Pastor’s Checklist. • The Pastor must obtain permission from his Local Ordinary (Bishop). • Choose a Head Coordinator. (see section 2) • Place the invitation call for a Eucharistic Speaker. (see section 3) • Send a Pastor’s letter to all the parish families. • Prepare the chapel where Our Lord and His people will come together. (see section 4) • Act as shepherd to lead and guide God’s flock. (see section 5) • Arrange the opening Mass, Procession and Dedication of the new chapel. The Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association is a gift of Divine Providence I heartily approve the goal of this association. It perfectly reflects the mind of Pope John Paul II in promoting devotion to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. This association is putting into practice what our Holy Father has so strongly urged on the Catholic faithful in our country. The Holy Father states, "The year 2000 will be intensely Eucharistic: in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the Savior, who took flesh in Mary’s womb twenty centuries ago, continues to offer himself to humanity as the source of divine life." With the Archdiocese of Chicago as its center, this Eucharistic apostolate will spread, not only throughout the United States, but please God, throughout the world. There was never a time in Christian history when the world needed to be educated in, faith in Christ, belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, more than today. It is the same Jesus who worked miracles in first century Palestine. He is ready to perform miracles of conversion in our day, provided we believe that He is here with us in the Blessed Sacrament. The Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association has a most promising future. It all depends on the depth of our faith. In our Eucharistic Lord, John A. Hardon, S.J. June 2001 Dear Friends, The New Millennium of grace is already bringing a renewed interest of the faithful in the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. Many dioceses across the country report an emergence of chapels set aside for periods of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament exposed on the altar. As a result, the faithful are testifying to graces received, conversions taking place, prayer answered, reconciliation in families, increases in priestly and religious vocations and other favors. The Real Presence Association, founded by the late Father John Hardon, S.J., is a nationally focused apostolate promoting perpetual adoration. Their start-up manual contains the principals of eucharistic adoration according to church teaching, counsel for leadership by local pastors, pointers for parish catechesis and for setting up a chapel for adoration. This is a movement of the Holy Spirit in the Church in these times, and I am happy to give my endorsement to this manual as a tool for getting adoration underway in parishes. May the rich graces given by Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament transform each of us, the Church and the world. Sincerely yours in Christ, Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. Archbishop of Chicago June 8, 2001 Reverend Burns Seeley St. John Cantius Church 825 North Carpenter Street Chicago, Illinois 60622 Dear Father Seeley: I have received word from the Archdiocesan censor that the instruction manual for The Real Presence Association has been favorably reviewed. You may print the following in the manual: With Ecclesiastical Approbation – Archdiocese of Chicago June 7, 2001 Please be aware that any major re-writing of this manual in the future will again require the review of the Archdiocesan censor. I am also enclosing a letter of endorsement from His Eminence, Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. which may be included in the manual. Thank you for your patience during the review process. Please accept my best wishes and gratitude for your important ministry. Enclosure 4445 Lindell Boulevard St. Louis, Missouri 63108-2497 314.633.2222 314.633.2302 (fax) Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, With this letter I am happy to give my wholehearted endorsement to the Real Presence Association, founded by the late Father John A. Hardon, S.J. At the request of Father Hardon, before his death, I have been serving as the spiritual director for the Real Presence Association for the past four years. The Real Presence Association has a strong membership from the United States of America and also from foreign countries. The Association responds to the desire of many in the Church today to have extended periods of Eucharistic Adoration, even continuous Eucharistic Adoration, for building up of the life of the Church and seeking God's help in the many trials of our times. I am certain that it will bear much fruit. The materials provided by the Real Presence Association make it possible to establish, in a fitting and not too burdensome way, the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in your parish or institution. It is my hope that you will become a member of the Real Presence Association as an expression of your deep devotion to the most Blessed Sacrament and, as a means of bringing to others the love of our Lord in the most Blessed Sacrament. Asking God’s blessing upon you, I remain Yours devotedly in Christ, (Most Rev.) Raymond L. Burke Archbishop of Saint Louis RLB:sml PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION OBJECTIONS AND REPLIES Mother Teresa of Calcutta writes in a letter: "Perpetual Adoration with exposition needs a great push. People ask me: 'What will convert America and save the world?' My answer is prayer. What we need is for every Parish to come before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in Holy Hours of Prayer.” 1. Objection: “Perpetual adoration in parish churches is not permitted." (Dictionary of the Liturgy, Rev. Jovian P. Lange, OFM, p. 17) Reply: This is incorrect. Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in parishes with Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament exposed is not only permitted, but encouraged by the Holy Father. The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, opened a chapel of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration with Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament exposed in a monstrance in St. Peter's Basilica on December 2, 1981. In his opening prayer, "Stay with us, Lord," the Pope urged all parishes to begin Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. Upon his arrival in Korea on October 7, 1989 for the 44th International Eucharistic Congress the Holy Father went to Good Shepherd Parish in Seoul. This is one of seventy-five parishes in Korea that has Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. During a period of Eucharistic Adoration there, the Holy Father gave a homily in which he said: "It is most fitting that my first stop among the Korean people should be in a Church such as this, where the minds and hearts of the faithful are constantly raised up in adoration before Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist." (See L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 16 October 1989). In his homily in June 1993 at the 45th International Eucharistic Congress in Seville, Spain the Pope expressed this wish: "I hope that this form of perpetual adoration, with permanent exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, will continue into the future. Specifically, I hope that the fruit of this Congress results in the establishment of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration in all parishes and Christian communities throughout the world." (Signs of the Times 6, 2, p.