Fostering Devotion to the Eucharist: Treating Sacred Spaces as Sacred
In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that only 31% of U.S. Catholics believe that during Mass, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.[1] The Catholic Church teaches that “The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1324)
This statistic not only scandalized the faithful but brought to light the significantly embarrassing failures of both the domestic and the hierarchical Church regarding Catechesis. In response to this lack of belief in the Real Presence, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and the world’s Bishops, have called for and set in motion a worldwide Eucharistic Revival. In this, the Church is explicitly calling us as Catholics to foster, in a deeper way, our devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist. With the Church’s firm and unchanging teaching on the Eucharist, I propose that one of the ways we can begin this process is by treating our sacred spaces as sacred. The obvious space that we as the laity should focus our attention is the sanctuary. After all, this sacred space is where we spend most of our time within the life of the Church.
Every time we gather for Holy Mass, we experience the re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary to the Father. We are present at the foot of the cross at every Mass. What a gift! So, what more can the laity do? For starters, we can prepare ourselves before mass in a pious silence. Speaking on the sacred liturgy in his Apostolic Letter, Desiderio Desideravi, Pope Francis stated the following regarding silence:
“Among the ritual acts that belong to the whole assembly, silence occupies a place of absolute importance. Many times it is expressly prescribed in the rubrics. The entire Eucharistic celebration is immersed in the silence which precedes its beginning and which marks every moment of its ritual unfolding. It disposes us to adore the Body and Blood of Christ. It suggests to each one, in the intimacy of communion, what the Spirit would effect in our lives to conform us to the Bread broken. For all these reasons we are called to enact with extreme care the symbolic gesture of silence. Through it the Spirit gives us shape, gives us form.”
Notice that Pope Francis says “the entire Eucharistic celebration is immersed in the silence which precedes its beginning.” In other words, before Holy Mass begins, our minds and hearts should be engrossed in a reverent and holy silence. For in this silence, we can meditate and prayerfully enter a deeper intimacy with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, whom we will receive and adore. Unfortunately, in many parish communities throughout the United States, our sanctuaries before Holy Mass are treated more like social halls than sacred places of worship and reverence. We do not enter the holy silence which prepares and nurtures in us the disposition toward who is present in our midst and to what is about to happen. Instead, upon entering the sanctuary, we are concerned more about speaking to our neighbors, than we are with speaking to Jesus in the Eucharist.
Of course, this not to say that you shouldn’t be cultivating fellowship and community amongst your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Your parish should be encouraging the building of good and holy relationships among the faithful, and if possible, providing a space outside of the sanctuary where socializing and communal interaction is fostered.
Another way in which we as the laity can begin treating our sacred spaces as sacred, is by remembering to genuflect toward Jesus upon entering the Church. How can this little action foster devotion to the Eucharist? In the document Inaestimabile Donum, released by the Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship, with the approval and confirmation by His Holiness Pope St. John Paul II, the Church says the following: “The venerable practice of genuflecting before the Blessed Sacrament, whether enclosed in the tabernacle or publicly exposed, as a sign of adoration, is to be maintained. This act requires that it be performed in a recollected way. In order that the heart may bow before God in profound reverence, the genuflection must be neither hurried nor careless.”
As Catholics, we must remember that we are physical beings, and what we do matters. In this fact, the Church has implemented in our devotional life things that our senses can relate to, such as the sign of the cross before and after prayer, genuflection, incense in the liturgy, beautiful music, beautiful buildings, etc. Genuflection not only reflects an outward sign of adoration and humility to God, but it’s also an acknowledgment of God’s physical presence. It’s our response to Christ’s love for us, which is manifested in His desire to physically remain with us here on earth. Dying on the cross was enough, but Jesus loves you and I too much to be separated from us.
Many times, we the laity seek to deepen our devotion to God in so many other ways, when in fact, the easiest ways to do so are found in the smallest acts. Silence before and after mass, genuflecting before our Lord, in these small ways, we respond to God’s radical love and increase our devotion and faith. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” (1 John 3:1) Let us not be like the world, let us acknowledge our Eucharistic Lord in our hearts, minds, and bodies.
[1] Smith, Gregory A. “Just One-Third of U.S. Catholics Agree with Their Church That Eucharist Is Body, Blood of Christ.” Pew Research Center, August 5, 2019. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-rhttps://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/08/05/transubstantiation-eucharist-u-s-catholics/eads/2019/08/05/transubstantiation-eucharist-u-s-catholics/.