Eucharistic Adoration

[Lil Red]

in 'Ecclesia de Eucharistia' (number 25) it states:
[quote]25. The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass is of inestimable value for the life of the Church. This worship is strictly linked to the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. The presence of Christ under the sacred species reserved after Mass – a presence which lasts as long as the species of bread and of wine remain 45 – derives from the celebration of the sacrifice and is directed towards communion, both sacramental and spiritual.46 [b]It is the responsibility of Pastors to encourage, also by their personal witness, the practice of Eucharistic adoration, and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in particular, as well as prayer of adoration before Christ present under the Eucharistic species.47[/b]

It is pleasant to spend time with him, to lie close to his breast like the Beloved Disciple (cf. Jn 13:25) and to feel the infinite love present in his heart. If in our time Christians must be distinguished above all by the “art of prayer”,48 how can we not feel a renewed need to spend time in spiritual converse, in silent adoration, in heartfelt love before Christ present in the Most Holy Sacrament? How often, dear brother and sisters, have I experienced this, and drawn from it strength, consolation and support!

This practice, repeatedly praised and recommended by the Magisterium,49 is supported by the example of many saints. Particularly outstanding in this regard was Saint Alphonsus Liguori, who wrote: “Of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the sacraments, the one dearest to God and the one most helpful to us”.50 The Eucharist is a priceless treasure: by not only celebrating it but also by praying before it outside of Mass we are enabled to make contact with the very wellspring of grace. A Christian community desirous of contemplating the face of Christ in the spirit which I proposed in the Apostolic Letters Novo Millennio Ineunte and Rosarium Virginis Mariae cannot fail also to develop this aspect of Eucharistic worship, which prolongs and increases the fruits of our communion in the body and blood of the Lord.[/quote]

it is the bolded part that i would like to talk about here. does the bolded part mean that priests are required to have Eucharistic Adoration? or practice it? if so, or even if it is strongly encouraged, why don't more priests do so? thank you.

[Laudate_Dominum]

I would definitely say that the Pope is strongly encouraging Eucharist adoration as both a devotion of the parish and a personal devotion of the priest. It is encouraged strongly enough that the Pope calls it a responsibility. I don't think this is a particularly new thing either. It is telling to me that the one canonized saint who was a parish priest, and who has been made the patron of parish priests, is Saint Jean Vianney, who is well known for his long hours spent in Eucharistic adoration.

Pope John XXIII wrote the following of Saint Jean Vianney in his encyclical "[i]Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia[/i]":

[quote]"[b]A Model for the Clergy[/b]
The Catholic Church, which elevated this man in sacred orders, who was "wonderful in his pastoral zeal, in his devotion to prayer and in the ardor of his penance" to the honors of the saints of heaven, now, one hundred years after his death, offers him with maternal joy to all the clergy as an outstanding model of priestly asceticism, of piety, [b]especially in the form of devotion to the Eucharist[/b], and, finally, of pastoral zeal."
...
"The devotion to prayer of St. John M. Vianney, who was to spend almost the whole of the last thirty years of his life in Church caring for the crowds of penitents who flocked to him, had one special characteristic—it was specially directed toward the Eucharist

It is almost unbelievable how ardent his devotion to Christ hidden beneath the veils of the Eucharist really was. "He is the one"—he said—"Who has loved us so much; why shouldn't we love Him in return?" (59) He was devoted to the adorable Sacrament of the altar with a burning charity and his soul was drawn to the sacred Tabernacle by a heavenly force that could not be resisted."
...
"He did everything that there was to be done to stir up the reverence and love of the faithful for Christ hidden in the Sacrament of the Eucharist and to bring them to share in the riches of the divine Synaxis; the example of his devotion was ever before them."
...
"...A priest must be specially devoted to constant prayer. In this regard, We know that shortly after he [St. Jean Vianney] was made pastor of a village where Christian life had been languished for a long time, he began to spend long and happy hours at night (when he might have been resting) in adoration of Jesus in the Sacrament of His love. The Sacred Tabernacle seemed to be the spring from which he constantly drew the power that nourished his own piety and gave new life to it and promoted the effectiveness of his apostolic labor to such an extent that the wonderful words that Our predecessor of happy memory, Pius XII, used to describe the ideal Christian parish, might well have been applied to the town of Ars in the time of this holy man: 'In the middle stands the temple; in the middle of the temple the Sacred Tabernacle, and on either side the confessionals where supernatural life and health are restored to the Christian people.'"
...
"As Our predecessor of immortal memory, Pius XII, has said—"The wonderful example of St. John Mary Vianney retains all of its force for our times." (62) For the lengthy prayer of a priest before the adorable Sacrament of the Altar has a dignity and an effectiveness that cannot be found elsewhere nor be replaced. And so when the priest adores Christ Our Lord and gives thanks to Him, or offers satisfaction for his own sins and those of others, or finally when he prays constantly that God keep special watch over the causes committed to his care, he is inflamed with a more ardent love for the Divine Redeemer to whom he has sworn allegiance and for those to whom he is devoting his pastoral care. And a devotion to the Eucharist that is ardent, constant and that carries over into works also has the effect of nourishing and fostering the inner perfection of his soul and assuring him, as he carries out his apostolic duties, of an abundance of the supernatural powers that the strongest workers for Christ must have."

[url="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_xxiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_19590801_sacerdotii_en.html"]http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_xxi...erdotii_en.html[/url][/quote]

So there is no doubt that the Church calls parish priests in particular to Eucharistic devotion, we can say it is a true responsibility for pastors.

I think the reasons why this fact is not always evident in our parishes is similar to the reasons why other instructions of "[i]Ecclesia de Eucharistia[/i]" are at times scarce. I am thinking in particular of these types of things:

[quote]It must be lamented that, especially in the years following the post-conciliar liturgical reform, as a result of a misguided sense of creativity and adaptation there have been a number of abuses that have been a source of suffering for many. A certain reaction against ‘formalism’ has led some, especially in certain regions, to consider the ‘forms’ chosen by the Church’s great liturgical tradition and her magisterium as non-binding and to introduce unauthorized innovations that are often completely inappropriate.
...
I consider it my duty, therefore to appeal urgently that the liturgical norms for the celebration of the Eucharist be observed with great fidelity. These norms are a concrete expression of the authentically ecclesial nature of the Eucharist; this is their deepest meaning. Liturgy is never anyone’s private property, be it of the celebrant or of the community in which the mysteries are celebrated
...
Precisely to bring out more clearly this deeper meaning of liturgical norms, I have asked the competent offices of the Roman Curia to prepare a more specific document, including prescriptions of a juridical nature, on this very important subject. No one is permitted to undervalue the mystery entrusted to our hands: It is too great for anyone to feel free to treat it lightly and with disregard for its sacredness and its universality.
...
The “treasure” [the liturgy] is too important and precious to risk impoverishment or compromise through forms of experimentation or practices introduced without a careful review on the part of the competent ecclesiastical authorities. Furthermore, the centrality of the Eucharistic mystery demands that any such review must be undertaken in close association with the Holy See. As I wrote in my Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Asia, “such cooperation is essential because the Sacred Liturgy expresses and celebrates the one faith professed by all and, being the heritage of the whole Church, cannot be determined by local Churches in isolation from the universal Church”.[/quote]

For the sake of propriety I will refrain from speculating about the specific causes of these sorts of things, but if it is any consolation I would say that we have reason to believe that things are in the process of improving—indeed, I for one am very optimistic about the next generation of clergy.

A fairly new thing that is sweeping Catholic seminaries is the spirituality year. I once spoke to a Bishop who had recently put this in practice in his diocese and there are many other Bishops following suit. Essentially it is a year devoted more or less exclusively to the cultivation of the spiritual life. This is acheived by reading the great spiritual classics of the Church, being fully immersed in the liturgical life of the Church and by forming the habit of daily devotional prayer and the like. The idea is that this year long retreat prepares the priests to have a ministry entirely rooted in the spiritual life and I must of course emphasize that this spiritual formation is intensely Eucharistic. The particular Bishop that I had this conversation with was extremely loyal to John Paul II and I have no doubt that the spirituality year as implemented in his seminaries is directly inspired by [i]Ecclesia de Eucharistia[/i].

This conversation took place several years ago and at the time I was told that this way of formation was already in effect in a number of American seminaries as well as seminaries in France.