Romanian Orthodox Church

[Sinner]

I am a Latin Rite Roman Catholic. There is a Romanian Orthodox Church on my way home from work. I am looking for a more convenient place for Eucharistic Adoration. Is it acceptable for me to go there? Do they have the Blessed Sacrament available for Adoration usually? Otherwise, I have to go quite a bit further. Just curious and don't want to step on anyone's toes.

[Carson Weber]

As far as I know, which is limited, the Orthodox Churches do not have Eucharistic adoration as we celebrate it in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. Rather, they keep the Eucharist in a tabernacle at all times, without exposing it for adoration.

[BLAZEr]

I'm almost positive that Eastern Rite and Orthodox Churches don't even have tabernacles. The only bread that they consecrate they consume at that mass.

So, I'm pretty sure there would be no Eucharistic Adoration.

Still you can go into the Church and pray before the icons. For the Eastern Churches, icons are like the real presence. They really believe that Christ is dwelling in the icon.

[Adeodatus]

I used to live next to an Orthodox church that certainly did reserve the Blessed Sacrament, and the priest there was happy for me to pray in the Church. It's not an exposed adoration as we have it, but it's still Our Lord in the Sacrament.

[BLAZEr]

Adeodatus,

I've been hearing both, so I emailed my friend who is a Byzantine and he told me that both traditions exist in the Eastern Churches: some reserve the Blessed Sacrament and some do not. He says that there is no rule in canon law (for the Eastern Churches) that makes any such requirement. He says that those churches that do reserve the Blessed Sacrament do so in a way that is more like the Early Church, which is to reserve it for the sick. But he did tell me that reserving the Blessed Sacrament in Orthodox Churches is not universally common.