Prayers for all Occasions, Needs, and Intentions

Prayers and Devotions to the Holy Eucharist

How to Make a Holy Hour

There are many different ways to "watch one hour" with the Lord, but one of the most powerful and fruitful ways is to spend an hour in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. This is called a Holy Hour because it is an hour spent in the presence of the Holy Eucharist: Christ, Himself, the One who alone is Holy.

There are also different ways to make a Holy Hour; you can pray, alone or with others, before Jesus in the Tabernacle; or you can pray in the presence of the exposed Blessed Sacrament, privately or at a public service led by a priest or deacon.

The Church strongly encourages both private and public devotion toward the Eucharist and teaches that prayer before the Lord sacramentally present in the Eucharist actually "extends the union with Christ which the faithful have received in Communion."

During times of public adoration, when the blessed Sacrament is exposed by a priest or deacon, "there should be prayers, songs, and readings to direct the faithful to the worship of the Lord, to encourage a prayerful spirit.

The most important thing to realize about making a private Holy Hour is that you don't have to do anything. you don't have to say any particular prayers, or read, or sing, or anything else. All you have to do is be present to the One who is present to you.

Like Blessed Faustina, we all need to spend times of silence in the presence of the Eucharistic Lord to let Him minister to us with His healing, merciful love. And we also need these times of silent presence to love Him and make reparation for our sins and those of the whole world. It is a powerful and effective way to thank Him for His gift of mercy to us and, at the same time, to be "merciful to Him" since the Lord continues to suffer in His Body, the Church.

If, after a period of silent adoration, you feel a desire to pray, read, write, or sing, then you simply allow yourself to move naturally into whatever activity you feel led to do at each moment.

The Chaplet of Divine Mercy holds a special place of honor as a Eucharistic prayer because it is a continuation of the offering of the Mass. And the simple prayer "Jesus, Mercy!" is a continuation of the chaplet - a plea for God's mercy for every moment of need.

There is no single "right" way to begin a Holy Hour, but some suggestions: Start with body-language, making some gesture of profound adoration, such as genuflecting or bowing to the Lord as a reverent acknowledgement of His real presence. Then, ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with His gift of praise. Unite your heart with the Heart of Mary so that you can praise the Lord with the Heart of His mother. Call upon the angels and saints to help you unite with their heavenly praise and worship. Let your heart be aglow with the Lord's radiant presence and then follow the longing of your heart. Love Him, thank Him, and praise Him, who is present and loves you. As He tells us in one of His psalms. "Be still and know that I am God."

A good way to end a Holy Hour is to thank the Lord. Thank Him for His presence, for His Love, for all that He has done and will do in your life.

You can call to mind and thank Him for the specific graces or resolutions you received during the hour. Then, again, express your adoration with your whole body and soul, and renew your commitment to try to live each moment of your life in such a way that you will be a living sign of His presence, of His mercy to the world.