From Doctrine to Devotion

Adoration of the reserved sacrament grew in the Western church from the eleventh century onward, as reflection on the Real Presence deepened and controversies over it sharpened definition. The institution of the feast of Corpus Christi in the thirteenth century, with its processions carrying the host through the streets, gave the devotion a public and civic form, and the practice of exposition and Benediction, a rite in which the priest blesses the people with the monstrance, became a widespread feature of Catholic piety.

The devotion marks one of the sharp points of division among Christians. The Eastern Orthodox share the belief in the Real Presence but do not practise exposition and adoration of the reserved sacrament in this way, treating the Eucharist as given to be received rather than displayed. Most Protestant traditions, rejecting transubstantiation, regard the adoration of the consecrated bread as misplaced, and the Reformation disputes over the nature of the Eucharist made such practices a defining difference. Within Catholicism, adoration remains a cherished devotion, promoted by recent popes as a way of prolonging and deepening the worship offered in the Mass itself.