Bl. Frassati: Let Us Adore Him in the Eucharist

O Come, Let Us Adore Him

The rulers of the night take their turn in guarding their castles.
And we owe greater honor to Jesus than to other rulers.

L. Frassati, Mio Fratello Pier Giorgio, 145.

Perhaps our belief in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest mystery of our Catholic Faith. Sadly, a staggering and steadily increasing number of Catholics have said they no longer believe in the Real Presence. Yet anyone who has spent time in Adoration can sense at some level an indescribable peace.

For many years, I was committed to the 2:00 to 3:00 a.m. time slot for First Friday Adoration at a local parish. Occasionally, when I was traveling for work and unable to make it, the only person I could find to take my hour was a good friend who happened to be Baptist. Although she did not understand or share my belief in the Real Presence, she felt something so real in the chapel that she was always eager to go back. It wasn’t something she felt, I tried to explain; it was someone.

Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati

Eucharistic Adoration in the middle of the night was routine for Blessed Pier Giorgio. As a member of the university’s student Adoration society, he was assigned the second Saturday of the month at the church of Santa Maria di Piazza in Turin. Although he had a reputation for being riotously funny, when he was before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, Pier Giorgio’s demeanor was quite the opposite. Often, he would never move a muscle. Hot candle wax could drip on him, and he wouldn’t notice. Those who saw him were inspired to greater reverence.

On one occasion, Pier Giorgio mistakenly showed up at the church around 9:00 p.m. on a night when Adoration was assigned to the members of the religious congregation who lived there. Standing in the doorway, Brother Lodovico tried every possible way to persuade Pier Giorgio to go home. He insisted on staying until Brother Lodovico finally gave in “just to make him happy.”

Pier Giorgio took his place in one of the brothers’ choir stalls. As the night wore on, Brother Lodovico noticed what he described as all the holy tricks that Pier Giorgio used to stay awake when he became drowsy. According to the practices at the time, Pier Giorgio was able to request and receive Holy Communion early in the morning. He did that at 4:00 a.m., spent an hour making his thanksgiving until 5:00 a.m., and then headed out in peace just as the church opened to the public.

Out of concern for his health, Pier Giorgio’s mother tried to hide the flyers advertising the all-night Adoration times and places that were sent to their home. But nothing could stop him, even at nineteen years old, with an active student life, from getting to Adoration as often as possible. He considered it a privilege to stand guard regularly in this way with the King of Kings.

We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded by noise and commotion. Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament wants to draw us away from the world and into a silent communion with Him. He invites us, like Pier Giorgio, to spend time in His presence, to be still and hear His voice. Like Pier Giorgio, let us accept the invitation.

Fatima Pardon Prayer

My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You!
I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not
adore, do not hope, and do not love You. Amen.