For readers of Soul of Christ
The "Soul of Christ" prayer invites us into a deeply personal and vital relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist that transforms us and disposes us to live the self-giving love and service that characterized Jesus Himself. I'd love to hear from you--please use the "contact" button and let me know how this beautiful prayer has touched you or helped you to grow.
If you are leading a group in an hour of adoration from the book, you can find the group handouts for the twelve hours of adoration here in this downloadable PDF. You can download the entire document (20 pages in all), or simply view it. Either way, you can print out just the one or two pages needed for the hour of adoration. Remind participants to bring their own Bible to adoration.
For more information about the book itself, visit: https://pauline.leadpages.net/soul-of-christ/, and you can download the introduction of the book there for free.
Below are a number of further resources on Pauline Eucharistic spirituality, especially in the thought of Blessed James Alberione.
"The Hour of Adoration
prepares one for Holy Mass and Holy Communion. Frequent encounters and familiar conversation with Jesus produce friendship, resemblance, and identity of thought, of feeling and of willing with Jesus.” -- Blessed James Alberione
If you are looking for a way to deepen your relationship with God, or yearn for “something more” in your life, you are not alone in your search. God is not only aware of your deepest desires, but longs to become that “Something More.” Many people have found healing, wholeness, and fulfillment by praying in the presence of the Eucharistic Jesus.
The gift of the Eucharist is an amazing manifestation of God’s great desire to be close to us.
For Christians, the Eucharist “is the source and summit” of life, the highest form of prayer (Lumen gentium, 11). While the Eucharistic Celebration is an act of worship we make together as the People of God, sometimes we need more time to reflect on the meaning of the Eucharist in our lives. Eucharistic adoration is not a substitute for Mass, but a way to deepen our living of the Eucharistic Celebration in all its fullness—a time to ponder the tremendous mystery of Christ’s self-giving love.
Soul of Christ: Meditations for a Timeless Prayer is my latest book on the Eucharist, and includes phrase-by-phrase meditations on the powerful Anima Christi prayer, as well as 12 hours of adoration (for personal or group use). The Soul of Christ prayer has been recommended by saints throughout the centuries, including the Founder of the Pauline Family, Blessed James Alberione, who not only mandated Mass and an hour and a half of Eucharistic adoration daily, but also gave us a profound Eucharistic and Pauline spirituality.
Blessed James Alberione’s Spirituality
Blessed James Alberione’s spirituality is founded on the Eucharist and the Word of God. His daily celebration of the Eucharist and the four or five hours he spent in adoration and contemplating the Word of God became the focal point of his day, sustaining an immensely hectic and active apostolic lifestyle. His holistic spirituality responds in a unique way to the yearnings of people today for healing and fulfillment.
Today, our society is troubled by a deep spiritual poverty and an inability to integrate the various aspects of life. Each of us has experienced times of fragmentation, when our thoughts lead us one way while our feelings pull us in another direction. When this happens, we tend to ignore our feelings or we act against our better judgment instead of letting our actions take into account both what we feel and what we think. We make decisions based on the “role” we are playing at the moment—student, worker, parent, shopper, etc.—rather than letting our words and decisions flow from the essence of who we are.
Bl. James Alberione’s holistic approach challenges our tendency to break up our lives and to stuff the fragments into separate compartments where they never relate to each other. According to Alberione, Eucharistic adoration is a true encounter with Jesus, Way, Truth, and Life—Jesus who invites us to drop our masks in front of Him and, in the comfort of His love, to come to appreciate and respect our deepest, truest selves. In the security of His love, we can open ourselves to the transforming power of His grace in all the areas of our lives, so that we can gradually become ever more faithful instruments of His love for transforming the world.
“Devotion to Jesus Master sums up and completes all devotions.
In fact, it presents Jesus Truth in whom to believe;
Jesus Way, who is to be followed;
Jesus Life in whom we…participate…
Speaking of Jesus Master, we must keep in mind a much broader sense.
He not only communicates knowledge,
but He also transfuses His life into the disciples,
making them similar to Himself.
He develops the divine life in them and guides them to eternal life.”
In addition to the resources on how to make a Pauline hour of adoration offered below, you may wish to explore these additional resources:
Power Ideas on the Eucharist contains some of my favorite quotations of Blessed James Alberione on the Eucharist. Available free (for now) as a downloadable PDF that you can bring with you to adoration.
Prayers for Eucharistic Adoration Pauline Books & Media, 2005. An inexpensive pamphlet that includes many of the highlights from Bread of Life (see below).
Bread of Life–Prayers for Eucharistic Adoration I edited and co-authored this comprehensive sourcebook for deepening one’s Eucharistic prayer. It includes: “prayer-starters”, readings, prayers according to theme, and three complete hours of adoration. I was thrilled when Cardinal O’Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston made this a Lenten gift to every priest in the archdiocese a number of years ago.