adoratio
Adoration (Eucharistic Adoration, Holy Hour)
Worship given to God alone; in Catholic usage most often Eucharistic Adoration — praying before the consecrated host, exposed in a monstrance or reserved in the tabernacle.
worship; literally a lifting of the hand to the mouth in reverence
Adoration is the first act of religion: acknowledging God as God and ourselves as his creatures. Because Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, Catholics adore him there, whether the host is exposed in a monstrance or kept in the tabernacle. A “Holy Hour” is an hour spent in that presence, a practice inspired by Jesus's question in Gethsemane, “Could you not watch one hour with me?” Perpetual adoration chapels arrange continual worship before the Blessed Sacrament. The Catechism says the Church and the world have great need of Eucharistic worship, and that Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love.
Not to be confused with Veneration (dulia and latria).
Councils
Where the Church settled or debated this. Follow a council to read our article on it, or the decrees themselves.
- 1545–1563Council of Trentthe decrees
Sources checked 29 September 2026