Contemporary Catholicism is enjoying a (long-overdue) resurgence of Eucharistic devotion and reverence. But sometimes, this well-meant zeal for Christ has resulted in a loss of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament, and perhaps even a loss of understanding of what an extraordinary thing the Eucharist is.

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The Eucharist is the center of the Sacrifice of the Mass. It is the real, substantial presence of Christ. It is our Communion with Christ through faith and charity. It follows, therefore, that the culture of reverence that surrounds the Mass (and other Eucharistic practices, like Eucharistic processions, Adoration, and Benediction) should reflect the indescribably beauty and paramount importance of this sacred gift. In this short video, Fr. Hugh and Fr. Ambrose explain how the Church has maintained this atmosphere of reverence in the past--in Her attention to Sacred spaces, the liturgical norms She asks us to follow, and in our personal conduct before the Eucharist--and how we might reign in some of the irreverence that may have crept into our own parishes, churches, and schools.