One of my Lenten resolutions, which I have carried over to the Easter Season, is to attend Eucharistic Adoration weekly. I’m convinced that spending time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is one of the most powerful ways to grow in holiness. My husband gave me a lovely gift for Mother’s Day in 2021—100 Holy Hours for Women, by Mother Mary Raphael Lubowidzka. It took me several months before I first used it, as I wasn’t used to making a regular Holy Hour. Every two or three months, I would remember this small blue leather book, with its beautifully embossed spine, and take it with me to Adoration, always deeply touched by Mother Mary Raphael’s profound insights, but I still wasn’t able to maintain a regular habit of setting time apart each week just for Adoration. Mother Mary Raphael’s spiritual guide would get lost among my extensive library of spiritual resources until I remembered to look for it the next time I went to pray before the Blessed Sacrament.
But now, 100 Holy Hours has become a faithful companion in my weekly meditations before the Holy Eucharist, and I find myself more and more appreciative of Mother Mary Raphael’s tremendous love for the Eucharist: “Jesus, the Son of God, the very life of love . . . waits here in the tabernacle for our humble and living acts of faith, adoration, thanksgiving, petition, and abandonment to Him, for He wishes to nourish us with the love of His Heart.” (Adoration 16) I find myself echoing her prayer: “O my Lord, everlasting Goodness, why cannot I understand you better, so that in all truth, I could appreciate your boundless love for me!”