Morals of the Church
Library › Wouters, Manual of Moral Theology › Volume I › Book II. On the Exercise of the Christian Life, or on the Cultivation of the Virtues › Treatise II. On the Cultivation of the Moral Virtues › Dissertation I. On the Precepts of the Decalogue › Part I. On the First Precept of the Decalogue › Section I. On the Prescribed Acts

Chapter — Wouters, Manual of Moral Theology

Chapter III. On Adoration

588.

(St. Thomas, II-II, q. 84.)

Adoration is spoken of in three ways, namely: 1. for any veneration whatever shown to someone because of the excellence of dignity, whether he is God, an angel, or a man; 2. for every act of religion, whether internal or external, by which divine worship is shown to God; 3. for a certain distinct act of religion, as it is taken here. And it is an external act by which we show reverence to God through gestures of the body, for example by genuflecting, prostrating ourselves, and the like. But in order that it be a true act of religion, showing due worship to God, an internal act must be joined to it; nevertheless the name of adoration is not given to that internal act except insofar as it is included in the external act (St. Thomas, II-II, q. 84, aa. 1 and 2).

AdorationThe Worship of God (First Commandment)Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament