Bishop Donald Wuerl is calling on Catholics to rediscover traditional Eucharistic devotions during the Year of the Eucharist that Pope John Paul II has declared for the next 12 months.

"The faithful should be encouraged to designate specific times in the course of a week when they might spend some time before the Blessed Sacrament," Wuerl wrote in a pastoral letter in this week's Pittsburgh Catholic.

"This could be a time of prayer for many special intentions but particularly for peace among people, an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the poor and for those with spiritual, physical or other personal needs."

Catholics, along with the Orthodox and some High Church Protestants, believe that the consecrated bread and wine are miraculously transformed into the actual body and blood of Jesus.

Praying before the tabernacle where the consecrated hosts are stored, or before a host displayed in an ornate receptacle called a monstrance, was a central devotion in the pre-Vatican II church. But it has diminished over the past 40 years, and John Paul declared the Year of the Eucharist to renew Catholics' devotion to the most central sacrament of their faith.

The Year of the Eucharist begins Oct. 10, so Wuerl called for pastors to expose the sacrament for adoration after the last Sunday Mass that day and conclude with a service of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the late afternoon or early evening. Alternatively, he wrote, the church could remain open at times throughout the weekend for people to pray before the tabernacle.

He called for a similar observation in each parish on Oct. 16 or 17, to coincide with the end of a Eucharistic Congress that John Paul is holding in Mexico. All Catholics are invited for prayer and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland at 5 p.m. Oct. 17.

In his letter, Wuerl tied devotion to the Eucharist to concerns he raised in an earlier pastoral letter, which called for revisions in parish life because of the declining number of priests.

"Just as there is no Church without the Eucharist, so there is no Eucharist without valid ministerial priesthood," he said.

Noting that different beliefs about the Eucharist prevent Protestants from receiving Catholics communion, he called for prayers to heal the divisions among Christians.

Another practice he has asked parishes to renew is "40 Hours" -- a three-day prayer vigil before the exposed sacrament. A few local parishes have continued this practice, but it is logistically challenging because someone has to be watching over the host at all times, said the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the diocese.

"Typically now it's just one day, referred to as a Eucharistic Day. It used to be a three-day celebration, and priests from throughout the diocese would be invited to come in and demonstrate the importance of the Eucharist for the priest and the relationship between the priesthood and the Eucharist," Lengwin said.

"The Eucharist is the center of the life of the church. It's something that we need to continue to teach in every age."