Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore
God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the
Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful
Love. “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall
you serve,” says Jesus, citing Deuteronomy.
To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute
submission, the “nothingness of the creature” who would not exist
but for God. To adore God is to praise and exalt him and to humble
oneself, as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude
that he has done great things and holy is his name. The worship
of the one God sets man free from turning in on himself, from the
slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world.
-Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 2628