The Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
The Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is one of the simplest rites of the Church … It is our Lord’s solemn benediction of His people, as when He lifted up His hands over the children, or when He blessed His chosen ones when He ascended up from Mount Olivet.
As sons might come before a parent before going to bed at night, so, … the great Catholic family comes before the Eternal Father, after the bustle or toil of the day, and He smiles upon them, and sheds upon them the light of His Countenance. It is a full accomplishment of what the Priest invoked upon the Israelites, “The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord show His face to thee and have mercy on thee; the Lord turn His countenance to thee and give thee peace.”
(John Henry Newman, Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England, 1851, p.255)