An early reference to the Blessed Sacrament is found in the life St Basil (4th century) who divided the Eucharistic bread into three parts. One part he consumed, the second part he gave to the monks, and the third he placed in a golden dove-shaped container suspended over the altar.

The specific liturgies began as a response to Eucharist heresies, beginning with Berengarius of Tours (d. 1088 AD) who adopted the view of John Scotus Erigena (9th century) that the view that the sacraments of the altar are figures of the body of Christ, a memorial of the true body and blood of Christ, which are not truly and really present.

Following Berengarius, a series of Eucharistic heresies right through the Protestant Revolt led the Church to emphasize the Real Presence, particularly with adoration.

These sorts of controversies did not occur in the East, which do not share the Western tradition of  Eucharistic adoration.