Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

[Brian_C]

Wow, I spent 1-3 am in my parish’s adoration chapel with my sponsor and another sponsor who are regulars at this timeslot. How amazing and wonderful this is! I can’t believe how FAST it went by! I’m sure groggy-eyed this morning (and late for work) but it was worth it! I may not feel fully appreciative of the practice having not yet properly and formally received the Eucharist but I can tell you, it was truly special. I highly recommmend any of my fellow elect/candidates for full communion look into this. If your parish is like mine, they could perhaps use some help in the wee hours.

 

[Wildgraywolf]

Brian_C:

Wow, I spent 1-3 am in my parish’s adoration chapel with my sponsor and another sponsor who are regulars at this timeslot. How amazing and wonderful this is! I can’t believe how FAST it went by! I’m sure groggy-eyed this morning (and late for work) but it was worth it! I may not feel fully appreciative of the practice having not yet properly and formally received the Eucharist but I can tell you, it was truly special. I highly recommmend any of my fellow elect/candidates for full communion look into this. If your parish is like mine, they could perhaps use some help in the wee hours.

Woah… Kudos to you! I’m leagally dead from 1 to 7am.

 

[BlestOne]

Brian,
Yes it is a very peaceful and spiritual experience. I love adoration time too. I am glad you found it in your heart to sit with our Lord for a while and even in the dead of night it is an awesome experience!

Blessings to you!

 

[Brian_C]

It was a little scary at first, sitting in the parking lot at quarter to one, waiting for my sponsor. But it felt so serene inside the adoration chapel. I read some prayers and mass readings while intermittently taking time to just stare in awe at the Blessed Sacrament. It just felt like real quality time w/ Jesus!

 

[slewi]

Adoration is hard to come by at my parish. We have two churches, and they have adoration at the other church once a month for like 3 hours or something.

Other churches nearby have it on First Fridays, from 9-5 or shorter periods. Since I work til 4:45, it doesn’t do me much good. I wish it were more widely available…

 

[Jabronie]

slewi:

Adoration is hard to come by at my parish. We have two churches, and they have adoration at the other church once a month for like 3 hours or something.

Other churches nearby have it on First Fridays, from 9-5 or shorter periods. Since I work til 4:45, it doesn’t do me much good. I wish it were more widely available…

I have to ask a dumb question. I thought Adoration is just when you go into a church and spend time praying or reading scripture in the presence of the Lord. What’s with the “3 hours” or “9-5” comments people are making?

Any church I’ve ever seen is open 24/7 and people can come and go and pray as needed. Is that different than Adoration?

 

[chicago]

Sadly, most parishes aren’t even open and unlocked during much of the day outside of when Masses are being celebrated.

When people refer to “three hours”, they likely mean the amount of time they spend in adoration. Or if someone says that their parish has it from “9 to 5” they mean the hours in which the Host is on the altar in exposition for particular adoration.

 

[Jabronie]

chicago:

Sadly, most parishes aren’t even open and unlocked during much of the day outside of when Masses are being celebrated.

When people refer to “three hours”, they likely mean the amount of time they spend in adoration. Or if someone says that their parish has it from “9 to 5” they mean the hours in which the Host is on the altar in exposition for particular adoration.

So when someone says that a parish only has Adoration from 9-5, does it mean that they keep the building closed to the public during the other hours? I didn’t realise that; I just figured all Catholic churches remained open at all times.

 

[Brian_C]

Adoration is usually when they have the Blessed Sacrament displayed in the monstrance either on the alter or in side chapel or adoration chapel. In my church, there’s a special adoration chapel. Some parishes, such as mine, strive to have 24/7 adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. There are volunteer adorers who sign up for hours. Though we have at least a couple of thousand parishoners, they still have trouble getting people for the odd night hours. When someone is not available, the last adorer puts the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament in repose, in a small stained glass box under lock and key. The door closest to the chapel has a combination code and a pane of one way glass. I suppose it’s risky even to leave things open in some places in this era of church fires and the like.

 

[chicago]

Jabronie:

So when someone says that a parish only has Adoration from 9-5, does it mean that they keep the building closed to the public during the other hours? I didn’t realise that; I just figured all Catholic churches remained open at all times.

When someone says that parish has adoration at a certain time, they typically mean that it is during this time that they have exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance. During these times the faithful are called to be always present and not leave the Sacrament alone.

Some Churches are open during the day during additional hours, some aren’t. Basically, everybody is worried about crime in a mostly empty Church building nowadays. So in some areas the doors are left open during reasonable daytime (and maybe even evening) hours. In other places, they are locked at all times beyond when a scheduled function is set to occur. In most of these locked parishes, you can still get in during hours when the parish office is open, but you have to ring the office doorbell and ask them to unlock the door for you. The number of Churches which are open at night or overnight (aside from scheduled prayer or meetings or what have you) are few and far between. Even when there are 24/7 adoration chapels, they generally get locked up at night and only people who have a special key (as they are scheduled adorers) or know the secret code for the entry system can get in. Again, a matter of security.

 

[MrS]

Adoration, as per Bishop Sheen, is NOT a devotion… like the rosary, a novena, stations of the cross etc.

Catholics believe you cannot worship God fully if you do not adore Him. In the Garden, He asked, “…can you not spend one hour with me…”?

Picture this:

At the consecration, the priest holds up the host for a short period, while all adore the Real Presence. He could hold it up for minutes or longer…but the reality of our lives says he must continue the Mass, let us go about our lives, (and clear the parking lot for the next Mass, perhaps). So the sacred host is only held up for us to see and adore for a very short time.

Think of Adoration, where the sacred host in held in the Monstrance for all to adore… you can spend far more than that very short time not only worshiping, but also adoring.

Most adorers will spend an hour ("…will you not…"), while many will spend many hours. Bishop Sheen spent at least one hour every day for over fifty years, in adoration. He also encouraged every single priest to do the same… spend that special time with the Lord, leave all your troubles with the Lord, gain the peace and holiness of His presence…

as a side note… during the war (2nd, I believe), the communists destroyed a Catholic Church and scattered the hosts on the floor after breaking into the tabernacle. A little girl, hiding in the desecrated church saw this.
Each day, she would sneak into the ruined building, go to the sanctuary, kneel and receive one host with her tongue.
On the day she consumed the last host, the communist soldiers caught her and killed her. But she had served her Lord to the end. It was this story that prompted Bishop Sheed to begin his adoration.