Are Catholic Churches not open 24 hours a day?

[Sunbreak]

Unfortunately, most churches have to be locked up when there isn’t a Mass or something else going on. In one parish I used to belong to in a larger city, they constantly had the donation box for literature broken into, the big rosary was stolen from the Mary statue, there were injection needles in the bathroom and among the bushes outside the church.

 

[andrewstx]

I knew of an Episcopal church St. Nicholas that was always unlocked. But at the end of the day they removed everything. Candles, Crucifix etc. and the tabernacle was emptied.
That was one way to go, but it ended with an empty shell of a church.

But they never had anything taken because there was nothing to steal.

 

[tomgosse]

I have found that my prayer corner is a great place to pray. Always open and always has my dear friends, the saints as well as my Lord ready to listen.

I’m going to set up an icon corner in my home for prayer.

 

[Brandon_Cal]

Wow. I’m surprised to learn that Catholic churches were open 24/7 even within the last century. I would’ve assumed that such hadn’t been the case since a given locale’s population was 100% Catholic.

I’m quite glad the churches around here are open as often as they are, having come from a religious tradition where churches are only open on Sundays and only during the prescribed services times. I’ve availed myself of the quiet serenity sitting with Our Lord a number of times; but a few minutes here and a few there, whenever I found the time to squeeze it into my daily schedule.

How do these 24 Hour Adoration Chapels work? Are they manned by clerics or security guards hired by the parish, or do the lay faithful take turns keeping watch? Also, can only registered, Catholic members of a parish participate or can non-Catholics possibly looking to convert do so as well?

 

[Sunbreak]

How do these 24 Hour Adoration Chapels work? Are they manned by clerics or security guards hired by the parish, or do the lay faithful take turns keeping watch? Also, can only registered, Catholic members of a parish participate or can non-Catholics possibly looking to convert do so as well?

In the closest church to me, the chapel is in a separate corner room in the church. It has an outside entrance which is locked. You have to have a code for the lock to get in. Anyone can use it if they have the code but of course you have to get the code from the parish or from someone in the parish who knows you well enough to know you won’t be a problem.

 

[Phemie]

I remember when churches were open round the clock and you could drop in at any time. Holidays with my parents always involved visits to the churches of the areas we were visiting and never were the doors locked.

But I live in a town of 7500 and our little church was broken into 4 times in the last couple of years and the Anglican church at least twice that I’m aware of.

3 of our break-ins occurred when the priests still lived on-site and one such thief was bold enough to enter the building through a window in the room next to the Pastor’s bedroom. Bold enough to sit in my office for at least 30 minutes and go through the collection bag, open all the envelopes, remove all the bills, and then put everything back so that at first glance it looked at though nothing had been touched. That person had been employed to do snow removal and had noticed where keys were kept. He broke in twice in three weeks and the second time stole a car.

Another stole a chequebook that we rarely used and that was stored separately so that we didn’t notice the theft until the police recovered the chequebook by which time he’d written two cheques out to himself with ‘bingo prize’ written in the area where you note what the cheque was for. I guess he figured nobody would question a Catholic church giving out bingo prizes although our parish doesn’t have bingos. He was smart enough to realize we would be unlikely to miss the chequebook, smart enough to go through the cancelled cheques and find out who signed them and forge her signature, but not smart enough to realize that he’d be the first person the police would look for once the cheques came to light.

We were lucky that the first cheque was cached by a bank which didn’t follow its own protocol so they returned the money. The second was cashed at Western Union and they lost out because by the time it went through the stop-payment was already in effect. Two years later he pleaded guilty to to the b&e which was the least of the 50 or so charges against him at his trial. His cousin once stole right from the collection plate after Mass and left his birth certificate in one of the envelopes (that man’s brain is fried from gas sniffing). We didn’t even bother to report that one.

We live in an isolated area where you’d have to travel more than 1000 miles before you could fence anything like candlesticks or chalices and such. Break-in in churches around here involve money and sometimes vandalism.

 

[DAML72]

Wow. I’m surprised to learn that Catholic churches were open 24/7 even within the last century. I would’ve assumed that such hadn’t been the case since a given locale’s population was 100% Catholic.

I’m quite glad the churches around here are open as often as they are, having come from a religious tradition where churches are only open on Sundays and only during the prescribed services times. I’ve availed myself of the quiet serenity sitting with Our Lord a number of times; but a few minutes here and a few there, whenever I found the time to squeeze it into my daily schedule.

How do these 24 Hour Adoration Chapels work? Are they manned by clerics or security guards hired by the parish, or do the lay faithful take turns keeping watch? Also, can only registered, Catholic members of a parish participate or can non-Catholics possibly looking to convert do so as well?

I would imagine it depends on where the church is. At St. Rita’s Shrine in Philadelphia, they sometimes have a security guard on duty because of vandalism (mostly in the bathrooms), but it doesn’t seem like a very formal thing. There may be churches that need to hire security, but for the most part, adoration chapels are manned by the laity. The Blessed Sacrament can not be left alone exposed, so someone has to be there at all times. If there aren’t people to do it in that parish, then there is no 24/7 exposition. A lot of parishes where I am have adoration one day a week - and they seem to stagger them - Monday in my church, Thursday in the next town over, etc.

Now, to get to the important part - Adoration is open to anyone. You do not have to be Catholic to go spend time with our Lord. Do a Google search for adoration chapels near you. Don’t rely on those website that purport to list adoration chapels - they don’t have all of them listed - not by a long shot. It might be better to find a website dedicated to listing local adoration chapels. You can also go to the websites of local catholic churches and check to see if they have adoration and when. The hours should be listed somewhere on the website. Just remember to take a watch, though, because there is a sign-in book. (I usually leave my phone in the car, and never have a watch and have to guess the time to put down).

 

[NickD]

Sadly, many Catholic parishes, fearing thievery, vandalism, or desecration, lock up at various times, such as when Mass isn’t, or just during the night.

Does anyone else think that one could make a case for re-instituting the minor order of “ostiarious”, i.e., doorman or porter? His job was basically opening church doors and guarding the church from the problems that require church buildings, in these modern times, to be locked up. Just an idea

 

[ccmcmg]

Wow. I’m surprised to learn that Catholic churches were open 24/7 even within the last century. I would’ve assumed that such hadn’t been the case since a given locale’s population was 100% Catholic.

I’m quite glad the churches around here are open as often as they are, having come from a religious tradition where churches are only open on Sundays and only during the prescribed services times. I’ve availed myself of the quiet serenity sitting with Our Lord a number of times; but a few minutes here and a few there, whenever I found the time to squeeze it into my daily schedule.

How do these 24 Hour Adoration Chapels work? Are they manned by clerics or security guards hired by the parish, or do the lay faithful take turns keeping watch? Also, can only registered, Catholic members of a parish participate or can non-Catholics possibly looking to convert do so as well?

Ours requires a code to unlock the doors after 7 PM. We have a separate building from the main church, but it is attached to the parish center, which has doors that are locked when not in use.

 

[arkwright]

My Lutheran church gives families keys to the church and the local Catholic parish also has a key-code lock on the side of the church for the faithful to go to the adoration chapel.

Same here .

Our church has a key-code lock so that we can enter when closed .

 

[smichhertz]

Just as the title says, are Catholic Churches not open 24 hours a day?

…

So i just drove to two different parishes and they were closed and locked up. Is this normal at most parishes?

Hi Sleepy1,

Firstly, never deny those callings. God is definitely pulling you closer to Him. Perhaps he wants you to change the fact that churches are not open more often?

Ideally, yes, churches should be open 24/7 so anyone can come in at any time and pray. However, churchs are like any building. They have property that needs to be protected (especially Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament!). So if no one is in the church or able to watch over it, then it would be hard to keep the church open.

It does vary by church, however. Where I live, there are many churches close together, some of which are open 24/7 for Perpetual Adoration. In this case, there is always a volunteer in the church at all times to watch the church.

Check with your diocese and see if there’s a church that does Perpetual Adoration. You can also call local churches during normal business hours and ask what hours their church is open. If you spend about 10-15 minutes one time, you can get a good idea what churches are open more frequently, and then go there when you feel the need to pray.

One final thought - the Blessed Sacrament is usually reserved in the back of the church. If a church is locked, you can always go around to the back and stand on the outside and pray.

Hope that helps!