Do you have to sign up for adoration?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JackVk
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
J

JackVk

Guest
I usually go to adoration at about 5:30 am, an hour before daily Mass. I know you’re supposed to sign up for one session a week, but I never did register. I just kinda show up whenever, but I go most every day. I don’t sign in, obviously. Is this okay, or am I cheating others out of their quality time with Jesus?
 
The best thing would be that each and every seat and kneeler be filled in the Adoration Chapel. No matter how many are in attendance, Jesus can speak to the heart of each one who comes to see Him in a way that each one will understand best.

Certainly you’re welcome to visit Our Eucharistic Lord without signing in. That said, maybe you are being called to become an official Adorer and sign up for an hour a week?

:blessyou:
 
JackVk said:
I usually go to adoration at about 5:30 am, an hour before daily Mass. I know you’re supposed to sign up for one session a week, but I never did register. I just kinda show up whenever, but I go most every day. I don’t sign in, obviously. Is this okay, or am I cheating others out of their quality time with Jesus?
Click to expand...
no of course you do not have to commit to a regular time, you can attend any time the adoration chapel is open. The people who have committed do not “own” their hour exclusively, either. The pastor may have given some groups permission to gather for appropriate devotions at specific times, rosary etc., and if he has given permission, others who attend at that time are free to join in or pray privately.

You should always sign in, however, if there is a sign in sheet because that is how the pastor knows the chapel is being visited at those times, and gives him reason to keep it open. If people attend but don’t sign in, this might be a justification to close for those hours.

The rule is that the exposed Blessed Sacrament must never be left unattended, and the wise pastor will insist that at least two, preferably at least 4, people be committed to each hour the chapel is open, but that is a minimum, not a maximum.
 
I second what puzzleannie said. You aren’t breaking any rules by not signing in for adoration, but if you get a lot out of adoration you would be helping your cause tremendously by signing in. I’m sure the priest looks at the sign in sheets and notices the activity level, there could be a hundred people at adoration and if not one signs in then he may think the chapel is empty. Also, if the place is empty for too many hours of the day he may start to limit when adoration is available or possibly discontinue the practice altogether…since as mentioned before the eucharist cannot be exposed on an altar and left unattended.

Also, on a more practical level the church may need the sign in sheets for liability reasons. God forbid if something were to happen where you were injured due to a slip or a fall outside of a regularly scheduled mass a name on a sheet may make the difference between the insurance company paying and it coming out of the church’s pocket.

ChadS
 
JackVk said:
I usually go to adoration at about 5:30 am, an hour before daily Mass. I know you’re supposed to sign up for one session a week, but I never did register. I just kinda show up whenever, but I go most every day. I don’t sign in, obviously. Is this okay, or am I cheating others out of their quality time with Jesus?
Click to expand...
No, you don’t need to sign up. Sign up sheets are a way for the parish to know that there will be people there for adoration as it is forbidden to leave the Blessed Sacrament exposed and unguarded. Its good to sign up so that the parish would know that you’d be there, but its not required. The downside is if nobody else signed up, the priest might take it as nobody will be there and thus will not expose the Blessed Sacrament at that time.
 
As the others have said, no, its not necessary to “sign up”. However, it does give your priest the assurance that the Host will be attended and not left alone.

The wife and I signed up several years ago for an hour each week, but we both stop in for some extra time when we can.
 
JackVk said:
I usually go to adoration at about 5:30 am, an hour before daily Mass. I know you’re supposed to sign up for one session a week, but I never did register. I just kinda show up whenever, but I go most every day. I don’t sign in, obviously. Is this okay, or am I cheating others out of their quality time with Jesus?
Click to expand...
No, it is not necessary for you to sign in. The people who have committed themselves to be there at a certain hour are the ones who need to sign in. This lets the day captain know if they need to find a replacement for someone who consistently does not show up for their hour. However, I would suggest that if for some reason there was no one else there when you arrived that you do sign in to ease the mind of the day captain or whoever is monitoring the sign in sheets. This would let them know that the church was not empty when the scheduled person did not show up.
 
I always sign in, for the reasons others have stated, but I do not sign up for a regular hour because I work a highly irregular work schedule plus take night call at least once a week. So no, you do not have to sign up for a regular hour (though that would be nice), but yes, you should probably sign in so they have an idea of how many people are attending.

Also, the person in charge of coordinating this will occasionally call me because she has seen my name in the book (and has my number) and ask me to take an hour when the regular can’t show up. I am happy to do that if I can. Being a substitute is an option if you wish to help out in some way but can’t take a regular hour.
 
CB_Catholic said:
. Being a substitute is an option if you wish to help out in some way but can’t take a regular hour.
Click to expand...
Substituting is a great option. I can’t commit to a regular hour at this point in my life, but I love it when someone calls me to sub. It is almost as if God is calling and inviting me to spend some time with HIm.

Yes, sign in. But not necessary to sign up.
 
In our parish the ‘sign up’ sheet is set out on Tuesday morning (we have adoration every Friday from 9:15AM - 3:00PM). It is always hoped that new names would appear for each hour but as it turns out the same people fill the same hours week after week so that when one ‘regular’ is out of town it becomes necessary for that person to tell someone that they will not be there to sign up.

It often happens that only one person is present before the Blessed Sacrament and this is regrettable. In our case, signing in when you arrive doesn’t solve the problem. It is necessary to know ahead of time who, if anyone, will be there.

And no, I don’t believe anyone is deprived of quality time with Our Lord whether there is one or a hundred people present.
 
Thank you for this. I’ve been visiting our little Perpetual Adoration chapel for some time and never thought to sign in. There are always quite a few people there, so I thought the signup sheets were to schedule specific times. I’ll look more closely and see if it is indeed for “sign-in” and not just “sign-up”.

God bless~

Mary
 
I admit I am not good about signing in, when I “drop in”. BUT, for the first question, you do not have to sign up. Drop in anytime. The time doesn’t belong to the scheduled adorer. (I will admit there are times when I remind myself of this when my schedule time seems to attract many drop ins. Other times I can be all alone with Jesus) BUT, it may really help if you can commit to a regular time. Our chapel does go through times when there is no one signed up for a particular time slot. We are suppose to have two committed people for every hour.(24/7).
So don’t worry that you are horning in on someone else’s time. But pray and ask if you should commit for an hour.
 
acadian said:
Substituting is a great option. I can’t commit to a regular hour at this point in my life, but I love it when someone calls me to sub. It is almost as if God is calling and inviting me to spend some time with HIm.

Yes, sign in. But not necessary to sign up.
Click to expand...
I also substitute and feel the Lord has invited me. My schedule is fairly flexible so it works out well. It is also a good way to support the people who have committed to regular hours.
 
JackVk said:
I usually go to adoration at about 5:30 am, an hour before daily Mass. I know you’re supposed to sign up for one session a week, but I never did register. I just kinda show up whenever, but I go most every day. I don’t sign in, obviously. Is this okay, or am I cheating others out of their quality time with Jesus?
Click to expand...
I agree with what the others have said. At FUS, there are times when adorers have to sit on the floor for lack of room on the benches. I am signed up for an hour a week, but i frequently stop in at other times. Just go whenever you feel the need to, and enjoy the face time with Jesus.
 
StTommyMore, your mention of “face time” reminded me of something Fr. Benedict Groeschel said about what happens at Eucharistic Adoration. I beliieve he was quoting someone else (don’t know who), but it’s “I look at God, and God looks at me.” I love that!! 🙂 I always pray the Rosary and some other devotions, but sometimes I just take a few moments to look and God and let Him look at me!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top