Is making rosaries ok during Expostiton?

[Philothea53]

(I posted this in the Spirituality forum in response to a question/answer about using an MP3 player in the PEA Chapel. I hope an apologist will answer it for me.)

Okay, now going to Adoration, as in the Perpetual Adoration Chapel, which is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - the reason to go is to spend time with Jesus? When we go, it is okay to pray the Rosary, a Marian devotion, read a book, very, personal and individual, and listen to one’s MP3 player, also personal and individual. What about working on mission rosaries? I am able to make the knots, string the beads, etc. kind of the same way that I crochet - mindlessly - and am able to talk to Jesus while I make them. Would this be an appropriate activity in the Chapel? I am scheduled one hour a week and I like to drop in whenever I am in the area. I carry my mission rosary supplies with me everywhere I go because I never know when I might find time to work on them. Would my time in the Adoration Chapel be such a time? I in no way wish to bring scandal by doing so.

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Hi Susan,

The purpose of the adoration chapel is adoration. That’s a period at the end of that sentence. Why is being still and quiet such a challenge for us in our culture? The time before the Blessed Sacrament is not just about exposing our sacramental Lord to us—it is a time for exposing us to Him! Certainly, the rosary and other prayers can be fine. But it is most important to pay direct attention to Him and acknowledge our present life in the context of who He is.

So nix the rosary making at that time and the reading of a book, and certainly the MP3 player! Just be Susan before Him.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.