Lying before the Blessed Sacrament?

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Jenny35

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We have a perpetual adoration chapel in our parish (a blessing!) and tonight I visited. Scheduled adorers change shifts on the hour and I had been there for about 45 minutes with another lady when the shift changed. At shift change, the first lady left and two other ladies arrived, scheduled adorer and another regular who are friends. I had originally planned to stay for the remaining public hour of the evening, but they started conversing, loudly about very mundane things, car repairs, spilling stuff, so I got up quietly, knelt in respect to the Lord and started to leave. One of the ladies said something along the lines of not wanting to disrupt my prayer time with her chatter. I’m not the type to make waves, so I said she was fine, even though I truly was annoyed by the disruptive conversation. I now feel horrible, I was there to pray for my gravely ill grandmother and ended up lying to another person in front of the Blessed Sacrament. How horrible is what I just did and how should I handle this situation in the future? (the parish is small, these ladies and I tend to bump into each other regularly, this is not the first time they have had non-religious conversation at adoration)
 
Jenny35 said:
We have a perpetual adoration chapel in our parish (a blessing!) and tonight I visited. Scheduled adorers change shifts on the hour and I had been there for about 45 minutes with another lady when the shift changed. At shift change, the first lady left and two other ladies arrived, scheduled adorer and another regular who are friends. I had originally planned to stay for the remaining public hour of the evening, but they started conversing, loudly about very mundane things, car repairs, spilling stuff, so I got up quietly, knelt in respect to the Lord and started to leave. One of the ladies said something along the lines of not wanting to disrupt my prayer time with her chatter. I’m not the type to make waves, so I said she was fine, even though I truly was annoyed by the disruptive conversation. I now feel horrible, I was there to pray for my gravely ill grandmother and ended up lying to another person in front of the Blessed Sacrament. How horrible is what I just did and how should I handle this situation in the future? (the parish is small, these ladies and I tend to bump into each other regularly, this is not the first time they have had non-religious conversation at adoration)
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I would recommend going to Confession and confessing this sin to the priest (all lies are at least venial sins). When you do, tell the priest what happened, and he will be able to tell you how serious it was. You could also mention that some of the people in Eucharistic adoration have been having conversations in the chapel, and maybe he will explain to his parish that an adoration chapel is not the place for these conversations.

Hope this helped!

God bless!
 
Hello.

…my two cents…

I’ve had troubles too with some of the things that go on at the adoration chapel that I go to. I’ve gotten criticism too, but now there is a sign at the entrance from the Pastor to please observe silence. Because I’ve made some comments I’ve been called scrupulous and gotten some peculiar glances from my fellow Catholics.

I suspect that some people don’t know whose Presence they’re in. Would they talk like this if they’re at the opening of a play? Would they talk like this if they were going to visit some VIP?

I’d tell the Pastor, and, if that doesn’t do any good, I’d write the Bishop. I’d also bombard the place with articles and pamphlets about what to do during a Holy Hour and keep trying to be a good example.

It’d probably be a good idea to take this to confession (please remember that this is all only my opinion and to ignore any and all of it if it’s of no use to you), that way, three things: you’d be forgiven if sin was actually involved, get extra grace, and also would make the Pastor aware that there’s a problem in the adoration chapel.

Perhaps next time you run into some disrespect of the exposed Blessed Sacrament you could exercise loving correction.

I think it’s a shame that people were socializing in front of the Blessed Sacrament, all but acknowledged it and then continued. Socializing can be done elsewhere.

…but this is just my :twocents:
Jenny35 said:
I had originally planned to stay for the remaining public hour of the evening, but they started conversing, loudly about very mundane things, car repairs, spilling stuff, so I got up quietly, knelt in respect to the Lord and started to leave. One of the ladies said something along the lines of not wanting to disrupt my prayer time with her chatter. I’m not the type to make waves, so I said she was fine, even though I truly was annoyed by the disruptive conversation. I now feel horrible…How horrible is what I just did and how should I handle this situation in the future?
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Pax Christi!

Perhaps a sign saying “Quiet, please” in the Adoratiob Chapel might help.

God bless.
 
SeekerofTruth27 said:
You could also mention that some of the people in Eucharistic adoration have been having conversations in the chapel, and maybe he will explain to his parish that an adoration chapel is not the place for these conversations.

Hope this helped!

God bless!
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Don’t do this in confession. The priest won’t be able to do anything about it. Don’t worry about telling people not to visit in the adoration chapel. Their behaviour is not appropriate and is an irreverence.
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
Don’t do this in confession. The priest won’t be able to do anything about it. Don’t worry about telling people not to visit in the adoration chapel. Their behaviour is not appropriate and is an irreverence.
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Yeah, I meant that you could mention this after Confession. Sorry if I didn’t make that clear. And the priest can do something, he can inform people that they are being irreverent. He can easily do this by making an announcement after Mass, or maybe doing a homily on the Eucharist. This way the whole parish is informed, and these individuals are not singled out. I don’t meant that I want people to be blocked from going to adoration, just kindly informed on how to behave. I like the idea that some of the other posters had about having a “quiet please” type sign.

God bless
 
At our adoration chapel, there are pamphlets clearly spelling out what is acceptable and what is not. If nothing else, there needs to be a sign somewhere. Any talking whatsoever should be 99% non-existent in front of Our Lord adored in the Blessed Sacrament.
 
SeekerofTruth27 said:
Yeah, I meant that you could mention this after Confession. Sorry if I didn’t make that clear. And the priest can do something, he can inform people that they are being irreverent. He can easily do this by making an announcement after Mass, or maybe doing a homily on the Eucharist. This way the whole parish is informed, and these individuals are not singled out. I don’t meant that I want people to be blocked from going to adoration, just kindly informed on how to behave. I like the idea that some of the other posters had about having a “quiet please” type sign.

God bless
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Yes, but had you told him during confession, it would be under the seal and he couldn’t do anything about it.
 
One option would be to ask them quietly if they would have a word with you outside, and then to explain to them what adoring Our Eucharistic Lord actually is. The fact that they are disturbing others is one thing; the great possibility that they are offending Our Lord is another, and they deserve to be firmly reminded of what they are doing to their own souls.

Obviously, not every personality can do the above, and so excusing oneself to go and pray for them is another option.

Also, maybe it would be wise to ask the Holy Spirit for greater fortitude, so that you will be able to be of service to such individuals. I don’t believe the fact that they were there with you was a mere coincidence, and such opportunities are wonderful times for catechesis and even deeply reverent but firm scolding.
 
I’m not sure it’s a sin.

From the CCC
2483 Lying is the most direct offense against the truth. To lie is to speak or act against the truth in order to lead someone into error.
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You did not lead the women into error, but prevented yourself from getting into an area of uncharitably by not telling them how you felt.

Technically, what you expressed about your feelings was not true, but they really had no right to that truth anyway. You kept yourself from offending them with harsh words, which you held back.

FYI, got to the Catechism where I posted, there is more info that is helpful.

Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
I’m not sure it’s a sin.

You did not lead the women into error, but prevented yourself from getting into an area of uncharitably by not telling them how you felt.
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I think whether or not it was a sin would depend upon what she meant when she told the other lady that she was fine. If she meant, “Don’t worry about it” then she didn’t sin. But if she meant, “You didn’t bother me” then she did sin because she led the woman to believe something that wasn’t true, or “into error”. Also, if she responded without thinking, in an attempt to avoid trouble, then I doubt that she has sinned since a sin must be an act of the will.
How horrible is what I just did
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Personally, I think that this is just a venial sin, but I don’t know whether or not being in front of the Blessed Sacrament makes it worse. Even if it does, I doubt that it would be a mortal sin. That’s why I think she should mention it to her confessor. A priest would know better than I.

God bless and know that God loves you Jenny
 
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