Open church

[Chuck1]

Hi , so you know when the church is open freely during the day what is it open for ?
Like praying , reciting the rosary or something , would the priest be there ?

 

[alwayslooking]

My church is locked about a half hour after daily Mass. I do live in a town with eight Catholic churches. All are locked.

One does have perpetual adoration, but you have to call the rectory to buzz you in to the chapel.

Luckily we have a Poor Clair monastery that has adoration two days a week, and my city is the home of the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows where there are several chapels, walking stations, a church, and several outdoor shrines to the Blessed Virgin. I usually visit the shrine when I want to pray during a day of distress.

 

[puzzleannie]

Hi , so you know when the church is open freely during the day what is it open for ?
Like praying , reciting the rosary or something , would the priest be there ?

if i is open, yes for all those reasons. The priest is more likely to be in his office, visiting parishioners, working for the diocese or going about aspects of his job, but yes he might be in the church at times. If you need to speak to him the fastest way is to call the parish office for an appointment.

Most churches here a closed except during Mass and services for security reasons, unless they can afford security people.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Different parishes have different schedules. In the Philippines, there are churches that are pilgrimage sites that only close for one hour in the wee hours for cleaning. Otherwise they are open. During this “free time”, anyone may pray, meditate, light candles, etc. A priest may not always be there, but there may be one for confession or to lead prayers, or just to make sure everything is going well.

 

[James924]

Yup, all those things. Go in there and spend some time with our Lord in the Blessed Tabernacle. If you’re driving by and have time, just step in, take a knee in his presence and bless His Holy Name. If you’re planning on doing some bible study, bring it in there and read in His presence. Just go “hang” with Him.

Some parishes will give an access code to verified parishoners if the doors are usually locked.

As far as the Priest being there, you might find them praying the divine office in there throughout the day, but often they aren’t even in their office. There are so few Priests these days that each Priest has to sort of be superman and is running around the city conducting Priestly duties that, in the past, were spread out among many Priests.

 

[eegardner]

Our Church used to be open 24 hours, until we found cigarette butts, food wrappers and beer cans in the confessionals. Now it is locked in the evenings. We do have a small chapel that is open because most times someone is there for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. A priest is not usually there in the evenings.