Question about Adoration etiquette

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lemonlime

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I have a question that’s probably silly, but I’m really not sure what the right way to do something is! :o

On Friday, I phoned and asked to be assigned a couple of hours a week in the Perpetual Adoration chapel at a nearby parish [edited]. I was given permission to be one of the adorers - I’ve been given W/F @ 1 AM.

I was given a whole breakdown of what one does at Adoration over the phone and all my questions were answered to my satisfaction. Today I visited the chapel for the first time, and it occurred to me that if there is no talking then I might not know if a person coming in is the one assigned to the next hour, or if that person simply felt called to come adore Jesus in the Eucharist in the middle of the night for some reason.

How do I communicate to the people keeping watch the hour before me that I am there to relieve them, and how do I know if a person is there to relieve me?

I realize that this will almost certainly become clear on Wednesday morning when I go in for the first time, but I’m the sort of person who really likes to have new things planned out. After all the questions I asked the P.A. organizer, I feel embarrassed by the prospect of calling her again with yet another one. She’d think I’m an imbecile. 😊 I’d really appreciate any answer that comes to mind.
 
My friend, be little more latino.

*Intuition!!!/I

But a little sign my help.

And it is not an UNFORGIVABLE, IRREPARABLE, ABOMINABLE SIN to speak the persons there to inform yourself.

No scruples or “squarities”*
 
Oh and good for you.

On deciding to do adoration.

Best decision you’ve made in a while. 👍
 
I’ve only been in two Adoration Chapels, including the one in our parish which is 24/7. I visit it several times a week.

The chapels have pieces of cloth–I’m not sure what they are called, but the look like stoles. The assigned adorer is supposed to hang them over the arm or the back of the pew.

This lets the previous adorer know that their replacement has arrived.

One of the chapels actually has “even” or “odd” hours written on the stole. So if you are assigned for 1 AM, you would use the “odd” stole.

Ask to see if your chapel has a system like this. It works really well.
 
There’s probably a sign in sheet along with a schedule posted. That’s how they handle it at my local perpetual adoration chapel.

God bless you for keeping Jesus company. I should follow your example myself.
 
Cat said:
I’ve only been in two Adoration Chapels, including the one in our parish which is 24/7. I visit it several times a week.

The chapels have pieces of cloth–I’m not sure what they are called, but the look like stoles. The assigned adorer is supposed to hang them over the arm or the back of the pew.

This lets the previous adorer know that their replacement has arrived.

One of the chapels actually has “even” or “odd” hours written on the stole. So if you are assigned for 1 AM, you would use the “odd” stole.

Ask to see if your chapel has a system like this. It works really well.
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That’s really helpful, thanks. That seems like a good idea. I didn’t see anything like that today, but I wasn’t looking for it either. I’ll look as soon as I get a chance.
 
BeeSweet said:
There’s probably a sign in sheet along with a schedule posted. That’s how they handle it at my local perpetual adoration chapel.

God bless you for keeping Jesus company. I should follow your example myself.
Click to expand...
Actually, there is a sign-in sheet right next to the door on a podium. It has the names of the scheduled people and everything. The organizer lady told me all about it and stressed its importance.

It didn’t occur to me that it would be for anything other than accountability. I guess I really am an imbecile!:crying:

Thank you; I think that’s solved the mystery. I appreciate it.

I’m also grateful for all the encouragement from others. Thank you.
 
lemonlime said:
Actually, there is a sign-in sheet right next to the door on a podium. It has the names of the scheduled people and everything. The organizer lady told me all about it and stressed its importance.

It didn’t occur to me that it would be for anything other than accountability. I guess I really am an imbecile!:crying:

Thank you; I think that’s solved the mystery. I appreciate it.
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If you’re in imbecile, so am I, because that’s exactly the kind of thinking I suffer from frequently. 😃 This morning I came into the living room to tell my husband the tub was clogged. He went into the bathroom and released the lever that plugs up the tub, and miraculously the tub started to drain. 😊

I’ve taken my wristwatch to the jeweler not once, but twice to have them push in the knob on the side of the watch because it wasn’t working. 😊 😊

If only I really were a blond. 😃
 
:rolleyes: That is not as bad as some other lady I knew.

She delayed a trip in the middle of the road because her car was burning up.
It took hours for a mechanic to arrive.

At the end the mechanic said that it is normal for a car to start smoking when you are trying to reach highway speeds with the parking brake on.
 
I love adoring the Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament!

And I don’t mind at all–and I don’t think Jesus minds–when a sister or brother interrupts my adoration to ask me a practical question about the chapel, or something else (parking, the alarm system, etc). We’re humans. These things happen to humans.

As long as this is becoming a “dumbest things that I have done” thread–I didn’t do this, but it happened to my husband.

He is a systems administrator. He received a call from a state halfway across the country about a down system. He asked all the necessary questions, but couldn’t zero in on the problem, so he flew to the state to fix the problem.

The one question he didn’t ask, because he didn’t want to insult the operators, was “Is the thing plugged in?”

When he arrived at the company (remember, this was a flight halfway across the U.S.!), sure enough–the thing wasn’t plugged in.

He plugged it in, everything was fine, and he was back on the plane home in no time.

So always look to make sure that when something isn’t working, that you have plugged it in!
 
We do not have any thing fancy (sashes or banners…) - that is an interesting idea.

You will get to know the people who are before and after you, and no one has ever been struck dead for whispering “hello” or “good evening” 🙂
 
kage_ar said:
We do not have any thing fancy (sashes or banners…) - that is an interesting idea.

You will get to know the people who are before and after you, and no one has ever been struck dead for whispering “hello” or “good evening” 🙂
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I agree with this–when you have a regular scheduled Holy Hour, the people who are there with you (if any) become a miniature “congregation.” You kind of get to know them at least well enough to say hi and chat if you see each other after Mass or at the Mall. It’s nice.

And I think the sash/banner (whatever) thing works really well. One reason it is very helpful is that if you stop by for a short visit, and only one other person is there–if that person has the sash hanging, you know they will remain there for the full hour, so you feel comfortable making your offering or prayer and leaving.

BUT if the person DOESN’T have the sash, then they too might be there for a short visit, and so you feel an obligation (hopefully a welcome obligation!) to remain with the Lord until the next scheduled adorer shows up.
 
Cat said:
The chapels have pieces of cloth–I’m not sure what they are called, but the look like stoles. The assigned adorer is supposed to hang them over the arm or the back of the pew.

This lets the previous adorer know that their replacement has arrived.
Click to expand...
That seems like a really good idea.

Years ago I was in a parish that handled it pretty well. They had all night adoration on the 1st Friday of every month. Lots of people signed up. But, one thing they did was make sure that at least one or 2 members of the Knights of Columbus were present during each hour. That way someone was always guaranteed to be there.

I always seemed to end up with 1, 2, or 3 A.M somehow. But, probably 90% of the time there was another Knight assigned to the same hour not to mention anyone from the parish at large that signed up or just showed up.

James
 
Our local chapel has reserved places for the scheduled adorers. In this instance, you would simply sit in one of those places to let the other person know you had arrived as a replacement. Also, the late night/early morning hours are limited to scheduled adorers, and the door is locked with a combination lock. So you know that anyone who has the combination is probably there to relieve you.

Have a wonderful time at your adoration, and please pray for me.

Betsy
 
I am a substitute adorer and filled in for a lady yesterday evening. A young couple was there when I went in and asked me in a whisper if I was the “fill-in” for Jane and I said In was. I ahve no problem with quiet little whispers…but I sure do like the sash idea.

It never fails to amaze me that the hour with Our Lord goes by so fast.

May I also add…I thoroughly enjoyed all the comments on this thread. They made me smile…🙂
 
It is not a sin to whisper to the person who comes in and ask if they are the adorer for the next hour. You’ll come to recognize them after a while, though. Our chapel has a sign-in sheet for each hour, so if I’m not sure about the person who’s come in, I just check to see if they signed in for that hour before I leave.

And kudos to you for becoming a guardian of Jesus! 👍
 
When I’ve been an adorer there was always a sign in sheet with all the adorers names and times on it. Usually you didn’t have many people dropping in for adoration in the middle of the night although it does happen. Several times, my relief didn’t show up and I remained several hours longer than I was supposed to. One of the hard and fast rules about perpetual adoration is that there is to be someone there at all times. Normally it works out fine but every now and then for one reason or another the replacement won’t show up.

As far as whispering about relief etc it’s OK.
 
lemonlime said:
I have a question that’s probably silly, but I’m really not sure what the right way to do something is! :o

On Friday, I phoned and asked to be assigned a couple of hours a week in the Perpetual Adoration chapel at a nearby parish [edited]. I was given permission to be one of the adorers - I’ve been given W/F @ 1 AM.

I was given a whole breakdown of what one does at Adoration over the phone and all my questions were answered to my satisfaction. Today I visited the chapel for the first time, and it occurred to me that if there is no talking then I might not know if a person coming in is the one assigned to the next hour, or if that person simply felt called to come adore Jesus in the Eucharist in the middle of the night for some reason.

How do I communicate to the people keeping watch the hour before me that I am there to relieve them, and how do I know if a person is there to relieve me?

I realize that this will almost certainly become clear on Wednesday morning when I go in for the first time, but I’m the sort of person who really likes to have new things planned out. After all the questions I asked the P.A. organizer, I feel embarrassed by the prospect of calling her again with yet another one. She’d think I’m an imbecile. 😊 I’d really appreciate any answer that comes to mind.
Click to expand...
We have a sign-in sheet at ours, with the times and names listed. If your parish doesn’t use one, please suggest that they do. That way, you should know, especially in the case where someone substitutes for another. Besides, after a short while, you get to know who adores in the time slot before you, and who is after.
 
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