The Monstrance left alone

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My apologies, but I am a new Catholic, so I don’t know all the proper terms. Once a month my parish has Eucharistic Adoration. So today I went to the morning Mass before the priest puts the Host in the Monstrance and stayed for Adoration afterwards. (About 40 minutes.) I kept thinking about food and I decided to leave and go have breakfast. Several of the regular attenders of Daily Mass were there.

I returned about two hours later and the chapel with the Monstrance was empty, let’s say only Jesus was there. I was shocked because I assumed that it wasn’t okay to leave the Monstrance with the Host in it alone. I was alone for over a half hour before a family came in. I stayed until a second parishioner came in.

So my question, is it okay to leave a Monstrance with the Host inside of it alone in an unlocked chapel? This is a suburban type parish not an inner city one. Am I being silly? I am not exactly the priest’s favorite parishioner so I would be very reluctant to mention it to him. In other words I want to be very sure I have a legitimate concern.
 
No, when conducting adoration, there must be someone present at all times.
 
But this means someone left the Monstrance alone. I mean, they were the last person out. :banghead: So this leaves me a dilemma: should I mention this to someone, or should I try to cover most of the time myself?
 
There should be someone present to make sure the Host isn’t defamed. If you want to leave, and there is no one present, fetch your priest and he will keep an eye on the Eucharist until someone shows up.
 
You are never to leave the Monstrance alone with Jesus in there, however our priest has the Monstrance covered and I’m assuming this is ok?? I remember having to stay for a couple hours as the person after me never showed up. I now bring my cell phone should I need to leave. Actually that 2 hours were absolutely WONDERFUL! I am so at peace sitting before our Lord and wonder why so few come for Adoration. Next to Mass it is the best part of my week!
mlz
 
mlz said:
You are never to leave the Monstrance alone with Jesus in there, however our priest has the Monstrance covered and I’m assuming this is ok?? I remember having to stay for a couple hours as the person after me never showed up. I now bring my cell phone should I need to leave. Actually that 2 hours were absolutely WONDERFUL! I am so at peace sitting before our Lord and wonder why so few come for Adoration. Next to Mass it is the best part of my week!
mlz
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My parish has 24-hour adoration, but it is only done on Wednesday. I’m only available on weekends, so I can’t go to Adoration. 😦
 
Our perpetual adoration is locked at night, but whether locked or unlocked, the monstrance can never be left alone. If only one person is present and the next person doesn’t show up, he or she must either call someone to come in or stay till the next person arrives.
 
We don’t (yet) have Adoration sign-ups. People seem to drop in and leave at random times. I am technically available for the whole five hours of Adoration but I would need to eat and use the restroom in there somewhere. My thought was to try and cover the times when the Chapel would most likely be left empty.

I love Adoration and I find it peaceful but I think five hours is a long stretch. I am not sure I would want to alert the priest that I was spending that much time in the Chapel.
 
You are right. We are never to leave The Most Holy alone. I have gone to a church that some times holds over night Adoration. If the Priest sees me, he will ask me if I’m staying. We then have Exposition. I go to the restroom while others are in the church. We all pray. Then I simply fall asleep :o to the next morning when we have Mass. It is most beauty-full! :extrahappy:
 
MSSheBear said:
We don’t (yet) have Adoration sign-ups. People seem to drop in and leave at random times. I am technically available for the whole five hours of Adoration but I would need to eat and use the restroom in there somewhere. My thought was to try and cover the times when the Chapel would most likely be left empty.

I love Adoration and I find it peaceful but I think five hours is a long stretch. I am not sure I would want to alert the priest that I was spending that much time in the Chapel.
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I think I would at least mention to the priest that the adoration chapel is sometimes unattended. Maybe he’s not concerned about it. But he should be.
 
I am an hourly coordinator for perpetual adoration.

We have to always be reasonable and remember that people are human beings. If we are alone we are allowed to get up to go to the bathroom.

There are also times when people have to leave. One of the adorers in my hour is a surgeon and he has to get to the operating room in the early hours of the morning. What should he do if the next person doesn’t show? Should he not show up for work and leave someone in the hospital without the operation they need? He veiled the Blessed Sacrament, said a prayer, called me and left. I drove to the chapel until the next person showed up. It is not optimal but again, what was the guy to do?

Yeah, the Blessed Sacrament should not be left alone, but people are human and our Lord knows that. We do our best and that is the best we can do.

-Tim-
 
I probably should mention it to the priest when I have the opportunity. :sad_yes:
 
We have 24/7 adoration at my church and everyone is great about not leaving the Host alone. However, in the event where no one is truly able to be there (a recent example being a terrible snowstorm making roads dangerous and impassible), we have a little curtain that we pull in front of the host until someone is able to get there. My last church also had this feature for emergencies.
 
We don’t appear to have anything to cover it with and the Monstrance was uncovered when I entered the chapel.
 
Just thought I would add some beautiful songs written by Matt Maher about Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament:

Adoration by Matt Maher:
youtube.com/watch?v=4vSM0z6Wsj8

Lord I Need You by Matt Maher:
youtube.com/watch?v=Ky0g_9dyhbU

Behind the Making of Lord I Need You:
youtube.com/user/mattmahermusic

And here are a few songs on The Eucharist:

Love Comes Down by Matt Maher:
youtube.com/watch?v=beAXbgFP3Wg

Table of Grace by Matt Maher:
youtube.com/watch?v=gfJkJavuz-s

Remembrance by Matt Maher:
youtube.com/watch?v=cIh4yKTbPA4
 
Luz_Maria said:
You are right. We are never to leave The Most Holy alone. I have gone to a church that some times holds over night Adoration. If the Priest sees me, he will ask me if I’m staying. We then have Exposition. I go to the restroom while others are in the church. We all pray. Then I simply fall asleep :o to the next morning when we have Mass. It is most beauty-full! :extrahappy:
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How do you keep the Host protected? Someone could take the Host while you are sleeping. Is there someone else watching it? 🙂
 
At my parish the adoration chapel is locked during the night hours, so the next person coming in knocks on the door to be let in. If there is only one person in the chapel and he leaves the host unattended, the door locks behind him and no one else can get in. The host in the monstrance is safe, but then the next person who shows up can’t get in! There should actually be at least two persons assigned during each hour of the day.
 
at a church in our diocese, there is a 24 hour adoration chapel. When there is no one there, there is a fabric (don’t know the term for it) that is always on a seat to cover the monstrance if one must leave and no else is there. And when you come in and it is covered, uncover it.
 
MSSheBear said:
We don’t appear to have anything to cover it with and the Monstrance was uncovered when I entered the chapel.
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I once signed up for an hour of Adoration in another town where I was working. If the one who was to follow me did not arrive we were told to remove the Sacrament from the large Monstrance and place in the Luna and place the Luna in the Tabernacle which was located in a side room. We all knew where the “key” to the Tabernacle was. It didn’t happen often but it was a comfort to know that there was a provision for this happening. The Blessed Sacrament was never left alone as it should be. I certainly would inform your Pastor of any unorthodox handling of this precious Sacrament. He is the one in charge and must accommodate in this matter.
 
Luz_Maria said:
You are right. We are never to leave The Most Holy alone. I have gone to a church that some times holds over night Adoration. If the Priest sees me, he will ask me if I’m staying. We then have Exposition. I go to the restroom while others are in the church. We all pray. Then I simply fall asleep :o to the next morning when we have Mass. It is most beauty-full! :extrahappy:
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the sleep ? 😊
 
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