V
villagefish
Guest
Last year my wife and I moved to a small western college town so that I could pursue and advanced degree. I had visited the area once before our move, and noted that the town contained one faithful and one pseudo-catholic church; you’ve got to watch out for those marginal churches, especially in college towns!
Anyway, a couple of weeks after settling into our surroundings, and joining the faithful church’s choir, we were ecstatic to learn that our new place of worship had a perpetual adoration chapel; quite a novelty considering the congregation’s size. Fully intending to spend 30 minutes adoring the Blessed Sacrament, my wife and I attempted to open the door to the chapel, only to discover it was locked under a combination device. Very strange we thought…shouldn’t Christ be assessable to all, not just to those with a code? We knocked on the door and waited for a reasonable amount of time, but whoever was inside decided not to let us in.
Not letting this incident deter us from receiving the graces of adoration, my wife called the church office shortly after our first entry attempt to obtain the code. Ironically, not even the secretary knew the code; we were given the name and phone number of the adoration director in order to make a phone call inquiry about the code. That same day my wife called the director and was pleased to be given the combination. Now, finally, we’d be able to go to adoration. Secret code in hand, my wife decided to adore during the day while I was working.
To her dismay, the code we had been given didn’t work. My wife, who does not give up easily, decided to try knocking; this time with success… and older gentleman, whom she’d later discover was senile to some degree, opened the door. Explaining she was there for adoration and was given a code to enter, she struggle for several minutes to make this man understand that her code didn’t work. After what was probably near total exasperation for my wife, the man understood this concept and tried the code we’d been given; he could NOT get it to work. Now how the older gentleman had gotten into the adoration chapel is a mystery…he didn’t offer an information as to whether the code had been changed…my wife wasn’t about to ask as this point…she had gotten entry, against all odds, and wanted to do what she came to do: adore.
Thinking it’s unacceptable that my wife could not gain entry to the chapel with the code she was given, I called the director back a week later. Insisting that the code we were given was valid, she suggested we try again. I’m not normally an argumentative person, so I thanked her for giving us the code, again. However, I was not going to let her off the phone without knowing why the adoration chapel is always locked…she told me that years back, someone was assaulted in there , and now, because of this one incident, it had to be locked at all times-yes, we live in a crooked town (Laramie, Wyoming). Already troubled by me asking this simple question, I decided it wouldn’t do much good to tell her that the solution of locking the chapel is extreme, especially considering that other people would like to be able to freely adore.
Since our second phone conversation with the director, neither my wife nor I have been able to regain entry for adoration. We tried the combination again, as suggested, but to no avail; knocking produced a similar effect. Every time we try to get in, we end up frustrated at the situation and not in the right mindset to adore-we’ve never actually been able to get in again. We have given up trying to gain entry to the exclusive room that holds our Lord and Savior. In essence we are perpetually barred from going to adoration; the only city in proximity that might have an adoration chapel is an hour away on a dangerous stretch of highway.
Perhaps what is even more upsetting about the situation is that upon showing up for choir practice one afternoon, we noticed a sign on the church saying that whoever was in the adoration chapel decided they’d had enough exclusive time with Christ and decided to leave at 4:30, locking the church. So, not only is the adoration chapel and underground operation, its members can decide when to come and go as the please…leaving the exposed sacrament alone!
Just thought I’d share my adoration anecdote and see what kind of comments I’d get…
Anyway, a couple of weeks after settling into our surroundings, and joining the faithful church’s choir, we were ecstatic to learn that our new place of worship had a perpetual adoration chapel; quite a novelty considering the congregation’s size. Fully intending to spend 30 minutes adoring the Blessed Sacrament, my wife and I attempted to open the door to the chapel, only to discover it was locked under a combination device. Very strange we thought…shouldn’t Christ be assessable to all, not just to those with a code? We knocked on the door and waited for a reasonable amount of time, but whoever was inside decided not to let us in.
Not letting this incident deter us from receiving the graces of adoration, my wife called the church office shortly after our first entry attempt to obtain the code. Ironically, not even the secretary knew the code; we were given the name and phone number of the adoration director in order to make a phone call inquiry about the code. That same day my wife called the director and was pleased to be given the combination. Now, finally, we’d be able to go to adoration. Secret code in hand, my wife decided to adore during the day while I was working.
To her dismay, the code we had been given didn’t work. My wife, who does not give up easily, decided to try knocking; this time with success… and older gentleman, whom she’d later discover was senile to some degree, opened the door. Explaining she was there for adoration and was given a code to enter, she struggle for several minutes to make this man understand that her code didn’t work. After what was probably near total exasperation for my wife, the man understood this concept and tried the code we’d been given; he could NOT get it to work. Now how the older gentleman had gotten into the adoration chapel is a mystery…he didn’t offer an information as to whether the code had been changed…my wife wasn’t about to ask as this point…she had gotten entry, against all odds, and wanted to do what she came to do: adore.
Thinking it’s unacceptable that my wife could not gain entry to the chapel with the code she was given, I called the director back a week later. Insisting that the code we were given was valid, she suggested we try again. I’m not normally an argumentative person, so I thanked her for giving us the code, again. However, I was not going to let her off the phone without knowing why the adoration chapel is always locked…she told me that years back, someone was assaulted in there , and now, because of this one incident, it had to be locked at all times-yes, we live in a crooked town (Laramie, Wyoming). Already troubled by me asking this simple question, I decided it wouldn’t do much good to tell her that the solution of locking the chapel is extreme, especially considering that other people would like to be able to freely adore.
Since our second phone conversation with the director, neither my wife nor I have been able to regain entry for adoration. We tried the combination again, as suggested, but to no avail; knocking produced a similar effect. Every time we try to get in, we end up frustrated at the situation and not in the right mindset to adore-we’ve never actually been able to get in again. We have given up trying to gain entry to the exclusive room that holds our Lord and Savior. In essence we are perpetually barred from going to adoration; the only city in proximity that might have an adoration chapel is an hour away on a dangerous stretch of highway.
Perhaps what is even more upsetting about the situation is that upon showing up for choir practice one afternoon, we noticed a sign on the church saying that whoever was in the adoration chapel decided they’d had enough exclusive time with Christ and decided to leave at 4:30, locking the church. So, not only is the adoration chapel and underground operation, its members can decide when to come and go as the please…leaving the exposed sacrament alone!
Just thought I’d share my adoration anecdote and see what kind of comments I’d get…