When no one is in the Adoration Chapel

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A local church has a lovely little adoration chapel which is open during the week from 8am-10pm. I don’t go often, but once I went and the door was ajar and the glass encasing the monstrance was covered. I wasn’t sure what to do so I left, but was later told I could have simply lifted the cloth. I am just wondering if this is a common practice. I want to be able to attend the adoration chapel without worrying that I’ll be the only one there and panic again!
 
I have heard of this setup in one parish in northern England but not actually seen it anywhere, so I wouldn’t call it a common practice. Not in this corner of the planet, anyway. (I live in France.)
 
dmission said:
A local church has a lovely little adoration chapel which is open during the week from 8am-10pm. I don’t go often, but once I went and the door was ajar and the glass encasing the monstrance was covered. I wasn’t sure what to do so I left, but was later told I could have simply lifted the cloth. I am just wondering if this is a common practice. I want to be able to attend the adoration chapel without worrying that I’ll be the only one there and panic again!
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The monstrance really shouldn’t be left alone at any time during exposition. I would actually advise talking to the priest and informing him that there was no one keeping Jesus company at the time you arrived.
 
dshix said:
The monstrance really shouldn’t be left alone at any time during exposition. I would actually advise talking to the priest and informing him that there was no one keeping Jesus company at the time you arrived.
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👍
 
dshix is right that Jesus shouldn’t be left alone during Exposition. This is primarily to avoid the danger of someone stealing and profaning the Eucharist (which is also why tabernacles need to be fixed, immovable, and locked).

But in parishes that have a perpetual adoration chapel, it is inevitable that people don’t show up and/or there are gaps in the coverage. Different parishes seem to devise different ways of dealing with this. I’ve seen various sliding doors and other contraptions installed so that someone can close up the monstrance within some sort of “tabernacle” should they find themselves needing to leave before another adorer has come.

It sounds like your parish already has the monstrance behind glass in order to prevent theft. I’d assume the cloth is their to veil the Eucharist when no one is there. That’s probably how your parish opted to deal with the issue of gaps in the Adoration schedule.
 
Where I grew up, we had an adoration chapel accessible via keypad.

Except during Mass, it was 24/7.

When Mass started, or if there were times when someone wasn’t in the chapel, the last person to leave was to close doors in front of the monstrance.

On the flip side, if you went in and the doors were closed, just had to open them.

So it sounds like the cloth they are using, is similar to the doors in our situation.

I miss an adoration chapel.
 
ffg said:
Where I grew up, we had an adoration chapel accessible via keypad.

Except during Mass, it was 24/7.

When Mass started, or if there were times when someone wasn’t in the chapel, the last person to leave was to close doors in front of the monstrance.

On the flip side, if you went in and the doors were closed, just had to open them.

So it sounds like the cloth they are using, is similar to the doors in our situation.

I miss an adoration chapel.
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We too have a keypad on our AC door.As it is also 24 hour.However,the Monstance is placed on an alter with no other means of protection.I like the idea of a enclosure
 
dshix said:
The monstrance really shouldn’t be left alone at any time during exposition. I would actually advise talking to the priest and informing him that there was no one keeping Jesus company at the time you arrived.
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+1

Leaving the door ajar for anyone to enter is a concern also! We have to know the 5 digit code to enter our Adoration chapel.
 
dmission said:
A local church has a lovely little adoration chapel which is open during the week from 8am-10pm. I don’t go often, but once I went and the door was ajar and the glass encasing the monstrance was covered. I wasn’t sure what to do so I left, but was later told I could have simply lifted the cloth. I am just wondering if this is a common practice. I want to be able to attend the adoration chapel without worrying that I’ll be the only one there and panic again!
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I am not familiar with the set up that you describe. One can still visit the Blessed Sacrament without Exposition. We have had Perpetual Adoration in our parish for 35 years mostly with the Blessed Sacrament Reposed in the tabernacle except for certain occasions like First Fridays. Sad that it does happen when a relief does not show up. But one cannot be expected to stay for hours and hours because their relief, and/or subsequent reliefs do not show up. However, in those situations, the door should have been closed tightly (locked) when one leaves to prevent the possibility of theft or profanation.
 
7_Sorrows said:
+1

Leaving the door ajar for anyone to enter is a concern also! We have to know the 5 digit code to enter our Adoration chapel.
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That is what they have in the 24/7 Adoration chapel in the area where I live.
 
We have 24/7 adoration with someone there. At 10:00 the doors lock, but the adorer will let you in, providing you don’t look too scary I suppose! There is also a camera, which I believe is monitored by security some, most, or all of the time.
 
We have a sign up list to make sure there is a person in attendance in the chapel for the entire period of adoration. At other times the chapel is locked. We have adorations on first fridays and several other special occasions throughout the year. Normally, leaving it unattended is frowned upon.
 
It would be nice to see some security solutions that would help knock down the excuses not to have 24/7 adoration.

It would seem that if the chapel was already secure (itself acting as a tabernacle), that a beautiful vault (for lack of a better word) could hang on one wall, containing the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance. If no one was present, the doors to the vault could be closed.

That’s what they have at the historic La Placita Chapel in Downtown Los Angeles:

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
John_Lilburne said:
The 2004 Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum has:

“[138.] Still, the Most Holy Sacrament, when exposed, must never be left unattended even for the briefest space of time. It should therefore be arranged that at least some of the faithful always be present at fixed times, even if they take alternating turns.”

The full document is at vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20040423_redemptionis-sacramentum_en.html .
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In the OP’s case , it was “covered”. Still, the door should never have been left ajar with no one present.
 
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