BEFORE WEEKEND MISSION
2.1. What are the conditions necessary to consider the establishment of perpetual adoration in a parish? Response
2.2. Should we start with partial or perpetual adoration? Response
2.3. Should we establish adoration in a parish or in a city (grouping together several parishes)? Response
2.4. And in rural areas, when the parish is made up of several distant churches? Response
2.5. What should the parish priest do to prepare his parish for Eucharistic adoration? Response
2.6. Obtain leaflets, posters, adverts on the chapel of adoration … Response
2.1. What are the conditions necessary to consider the establishment of perpetual adoration in a parish?
1. A parish priest who wishes perpetual adoration in his parish (or a bishop who desires it for a city in his diocese).
2. A chapel dedicated uniquely to perpetual adoration, with external access for the night and, if possible, toilets.
3. A team of highly motivated parishioners, ready to take charge of the organisation of perpetual adoration.
Please consult the practical document attached to communicate to your parish priest.
Do not hesitate to contact us.We will do everything to answer your questions.
2.2. Should we start with partial or perpetual adoration?
Too often we obstruct the Holy Spirit through our lack of faith and minimise the potential response from parishioners. The more we limit the number of hours the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, the more we limit the number of people who can come to adoration. Conversely, by increasing the number of hours during which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, we increase the opportunities for parishioners to find an hour each week for prayer in their very busy schedule! Thus, to organise adoration in a parish, let us go into deep water, according to the words of Jesus: “Put out into the deep” (Lk 5:4).
For this, it is advisable to offer continuous adoration, without specifying the number of days or nights when the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed. We can’t know in advance. In practice, parishioners are invited to commit to one hour of adoration per week during the Sunday Mass homilies, preached by a “Missionary of the Most Holy Eucharist”, invited for the occasion. Parishioners wishing to participate in this chain of adoration fill out the invitation distributed to them at the end of the homily. After having offered this invitation at all the Masses over the weekend, the responses are counted and classified by division (morning, afternoon, evening, night). Only then, it is possible to know approximately the number of days and nights of adoration to organise during the week. We are always surprised by the result, which exceeds expectations and even the hopes. See the outline of the mission in question 3.1.
2.3. Should adoration be instituted in a parish or in a city (grouping together several parishes)?
The question arises in large cities with several parishes. A place of perpetual adoration can be organised in a parish at the request of a parish priest, or a place of perpetual diocesan adoration, in a large city, at the request of a bishop.
In the first case, the advantages are as follows: ease and speed of organisation, proximity to the place of adoration for adorers. Perpetual adoration supports and fructifies all the parish movements, creating new spiritual ties between their members. The cohesion of the different parish realities is reinforced.
In the second case, the potential number of adorers is much higher than the first. The unity of the parishes is strengthened around the diocesan project. Besides, the Congregation for the Clergy encouraged each diocese to organise a place of perpetual Eucharistic adoration, a Eucharistic shrine, from which a great spiritual fruitfulness for the diocese will flow.
However, the following difficulties must be taken into account: difficulty for the referent priest in retaining adorers in the various parishes, distance from the place of adoration for certain parishioners … Also, for the launch of perpetual adoration, the preaching of a “Missionary of the Most Holy Eucharist” is always advised to obtain the greatest number of responses from parishioners and to organise the chain of perpetual adoration as well as possible…
What is an Eucharistic Shrine? (Congregation for the Clergy) Download
When perpetual adoration is organised in a city with several churches, it is best to choose a single location for day and night adoration. However, in some cases, adoration can be organised perpetually, but in two or more places. There are cases where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed during the day in a large church in the city center, and at night in a secure oratory where it is easy to park nearby…
“Wherever possible, it would be appropriate, especially in densely populated areas, to set aside specific churches or oratories for perpetual adoration”.
Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, n ° 67
2.4. And in rural areas, when the parish is made up of several distant churches?
When a parish is made up of many churches, perpetual adoration 7 days a week, 24 hours a day is more difficult to achieve. However, the chain of adoration can be extended, thus becoming a great source of grace for parishioners who do not have mass every week in their own church or who have no means of transport. Here are two propositions:
Either the main parish church serves as a unique place of adoration. We then invite the parishioners of all the other churches to come and adore in this central place. In this option, the chain of adoration is easier to organise because it is centralised, but experience shows that many parishioners from the surrounding churches will not travel to go to adoration in a church other than their own, perhaps by lack of means of transport or lack of motivation. Even if it’s a pity, it is often the case …
The second option, generally more advantageous and preferred by parish priests, is as follows: the churches chosen to become places of adoration undertake to ensure a weekly time slot for adoration. Everything is organised so that when one church ends its adoration time, another church takes over. And so on… In this way, the Blessed Sacrament is always adored in one place. This strengthens the unity of the parish with its numerous churches. Also, we “bring to life” the various churches by opening them each week for a few hours for adoration. “My house shall be a house of prayer” (Mt 21:13) and not a museum or a place that opens only for a monthly mass…
2.5. What should the parish priest do to prepare his parish for adoration?
If the three conditions above (question 2.1) are met, the “Missionaries of the Most Holy Eucharist” offer their help in setting up permanent adoration. Please contact us as soon as possible to agree on a date for a mission (with preaching at weekend masses, forming a team to coordinate the adoration, and possible conferences): Contact us.
It is good that the priest prepares his parishioners for a few weeks about the project of setting up a chapel of adoration. This should be done before the coming of the “Missionary of the Most Holy Eucharist”. The process of the mission is presented in question 3.1.
Advice: do not start organizing the perpetual adoration chain with pre-enrolments for adoration. It would then complicate the organisation that we are putting in place.
Also, there is no need to arouse fears among parishioners by speaking to them initially of “perpetual” adoration. It is best to tell them about permanent adoration, without going into too much detail. Explain simply that everyone will be offered, during a weekend with the “Missionary of the Most Holy Eucharist”, to participate in a chain of intercession before the Blessed Sacrament. Those who volunteer will be able to choose the hour they prefer and will come to adore, on a weekly basis, in turns, thus rendering a great spiritual service to the parish and to the Universal Church … These details can defuse unnecessary blockages or resistance …
Also, if a chain of Eucharistic adoration already exists in the parish, it is quite possible that it will be replaced by the new organisation that will be set up after the missionary’s arrival, especially if there is a substantial increase in the number of adorers.
Advice: It is good if the parish priest has in mind the coordinator and the 4 division leaders in advance. However, sometimes the members of the team become clearer during the mission. See question 3.1, paragraph 3. The missionary brings pencils and some invitations. The invitations will be photocopied during the weekend so that all parishioners interested can receive one during Holy Mass.
2.6. Obtain leaflets, flyers (ads and info), posters (decorative) on the chapel of adoration …
See the documents page for practical organisation. Click here.
