What is Perpetual Adoration?
Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration is the constant and ceaseless worship by the faithful of the Living God who is made truly present in the Blessed Sacrament under the hidden appearance of bread. Sacramental Perpetual Adoration is the adoring of the Lord by worshiping Him who is exposed in the Blessed Sacrament. It is to be at once at the Foot of the Cross and in Heaven with Him in His Resurrected Glory. It also to be there in and with Mary in adoring the little baby Jesus in the spirit of loving joy. For in the Blessed Sacrament the entire Paschal Mystery (the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus) is made present through eternity into the now.
Spiritual Perpetual Adoration is when we cannot be there physically before the Lord who is present in the Eucharist and so we unite with Him throughout the day and even as we sleep so that we adore Him always and everywhere, perpetually that is. The necessity of Perpetual Adoration, both Sacramental and Spiritual (for those times when we cannot be physically before the Eucharist), is because by doing so we fulfill in the deepest possible way the command of our Lord: "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." (Deut 6:5). Thus to put it simply our Lord deserves all the love we can give Him. He has made Himself present in the Eucharist and the least and the most that we can do is to adore Him, to love Him without end 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
What is involved in a chapel or place of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration?
The community of the faithful when they agree to help support a chapel of Perpetual Adoration, with the guiding and essential support of a priest, agree to work together to love the Lord their God through ceaseless prayer: 24/7. This requires that the faithful agree to commit themselves to as many hours a week that their duties in life permit. Every person can find at least one hour a week to adore the Lord in addition to the attendance of Holy Mass as much as one is able to. Some people however might be able to find a few hours and others many hours in which they are free to commit themselves. It is important that one only commit to the hours they are sure and certain they can attend, for as the Lord says: "Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil." (Mt 5:37). One should keep in mind that in the hour they commit themselves to, they are a Holy Guardian of the Blessed Sacrament, which is the Pearl of Great Price; and that it is not they who are doing a favour for Jesus, or for their priest, but rather that it is Jesus who is doing them the favour, of allowing them to spend quality time with Him, to develop a relationship of intimate friendship.
The Structure of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration?
The structure of the Perpetual Adoration system is simple and exists in order to ensure that every hour is covered. Ensuring that every hour is covered is essential, for our Lord who suffers much and who exclaims to us: "I thirst" (Jn 19:28), thirsts for our love and for the salvation of all souls, and because of this He should never be left alone and nor should His thirst not be met by we who can give Him the drink of our love. A roster is therefore made which contains a slot for every hour of the week. Within each of these slots the name/s of those who have committed to adore the Lord are written down. A sign in booklet rests at the entrance to the chapel where scheduled adorers or substitute adorers sign in and out of their holy shift of restful work. This ensures that someone can check to see if people are attending their hours, not in order to 'Lord over the generous adorers' in totalitarian legalism, but in order to ensure that our Lord is never left alone. Vacant hours are advertised in the church, and by the laity to their family and friends, as well as the open invitation to come whenever and as much as possible to visit the Lord of Love.
The Priority of Satan to Destroy the Work of Works
The priority of Satan is to ensure that God is not loved by all and every man. If he fails in this primary diabolical duty of his, then he shall seek to ensure that for those who do love God, that they love Him less. Now Satan hates everything to do with Perpetual Adoration, for he does not want God to be loved by men and he especially does not want God to be loved always and everywhere on this earth. He thus seeks to destroy those who promote this work, and to discourage souls from Perpetual Adoration; and Satan will even be satisfied if a community abandons the hope of having Perpetual Adoration, settling with "all day Adoration" or "constant weekend Adoration". Why is this a success for Satan? For if he removes the desires of those who love God to love God partially and not perpetually, then he has won a victory. It is thus imperative that even if it seems impossible one should never abandon the pursuit of the perfect work: Perpetual Adoration. Now often laity, religious, priests and bishops will not support this work because of their poor spiritual formation, their lack of faith and trust in God, their lack of belief in the Real Presence or because of their failure to understand what the Eucharist really is and what Perpetual Adoration truly means. These poor people say no to Perpetual Adoration and place obstacles in the way of this work not as willing servants of Satan but as ignorant fools. These poor creatures require patience and understanding to bear with, for through prayer and instruction the hearts of the sincere will open in time to God's Will for this Work of Works. However there are laity, priests and bishops who are not just sinful like us all, but who are corrupt (As Pope Francis so distinguishes), and who as children of Satan actively and knowingly seek to destroy the Work of Works. They will cover their malice behind an orthodoxy of showmanship, and will say such things as: "we do not disagree with the work of Perpetual Adoration but with you the workers and with the means of which you seek to bring it about." Beware of such people and adhere their voices not, for anyone who abandons the Work of Work for fear of them shows that they are ashamed to love Christ, and regarding such an evil soul the Lord says: "For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." (Mk 8:38).
How God will Provide in this Work of Works, if we Trust and have Faith in Him
A priest I know came into a parish that was dead, on the threshold of being vacated. Yet by the grace of the Lord he made himself available by offering his will to the Will of the Father, through the daily services of the Holy Mass and the sacrament of confession/reconciliation. Hardly having been in the parish for any time at all, with less than 80 parishioners, he stood out in faith and opened a chapel of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. Now does the Lord abandon those who trust in Him and in His Providence? No, surely He does not, for He rewards those who trust in Him.
"Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us." (Ps 62: 8).
"The Lord recompense you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!" (Ruth 2:12).
And so it was, by this priests act of faith and in the support and prayers of a few faithful souls in the intercession of Our Lady, it came about that all the hours were covered and that until this day the chapel remains as a refuge for all to come and rest by the Waters of Salvation.
The simple test to see whether you support Perpetual Adoration
Ask yourself these three questions in order to know if you yourself support Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration:
1. Do you believe in the Real Presence, that Jesus' whole self, His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar?
2. Do you believe that Jesus should be loved?
3. Do you believe that Jesus should be loved always and without end by every soul?
If your answer is yes to all three then you can be certain that your faith testifies to the need and existence of chapels of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. Will you act on this faith you have and seek to have a chapel started in your parish or a neighbouring parish?
The answers of God regarding His support of the notion of Perpetual Adoration
1. Do you believe in the Real Presence, that Jesus' whole self, His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar? YES!
2. Do you believe that Jesus should be loved? YES!!
3. Do you believe that Jesus should be loved always and without end by every soul? YES!!!
Starting a Chapel of Perpetual Adoration
- You may not be able to start 24/7 Adoration right away, but set a date, stick to that date, build up the hours of Adoration leading up to that date, and pray and trust that God will provide adorers.
- If you are a priest you will need to enlist the help of religious and laity, and will especially need at least one or two people who can oversee the entire work of Perpetual Adoration.
- If you are a lay person, you will need to acquire your priests permission. It is important to pray before you ask him, and to convince him that he will not need to overburden himself since almost all the work will be done by the laity.
- The temporal and spiritual graces mentioned above are also great incentives to mention to people in order to inspire people to support the work of Perpetual Adoration. Yet the most powerful motive of all is because Jesus deserves to be loved and adored, not partially but perpetually.
May the Spirit of Perpetual Adoration, the Holy Spirit be upon you. May the Good Lord grant you peace of heart and grant you the strength and joy you need to labour for this perfect work of love. May you join the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph in the Holy House of Nazareth, as you adore the Lord Jesus without end. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
For more information on how to start or run a chapel with tools and or advice just email: eucharisticbrothers36@outlook.com
