A Chapel of Adoration.

As the millennium dawns, the Chapel of Adoration at St. Clement's Church in Etobicoke, Ontario, shines like a jewel. It was started by a group of dedicated lay people led by a retired businesswoman, who prayed for a year in advance to obtain this favour. Five years ago, in 1994, their prayers were answered. The chapel opened in an unused basement boardroom of the church with seating for ten. Word of its tranquility soon spread. Three years ago, it moved to a softly-lit, oak-panelled room accommodating 20. It's often crowded now and many speak of blessings and favours and of the peace through being "face to face with Our Lord."

Origins

The custom of exposing the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance for public adoration dates back to the thirteenth century, according to Father Benedict J. Groeschel, author of "Praying in the Presence of Our Lord." Eucharistic Adoration is the centre of life for many cloistered communities and can be the same "for a devout person blessed to have exposition in a parish church or community," he writes.

Pope John Paul II encouraged the spread of this devotion by personally establishing an adoration chapel at St. Peter's Basilica, in Rome, in 1982. In his first encyclical, Redemptor hominis, he states that liturgical celebration of the Eucharist and private worship of it complement each other. Again, Mother Teresa of Calcutta promoted Eucharistic Adoration, writing that vocations to her order doubled after her sisters began a daily hour of adoration (instead of weekly). She suggested asking one's parish priest to have perpetual adoration in the parish to spread the devotion throughout the world.

"The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the best time that you will ever spend on earth," she wrote.

At St. Clement's, lay people run the chapel (a common custom) and ensure that 168 hours a week of continuous adoration (day and night) are covered (some adoration chapels close at night). Each day is divided into six-hour periods; four team captains volunteer for this ministry seven days a week. They report a few problems, but none that can't be worked out, because "We know we have the Lord with us."

The chapel attracts a fascinating cross-section of adorers--men and women of all ages, backgrounds, and occupations. Some, like the Pereira family, have been scheduled adorers since the chapel opened. Father and mother, born in Goa, have watched their four Canadian daughters mature with the chapel. The family began coming on Sunday at suppertime when the girls were in early high school. Now three are in university and they gladly disclose that "coming to chapel is part of our Sunday. We come, then go home, make supper, and eat." Says their father, "I come here to talk to my Friend. He gives me graces to do my daily work and gives me answers to my problems."

And there are others like the 75-year-old Italian gentleman who keeps his weekly hour by walking with a cane (he doesn't drive) in all weather; or the company executive who drops in before daylight to seek guidance before an important early morning meeting; or the self-employed carpenter-contractor who comes in the evening with his two teenaged girls, confiding, "We've always said the Rosary at home so it's quite natural for my daughters to come here with me afterwards"; or the quiet Filipino couple who comes at dawn "because here your fears go away and it's so peaceful"; or the single immigrant mother, who raised two adult children with difficulty and is a bus driver for the disabled, and who says, "I drive very sick people to their dialysis treatments in hospitals downtown in traffic and they never complain. I feel so sorry for them. I come here to pray for them and to give thanks."

The night captain for the last five years, born in India, comes to give thanks for all his blessings, one of which was his recent retirement package received only days before his company went bankrupt. He confides, "I come here because I enjoy being face to face with the Lord." A 27-year-old "entertainment and lifestyle" radio reporter comes at dawn "to pray for friends and family who are not close to God and I feel sorry for them. Even though it's a sacrifice to get up so early, here I feel close to God."

Then there is the European retired nurse and mother, a regular night adorer since the chapel opened, whose joy is now to see her own church, Transfiguration of Our Lord in Etobicoke, about to open its own chapel of adoration. She reflects, "The hardest place to be a good Christian is in your own home. God is calling us to holiness. We must allow Him to transform us individually whatever our walk of life. Chapels of Adoration are places of healing and restoration."

Father Alphonse de Valk, editor of Catholic Insight, likes to drop into St. Clement's Chapel when he helps Out with Sunday Masses. He appreciates its presence, saying, "I like to make my little visit here with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament."

In an age when churches are often locked for security reasons, Father speaks for the faithful who are grateful that they can visit a chapel of adoration day or night.

Grace Petrasek is a freelance writer based in Toronto, ON.

Note: Those interested in establishing adoration chapels in Canada may contact Brother Michael Tapajna (a seminarian) who is based in Dundas, Ontario. He is a member of the Apostolate of Perpetual Adoration. Cell phone: [phone], or Residence phone: [phone].