The
second event for Eucharistic Adoration took place on Steubenville, OH.
As
a high school student in McGregor, MN, I began to hang out with some new
friends in Virginia, MN, both with events and more TEC retreats. One summer (then) Brandon Moravitz (now
Fr. Brandon Moravitz, Pastor in Virginia) he was a youth minister, and he
invited me to go to a Steubenville retreat. Brandon and a few other adults drove us there with a long
trip.
My
first experience was quiet, and we stood around the altar to face Jesus’ Christ
on the altar, and we could ask intercession.
The
second encounter with many more young people was in a packed gymnasium in the
Franciscan University of Steubenville.
This time it was not quiet, but filled with praise and worship music,
Latin, incense and more. As I
looked to Jesus, I also looked around the area and saw hundreds of students at
my age. They knelt. They prayed. They sang.
Towards
the end of this duration (two or three hours), the priest carried Jesus around
the crowd with a blessing, lifting up the monstrance with the Sign of the
Cross—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—as each person was blessed
Again,
I did not know much what was going on.
What did happen was my sense of peace, encouragement and love from our
savior.
If
you are curious about Eucharistic Adoration, check it out in our chapel (which
is above the stairs in our gathering space).
Back
in the day, we had Adoration 24 hours a day which is stilled called a perpetual
Adoration. Our parishioners then
signed up for an hour or more.
Today,
our Adoration chapel is opened from noon to 10:00pm. I believe that together, we can not only fill each of these
hours but even add more times for the morning and nightfall. Eventually, I know that we could once
again offer Adoration 24/7.
If
the Church is open, you may come right in. If you want to go after 4:00pm, please ring the doorbell
(the door facing Backus) as a parishioner will welcome you to enter a new place
in your life.
God
Bless!
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