Adoration Dedication

​BY MATTHEW MERITT

Eucharistic Adoration chapels are quiet places to pray, but don’t let that fool you. 
 
Our area has at least two, where God is busily at work with people who bring their hopes and fears, dreams and regrets to prayer. 

​Perhaps most important, people bring their trust, saying, “I believe,” in a world where faith is diminishing while – perhaps not coincidentally – divisions harden. 
 
“We are praying for the conversion of the world and for loved ones,” says Angela Jeronimo, who coordinates 12 hours of adoration, open to the public, every Friday at the Anawim Community Chapel in Corning. “That’s where it’s happening, right there in that chapel, and in all chapels in the world where the Blessed Sacrament is.”
 
Of course, anyone can pray any place. But the Catholic faith teaches that a person can pray before the literal presence of Christ in the Sacrament – either in a veiled tabernacle or exposed in a monstrance. 
 
The Anawim Community and the Perpetual Adoration Chapel on the grounds of St. Casimir’s Church in Elmira usually keep the Sacrament exposed. This offers a more personal encounter for some, particularly in a smaller setting – factors that can set an important tone during annual Advent preparations to welcome Jesus at Christmas.
 
Part of the idea also seems to be that Jesus makes himself available in His body, blood, soul and divinity to any who want to pray – and the Eucharistic Adorations chapels are an important part of that. “We are disciples of Jesus and what we are doing is carrying out his work through prayer,” says Rosemarie McLaughlin, head coordinator of St. Casimir’s Perpetual Adoration.
 
Normally, Rosemarie and the adorers ( a group of about 235) keep the chapel open to the public from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The chapel is locked overnight and only available to assigned adorers for safety reasons. But due to Covid-19 the chapel is temporarily closed; however, there is periodic Eucharistic Adoration being held at various Elmira Catholic Churches (see The Most Holy Name of Jesus Parish Bulletin for times and places).
 
Both the Anawim and St. Casimir’s chapels have been running for quite a while. Anawim has offered various forms of Adoration – from 1975 in a building next to St. Mary’s Church on State Street in Corning and then from the early 1980s at its current East First Street location.  
 
The dedication is worth it. “It’s a close encounter with Jesus,” Angela says of time spent in the chapel. “It can convert hearts and move a hardened soul.” 
 
Rosemarie is one of a group among the volunteer contingent who has been keeping the Adoration Chapel going at St. Casimir’s since it opened in 1992, on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. “So far God has blessed us,” she says. No doubt comfort in God’s blessings has helped the St. Casimir’s group keep up enthusiasm despite the COVID-forced closure. Rosemarie explains: “Many adorers say, ‘When are we going to open? You can count on me coming back.’”
 
Let’s hope that is sooner than later. 

A Gift For Yourself

By Matthew Meritt

​Even though we're in the “season of giving,” there’s a certain thing that cannot simply be handed to someone as a gift in a meaningful way. Yet, that item is available to each one of us. 
 
A homily I heard recently on The Parable of the Ten Virgins explains how. In preparing for the bridegroom to arrive at his wedding banquet, five wise virgins had extra oil for their lamps to make it through a long, nighttime wait, but the remaining five did not. The wise refused to share what they had.
 
They couldn’t share, the priest explained, because in the parable the bridegroom is Jesus and the oil is grace that comes from a person’s relationship with the Lord built up over consistent prayer. That relationship cannot be transferred because it is unique and personal. Each person has to build it up for himself.
 
But anyone can pray, and Catholics believe prayers can be made in Christ’s true presence before the Blessed Sacrament – either in a tabernacle or exposed in a monstrance. That’s the place to build up your supply of oil, which, the priest said, helps believers “persevere through the darkness that presses against our faith.”

Anawim Community house in Corning

Books for Prayer Time

Sometimes reading can be profitable as a preface or followup to prayer time. The Bible is the obvious first choice, and maybe one of those Bible in a Year editions can make a good prayer companion. 

Readers can drop their own suggestions down in the comment section. Here are a couple to start off:

⚫    A Song for Nagasaki by Fr. Paul Glynn 
⚫ The Father Brown Mysteries by
​GK Chesterton

For More Information

• St. Casimir's Perpetual Adoration
• Anawim Community