Eucharistic Adoration
We ask that each family sign up for one hour of Adoration per week. This way, the commitment can be shared by the family members. To sign up, visit https://stjoseph.weadorehim.com/.
Parishioners commit to one hour a week to adore the Lord in His Eucharistic Presence, to pray the rosary, to pray for the needs of the parish, and to spend time in their own personal prayer. Our Lord asked, “Could you not stay with me for even an hour?” Is He speaking to you? We can sit with our Lord, pray, praise, or meditate on His divine presence. The results of this intimacy are immeasurable.
Adoration is available in the Chapel during the following times:
Monday through Friday: 9:30 AM – 8 PM
Holy Hour Sunday: 7 PM – 8 PM
Praise & Worship Monday & Friday: 7 PM – 8 PM
*(We have the Healing Mass on the first Wednesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. The Healing Soaking prayer is suspended until further notice due to COVID-19.)
There is no Adoration on holidays. Adoration may be canceled during inclement weather or parish events that make getting parking difficult e.g. during Confirmation. Those signed up for Adoration will receive an alert through our notification system.
Holy Hour
Come experience Medjugorje in Wakefield! Our Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration is accompanied by meditation, prayer, and song and is modeled after those held in the Medjugorje. Here you will find peace through contemplative prayer before Jesus. We are called to visit the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament in the words of our beloved Pope John Paul II:
“Our communal worship at Mass must go together with our personal worship of Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration in order that our love may be complete.” ~ Pope John Paul II
Holy Hour takes place each Sunday from 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
What is Adoration?
It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to His Church in this unique way. Since Christ was about to take His departure from His own in His visible form, He wanted to give us His sacramental presence; since He was about to offer Himself on the cross to save us, He wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which He loved us “to the end,” even to the giving of His life. In His Eucharistic presence, He remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave Himself up for us, and He remains under signs that express and communicate this love:
The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet Him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease (Catechism Catholic Church; 1380).
What to do in Adoration?
Sometimes we can be intimidated to go to Adoration. It is not because we fear being with Jesus in prayer but rather we have never been taught what to do in an extended period of prayer. Is it alright to read, pray a Rosary, or reflect upon the Scriptures? Or do I have to sit there- not moving or making a sound, staring at a gold monstrance with a Host inside?
While visiting our Lord in Eucharistic Adoration, we can pray in a variety of different ways.
Here are some suggestions:
- Pray the Psalms or the Liturgy of the Hours
Whether you are praising, giving thanks, asking for forgiveness or seeking an answer, you’ll find an appropriate psalm. The ancient prayer of the Church called the Liturgy of the Hours presents an excellent way to pray through the Book of Psalms throughout the year.
- Recite the “Jesus Prayer”
Say “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner,” repeatedly as you quiet your heart and mind.
- Meditate using Scripture
Choose a passage from the Bible. Read the words and ask God to let the passage speak to you. Pay special attention to anything that strikes you and ask God what He wishes for you to draw from that message.
- Read the life of a saint and pray with him or her
Most holy men and women have had a great devotion to Our Lord in the Eucharist. Therese of Lisieux, Catherine of Siena, Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, Peter Julian Eymard, Dorothy Day, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and Baroness Catherine de Hueck are just a few. Read about them and pray their prayers before the Blessed Sacrament.
- Pour out your heart to Christ and adore Him
Speak to Jesus, aware that you are in His presence, and tell Him all that comes to your mind. Listen for His response. Pray the prayer that St. Francis instructed his brothers to pray whenever they were before the Blessed Sacrament: “I adore You, O’ Christ, present here and in all the churches of the world, for by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.”
- Ask for forgiveness and intercede for others
Think of those who have hurt you and request a special blessing for them. Ask God to forgive you for all the times you have neglected or hurt someone else. Bring before the Blessed Sacrament all those who have asked you to pray for them. Ask the Lord to address their concerns.
- Pray the Rosary
Pope John Paul II reminds us, “…is not the enraptured gaze of Mary as she contemplated the face of the newborn Christ and cradled him in her arms that unparalleled model of love which should inspire us every time we receive Eucharistic communion?” (The Church and the Eucharist, 55) Ask Mary to join you as you gaze on Christ in the Eucharist and as you pray the Rosary.
- Sit quietly and just “be” in the presence of God
Think of a visit to the Blessed Sacrament as coming to see your best friend. Sit quietly and enjoy being in each other’s company. Instead of talking to the Lord, try listening to what He wants to tell you.
Twelve Biblical Reasons for Wanting to Spend One Hour with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
- He is really there!
- Day and night Jesus dwells in the Blessed Sacrament because of His Infinite love for you!
- The specific way that Jesus asks you to love Him in return is to spend one quiet hour with Him in the Blessed Sacrament.
- When you look upon the Sacred Host, you look upon Jesus, the Son of God.
- Each moment that you spend in His Eucharistic Presence will increase His Divine Life within you and deepen your personal relationship and friendship with Him.
- Each hour you spend with Jesus will deepen His Divine Peace in your heart.
- Jesus will give you all the graces you need to be happy!
- Jesus is infinitely deserving of our unceasing thanksgiving and adoration for all He has done for our salvation.
- For peace in our country!
- Each hour you spend with Jesus on earth will leave your soul everlastingly more beautiful and glorious in heaven!
- Jesus will bless you, your family, and the whole world for this hour of faith you spend with Him in the Blessed Sacrament.
- Each moment you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament brings joy, pleasure, and delight to His Sacred Heart!
Prayer of Adoration of the Eucharist
My Lord Jesus Christ, I adore you in all the tabernacles of the world. I offer you my life in reparation for the sins against the Blessed Sacrament, the unworthy communions, disrespect, lack of reverence in your churches, and countless other sins against your most Holy Body and Blood. Please, my Lord, increase my faith in your Eucharistic presence so that my devotion may be fanned into a flame of love of you and that I may go into the world to proclaim your kingdom. I ask this of your mercy in your Holy Name. Amen.
Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, pray for us!