A quiet vigil with Jesus

TOWSON – Long after most Marylanders had gone to bed, Janine Sterner sat in the silence of a perpetual adoration chapel at Immaculate Conception in Towson June 15.

As the clock neared 1 a.m., the longtime parishioner stared intently at the consecrated host displayed in a golden monstrance on a small altar. The only movement in the otherworldly scene was the flicker of four candles flanking the monstrance and the soft shimmer of nearby votive lights.

At the start of her hour, two other adorers – both men – had been present. When one rose to leave, he stepped carefully backward toward the door, never turning his back on the Blessed Sacrament.

Soon, Sterner was alone.

She prayed for family and friends in need of conversion or healing, for the priests of her parish, for the Church at large – and especially for those who never pray or have no one to pray for them.

“I experience a profound sense of peace at adoration,” said Sterner, a 57-year-old mother of four. “It’s different than when I’m praying at home. I feel cared for and heard in a different way. I feel like you’re surrounded by the angels. I just feel heaven is there.”

Sterner’s regular hours run from 4 to 6 a.m. every Thursday. But on June 15, she was filling in for another adorer, heading out along roads left slick by a lightning storm and through air still heavy with humidity – a minor inconvenience for someone who has kept vigil through ice storms.

Her prayer is part of a devotion with roots stretching back centuries. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament – worship of Christ present in the Eucharist – grew from the early Church practice of reserving the Eucharist for the sick and absent. As belief in Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist was given clearer doctrinal expression during the Middle Ages, practices such as processions, exposition and the Feast of Corpus Christi emerged.

Sterner, who was introduced to adoration through the example of her late mother, begins each session by kneeling and bending her upper body toward the ground in a prolonged act of worship.

“If I didn’t believe Jesus was truly there in the Blessed Sacrament, I wouldn’t be there,” she said. “If I didn’t trust that Jesus hears me and that he cares for me and cares for all of those that I bring to him in my prayer time, I certainly wouldn’t be there.”

Immaculate Conception is among several parishes in the Archdiocese of Baltimore with perpetual adoration chapels open 24 hours a day. Two people are scheduled at all times, though occasionally only one is present. More than 70 other parishes offer adoration on a limited schedule.

Few have promoted perpetual adoration more enthusiastically than Father James Boric. As rector of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, he expanded a small undercroft chapel into a round-the-clock space for adoration. Now pastor of St. Mary in Hagerstown, he continued that effort, opening a perpetual adoration chapel May 1 during a special Mass.

His work built on the foundation of his predecessor, Father Ernest Cibelli – now pastor of Immaculate Conception – who had converted a garage near the Hagerstown church into a weekday adoration chapel. That space filled a void left when a perpetual chapel at the former St. Maria Goretti High School site closed in 2020 during the pandemic.

For Father Boric, adoration offers a direct encounter with the divine.

“How much more intimate can we be with God (on) this side of heaven than in adoration?” he asked. “And how much good can happen when a soul is in front of the God who created their soul? My job as a priest is to get people in front of Jesus. He can do all the work and all the miracles and all the healing. It’s going to have a ripple effect in society.”

Father Boric is certain marriages will be strengthened, religious vocations will flourish and the parish school will benefit. He is equally confident that crime and addiction will decline in Hagerstown and that the abortion clinic a block from St. Mary’s will close – not through confrontation, but through persistent prayer.

The priest pointed to Baltimore as an example. Since adoration was established at the basilica, the city’s murder rate has dropped sharply, reaching its lowest level in half a century last year.

“Throughout history, wherever God has dwelled among his people, civilization has flourished,” Father Boric said. “There was always an abundance – and that’s what’s going to happen.”

Judy Kline, a widow who is among the 336 people committed to an hour of adoration at St. Mary, encouraged those unfamiliar with the spiritual practice to give it a try.

“I know many times when I go into the chapel, I might be really tired and I come out and I feel like it’s a breath of fresh air,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to delve into the Scriptures and hear the word of God while you’re sitting in front of God.”

Beth Van Natta, a longtime adorer at Immaculate Conception, said she spends her hour singing hymns silently in her head, reflecting on Scripture, offering intentions and listening.

“I love to go there and see a lot of people there,” she said, “but I also love it when I’m there alone and it’s just me and Jesus.”

Even the late-night hours have their human moments. Some adorers, especially those who cover late hours, admitted they have fallen asleep. They aren’t concerned.

“I think Jesus is understanding of that,” Sterner said. “You’re still there resting with him and I think he’s okay with that.”

For Sterner, the commitment to adoration is ultimately an act of gratitude.

“I really believe those hours are abounding in grace,” she said. “It’s a simple way to give back to someone who has given his life for us.”

For a schedule of where and when eucharistic adoration is offered in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, visit tinyurl.com/aob-adoration.

Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org

Read more:

8 things to do during Eucharistic adoration (2024)

New perpetual adoration chapel set to open in Linthicum (2024)

Adoration chapel opens in Charles Village (2023)

Baltimore Basilica prepares for perpetual adoration inside chapel named for Pope John Paul II (2021)

Also see

National Eucharistic Pilgrimage ‘life-changing,’ created strong community, say pilgrims

Pilgrims walk in the steps of the Georgia Martyrs

Pope Leo to pilgrims: ‘Strong eucharistic heritage of US must continue as source of renewal, unity’

National Eucharistic Pilgrimage reaches Maine before turning toward Philadelphia

Eucharist transforms believers into Christ’s body and counters division, pope says

National Eucharistic Pilgrimage includes boardwalk evangelization along Atlantic shore

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