Increase Adoration in Your Diocese

 

THE CHURCH ASKS FOR VIGOROUS PROMOTION

Redemptionis Sacramentum (134, 136): Bishops must “vigorously promote” public/private devotion; foster “brief or prolonged or almost continuous” adoration as an “inexhaustible source of holiness.”

Pope St. John Paul II (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 25): “The worship of the Eucharist outside of the Mass is of inestimable value for the life of the Church. This worship is strictly linked to the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice… It is the responsibility of Pastors to encourage… the practice of Eucharistic adoration, and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in particular.”

Pope St. John Paul II (Redemptor Hominus – Redeemer of Man): “Jesus wants us to do more than go to Mass on Sundays.  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.” 

WAYS BISHOPS AND DIOCESES CAN INCREASE EUCHARISTIC ADORATION

Ideas & Suggestions
Start a diocesan Eucharistic Adoration committee
  • The Conferences of Bishops in Ireland has approved a national Apostolate of Eucharistic Adoration – www.eucharisticadoration.ie
  • They start diocesan apostolate committees so that parishes will have viable weekly adoration.
  • They send laity to visit parishes in their own dioceses to deliver the sign-up invitation talk after Holy Communion and ensure things get well organized. Each diocese can establish their own local diocesan apostolate to send your own laity to your diocesan parishes.
  • This will consist of a team with lay persons (and there could be priests) from within each diocese and if possible each parish to provide adoration sign-up /presentation and renewal weekends to increase weekly hours of adoration and adorers in parishes. When laity deliver a sign-up invitation/presentation (i.e. after Holy Communion during Mass, before the final blessing), it does not replace the parish clergy’s sermon.
  • To set up a diocesan adoration committee (i.e. Eucharistic Adoration [name of diocese], each diocese invites all parish priests and 1-2 appointed adoration coordinators/representatives per parish to a training workshop.
  • Other countries can start national apostolates and local apostolates in each diocese.
  • A member of our advisory team is from the national Apostolate of Eucharistic Adoration in Ireland and her local diocesan committee. See: Apostolate of Eucharistic Adoration – www.eucharisticadoration.ie
  • Note: Our Apostolate of Eucharistic Adoration Inc. (the website you are currently on) is a separate organization offering somewhat similar adoration sign-up/presentation weekends plus other methods to parishes: comprehensive Do It Yourself materials, remote training, and in-person assistance in some locations if needed or referral to visiting missionary (clergy or laity). See: Plan or schedule your Adoration Sign-Up Weekend/Campaign/Organization
  • Your diocese could call your local apostolate, for example, “Eucharistic Adoration Committee [name of diocese]”
Launch a diocesan spiritual campaign for the expansion of weekly adoration in all parishes
  • These are just suggestions as each diocese may have their own ideas on how to implement their diocesan spiritual campaign.
  • If a diocese launches a spiritual campaign, the bishop can invite each priest/parish to appoint and send an adoration coordinator to a training meeting on how to implement the campaign.
  • For a diocesan or individual parish campaigns, we can provide a workshop or coordinator’s training session for all priests and parish representives, either virtually or in-person, on engaging parishioners in Eucharistic adoration and how to increase adoration and adorers in parishes.
  • Steps would be outlined in a sample adoration marketing toolkit which covers recruiting, scheduling adorers and organizing adoration in parishes.
  • This toolkit can be presented/given to all parishes with instructions and resources to recruit adorers to sign up for a weekly holy hour using various methods (sign-up weekend with forms completed and collected during each Mass, calls to parishioners on parish lists, online sign-up form, etc.).
  • Parishes will be encourage to set their most aggressive highest goals such as:
    • Perpetual Eucharistic adoration throughout the 24-hour day; (168 hours a week may not be possible if parish has under 300 eligible adults, but aiming high can help to maximize response, some have run 24/7 with 200 scheduled adorers);
    • Extended Eucharistic adoration, beginning in the early hours of the morning and continuing until the evening;
    • Daily Eucharistic adoration during specific hours;
    • Eucharistic adoration during one or more days of the week during specific hours;
    • Daily hour, or 1/2 hour, before or after Mass, or at other times when people can attend.
    • Campaign could begin in all parishes on designated date or randomnly i.e. Ash Wednesday or September or any other date.
    • Expanded adoration could begin in all parishes on the designated date i.e. Corpus Christi or January.
    • Overall campaign and individual parish success could be reported later.
    • We have been collaborating with Stars of Peace/AdoratioFoundation. Their bishop launched a campaign. The result was a total increase of 447 weekly hours of scheduled exposition (i.e. 23,244 hours annually) and 894 new weekly adorers across the 84 parishes of their diocese.
    • Plan or schedule your Adoration Sign-Up Weekend/organization/campaign – APOSTOLATE OF EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
More details on how individual parishes start, expand and revive Adoration
  • Individual parishes can have adoration sign-up weekends/campaigns.
  • Vital digital resources for expanding can be found through our website. A most efficient and effective traditional method used worldwide to recruit adorers is for parishes to have an adoration sign-up weekend.
  • Parishes can contact us for remote (from a distance) or in-person assistance, or “Do It Yourself” Adoration Sign-Up and Coordinator resources to organize an adoration Sign-up Weekend.
  • During each Mass at a sign-up weekend, an inspiring message is delivered and Invitation sign-up forms to commit to a weekly holy hour are handed out along with pencils to all the faithful, duly completed and collected.
  • There is an option for parish clergy to preach the Sign-Up weekend sermon that include the the sign-up instructions. We provide samples and homiletics or talking points. If preferred, we can send you a sample appeal to be delivered by a lay person after Holy Communion during Masses.
  • We provide comprehensive advance preparation instructions including pre-evangelization resources, all of the required organizational materials in digital format, sample sign-up sermons, a digital adoration scheduling database and follow-up.
  • We also help to recruit, train and support a coordinating team of two or more laity from within each parish who will thoroughly coordinate the adoration and report back to the pastor, as requested.
  • Parish priests are amazed that usually 25-50% of adult parishioners sign up for a weekly holy hour! The response from your Sign Up Weekend and the parish priest’s decision, will determine the number of days and hours that weekly exposition of the Blessed Sacrament will take place.
  • While marketing and promoting is important, you don’t have to purchase additional marketing materials and can use the ones we provide.
  • Beyond marketing, we also provide comprehensive organizational training, instructions and resources.
  • You can choose to our scheduling option systems with sycopated weekly adorer sign-in sheets you print monthly and just put them in a binder at your chapel, or pay a different organization to use their professional scheduling system with digital adorer sign-in. We give you the tools to go either way based on your preference, what works for you and your budget.
Plan of the Congregation for the Clergy, 2007

We can provide some assistance with the implementation of the following plan of action provided by the Congregation for the Clergy for the establishment and maintenance of Eucharistic Adoration in parishes:

Congregation for the Clergy on the promotion of continuous adoration – 2007

Promotion of Continuous Eucharistic Adoration In Diocese For The Benefit of Priests and Priestly Vocations 

CONGREGATIO PRO CLERICIS

Explanatory note to help promote the practice of continuous Eucharistic adoration in dioceses (parishes, rectories, chapels, monasteries, convents, seminaries) for the benefit of priests and priestly vocations

In his Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI concretized the perennial teaching of the Church on the centrality of Eucharistic adoration in ecclesial life by a direct appeal addressed to all pastors, bishops, priests, as well as the People of God, for perpetual Eucharistic adoration: “With the Synod Assembly, therefore, I heartily recommend to the Church’s pastors and to the People of God the practice of Eucharistic adoration, both individually and in community. (194) Great benefit would ensue from a suitable catechesis explaining the importance of this act of worship, which enables the faithful to experience the liturgical celebration more fully and more fruitfully. Wherever possible, it would be appropriate, especially in densely populated areas, to set aside specific churches or oratories for perpetual adoration. I also recommend that, in their catechetical training, and especially in their preparation for First Holy Communion, children be taught the meaning and the beauty of spending time with Jesus, and helped to cultivate a sense of awe before his presence in the Eucharist. (Sacramentum Caritatis, n. 67)

In order to support the Holy Father’s appeal, the Congregation for the Clergy, in its own solicitousness for the presbyterate, proposes that:

  1. Each diocese appoint a priest who will devote himself full time – as far as possible – to the specific ministry of promoting Eucharistic adoration and coordinating this important service in the diocese. Dedicating himself generously to this ministry, this priest will be able to live this particular dimension of liturgical, theological, spiritual and pastoral life, possibly in a place specifically set aside for this purpose by the bishop himself, where the faithful will benefit from perpetual Eucharistic adoration. Just as there are Marian Shrines, with rectors in charge of that particular ministry and suitable for its specific needs, it is also possible to have “Eucharistic shrines” – with priests in charge of them – which radiate and foster the special love that the Church has for the Holy Eucharist, worthily celebrated and continuously adored. Such ministry within the presbyterate will remind all diocesan priests, as Benedict XVI said, that “the secret of their sanctification lies precisely in the Eucharist.(…) The priest must be first and foremost an adorer who contemplates the Eucharist” (Angelus, 18 September2005); Specific places are to be reserved for continuous Eucharistic adoration. To that end, parish priests, rectors, and chaplains are encouraged to introduce the practice of Eucharistic adoration in their communities, both personally and communally,in a collective effortto enhance prayer life. Let everyone be involved, beginning with children preparing for First Holy Communion;
  2. The dioceses that are interested in this project might look for appropriate donations in order to organize continuous Eucharistic adoration in the seminary, in parishes, rectories, oratories, shrines, monasteries, and convents. Divine Providence will surely assist in finding benefactors who are willing to contribute toward suitable works to set in motion this project of Eucharistic renewal for the particular Churches, specifically: the construction or adaptation of a place of worship for adoration within a large worship building; the purchase of a solemn monstrance or a noble liturgical vestment; and the funding of liturgical-pastoral-spiritual material for such promotion;
  3. Initiatives directed at local clergy, especially those relating to the continuing formation of priests, should be always permeated by a Eucharistic spirit, specifically devoting a suitable time to the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, so that it may become– together with the Holy Mass – the driving force for each individual and communitarian undertaking;
  4. The modalities for Eucharistic adoration in different places may be diverse, according to the circumstances. For example: Perpetual Eucharistic adoration throughout the 24 hour day; Extended Eucharistic adoration, beginning in the early hours of the morning and continuing until the evening; Daily Eucharistic adoration during specific hours; Eucharistic adoration during one or more days of the week during specific hours; Eucharistic adoration for special circumstances, such as feast days and anniversaries.

The Congregation for the Clergy expresses its gratitude in advance to those Ordinaries who will become promoters of this project, one that is certain to renew the spirituality of both the clergy and the People of God in their particular Churches.

In order to more closely follow the development of this important appeal of the Holy Father, the individual Ordinaries interested in the initiative are kindly requested to keep this Dicastery informed of developments related to continuous Eucharistic adoration in their dioceses, indicating especially which priests and places are involved in this important apostolate.

Should further clarification on this matter be necessary, the Congregation for the Clergy stands ready to provide it.

From the Vatican, 8 December 2007

Francais:  http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2007-12/04-13/Notafr.html

Solemnity of the of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/vocation-directors/promotion-of-continuous-eucharistic-adoration-in-diocese-for-the-benefit-of-priests.cfm

What some dioceses have done and letters from bishops

WHAT SOME DIOCESES HAVE DONE & LETTERS FROM BISHOPS

In the USA, most dioceses already have a diocesan directory of all the adoration with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament taking places in parishes on their website. Canada needs to grow in this promotional initiative.

“We can deepen our awareness of God’s presence in our midst; in the sacraments and particularly in the Eucharist, in Scripture, through sacrifice and prayer, in adoration and ecclesial communion and through testimony and evangelization.” — Bishop Brendan O’Brien, President Emeritus of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

Upon retirement, + Bishop Pearce Lacey enjoyed praying for three hours each day at St. Pascal Baylon Perpetual Adoration chapel near his apartment. He firmly urged that  PEA be started in parishes.  We were asked and commissioned by a Bishop who was a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops to be a centre for the promotion of adoration in Canada.

Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic encouraged adoration and permitted us to help start chapels in parishes. His Eminence Cardinal Collins would like perpetual adoration in all parishes (Archdiocese of Toronto, August 2017, Cardinal’s Office). Since his installment as Archbishop of Toronto in 2007, he asked his pastors to start Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. He even requested this at his very first meetings with all his priests. One of those meetings he chose to hold at Transfiguration of Our Lord in Etobicoke, ON. This parish has had round the clock adoration since we helped organize a Sign-Up weekend there ad the chapel opened in the Jubilee Year 2000. His Eminence met in person with a Eucharistic priest that helped start about 100 adoration sites and gave a blessing on the mission of starting new chapels. In addition, he personally requested an adoration chapel in Scarborough be restarted. We contacted that parish, helped organize a Sign-Up weekend there and the chapel was opened again.

 

Above:  Bishop Christian Riesbeck with Archbishop Luigi Bonazzi, Apostolic Nuncio to Canada 

Photo credit: Archbishop Terrance Prendergast

  • Bishop Christian Riesbeck asks for weekly adoration
  • Bishop Christian Riesbeck Letter promoting adoration 2024
  • Message to our Apostolate of Eucharistic Adoration on December 15, 2025 from Bishop Christian Riesbeck: “Thank you very much for your kind message and for the wonderful work you are doing to promote Eucharistic adoration… Please be assured of my prayers for your apostolate and for all those who will be blessed through your efforts to foster devotion to Our Lord in the Eucharist. May God continue to guide and strengthen you in this beautiful mission. In Christ, + Christian Riesbeck, CC  Bishop of Saint John”
  • Pastoral Letter on Eucharistic Adoration from His Eminence Marc Cardinal Ouellet:
  • 50th International Eucharistic Congress Dublin Ireland 2012
  • Archbishop Christian Lépine’s blessings for 2020 promoting adoration as a good resolution:  Adoration … our good resolution! Archbishop Lépine suggested that adoration be at the heart of the new year, not only as a personal resolution, but as a resolution taken by the community to “take time for adoration” despite the daily whirlwind: “I am very busy… It becomes thus particularly important that I take time for adoration. The roof is leaking, a pipe burst overnight […], we are going into deficit… more reasons to take the time for adoration,” said Archbishop Lépine. “We are going through demanding times, yet they are filled with grace. These are times to finally get closer to God,” he said. It is in that perspective that Archbishop Lépine invited each of us to (re)discover the “power of adoration”: “Because faith is there to bring its light […] in all facets of our lives.” “We all wish to make God a priority in our lives, but what is the sign that shows that we are really making him a priority in our lives? By taking the time to adore him.” A beautiful call for our faith…

 

Letter Cardinal Gagnon

 

Letter Bishop Bombay

 

Letter Cardinal Rigali.jpeg

 

 

Letter Bishop Germany

 

Promotional Message from a Bishop

Letter Bishop Baltimore

 

 

 

 

 

 





Archbishop MIchael Miller

 

Archbishop Regina SK

Letter Bishop India

 

 

 



 

Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick on the Eucharist

Letter from Bishop McGrattan of Calgary AB promoting Eucharistic adoration for vocations

 

Letter from Archbishop Dampousse – English

Letter from Archbishop Damphousse – French – Apostolat de l’adoration eucharistique au Canada

“When we participate in His loving presence, made present in the Eucharist, we begin to live with the same divine life that He shares with His heavenly Father” (Most Rev. Raymond Roussin, when he was Archbishop of Vancouver BC).

Many thanks for the efforts of all bishops to promote and generate more adoration.

This map of all of the dioceses of Canada is included here with the permission of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and is available on their website with links for each bishop at:  http://www.cccb.ca/site/directory/map/en/dioceses_LR.php

Here is a brief history of the Church in Canada also outlined on the CCCB website.

Canadian bishops have affirmed the importance of Eucharistic adoration, viewing it as a natural extension of the Mass that deepens the faithful’s appreciation for Christ’s Real Presence. They encourage the practice of both individual and communal adoration, highlighting its role in fostering silence and contemplation, and have provided guidance on how to engage with this devotion.

Importance of adoration:
 
    • Natural consequence of the Mass: The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has stated that adoration is a “praiseworthy practice” and a “natural consequence of the Eucharistic celebration”.
    • Deepens faith: Adoration intensifies the grace of the Mass and is seen as a way for the faithful to encounter Christ more fully outside of the liturgical celebration.
    • Connection to Christ’s presence: The practice is grounded in the belief of Christ’s “Real Presence” under the form of bread and wine.

Encouraging the practice:

  • Pastoral encouragement: Bishops encourage pastors and the faithful to engage in the practice of Eucharistic adoration.
  • Fostering contemplation: The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has highlighted the importance of silence and contemplation, which can be fostered through practices like adoration and meditation groups.
  • Guidance for parishes: The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has provided guidance on Eucharistic devotions, emphasizing that adoration is a core part of Catholic life.
 
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Catholic_dioceses_in_the_United_States
English: Geographical Latin riteRoman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces of the United States. Each of the 33 ecclesiastical provinces is a separate color. Eastern rite eparchies and dioceses are not shown.
Français : Les trente-deux provinces ecclésiastiques de rite latin aux États-Unis.

 

Thank you to all bishops for promoting and generating perpetual adoration and Eucharistic devotion.  There are too many individual bishops and cardinals to list here!

Thanks to the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival for endorsing our organization as approved collaborators!

Thank you very much for hosting Eucharistic adoration in your diocese, the innovative ways you and your diocese have promoted it and/or provided a letter of support for our apostolate/organization.

As you know, since prayer helps to save and sanctify souls, Eucharistic Adoration is a tremendous blessing, given that at least one person will be praying during extended exposition of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith and Eucharistic adoration should be made a priority in the diocese and in parishes.

Adoration helps towards the salvation and sanctification of souls. Although Saint John Paul II greatly desired round-the-clock perpetual adoration to be established in every parish, most parishes we assist have fewer hours.

Incredible fruits are evident in parishes we have helped to expand adoration. Clergy and parishioners receive abundant graces through the power and peace of adoration. Parish life, vocations and souls are nourished and thrive through this constant vigil and legacy of prayer.

It was St. John Paul II’s hope and great desire to see the establishment of perpetual Eucharistic adoration in all parishes and Christian communities throughout the world.  We encourage every cardinal, bishop, pastor, clergy, religious and lay person to do all they can to fulfill this mission.

A diocese has and could attain perpetual adoration in every parish (or at least partial perpetual, extended exposition or some holy hours i.e. for remote parishes that are too small) when the bishop mandates it.  This could be the most effective way to achieve this goal. According to Canon Law, a bishop has the authority to do so.  A bishop can or may also prefer to request, invite and encourage this of his pastors.  When the bishop mandates something however, there will be more of an obligation for pastors and parishes to respond as best they can, even if they are the tiniest remote parish with a few members and can only offer an hour daily before or after Mass, when the priest will be one of the adorers, along with the holy angels. A bishop can also ask, invite and encourage the faithful of his diocese to make a weekly holy hour.

The benefits and fruits of adoration are unsurpassed. – Popes and saints on the benefits of adoration

A US diocese has round the clock adoration in 100% of its’ parishes, except a few have partial perpetual adoration. In this diocese, every Catholic teacher began bringing their class to make a regular holy hour at the parish.  Every pastor also holds a monthly holy hour assembly in every Catholic school, with of all the students in attendance in prayer and the Sacrament of Reconciliation is made available. This small diocese had ten ordinations to the priesthood annually – that’s about ten times the number of vocations as some other large dioceses.  This diocese attributes the great number of ordinations to having perpetual adoration in every parish. – Perpetual Eucharistic Revival Through Adoration in Every Parish and School

Another US diocese has 50/51 parishes with 24 hour Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration.

Another bishop wrote in a letter below: “Almost all of our parishes have Adoration chapels in this archdiocese”.

Prayer leads to the salvation and sanctification of souls.  If you want to help save more souls, then increase prayer of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration as much as possible in parishes!

Canada is far behind the USA. As of December 2019, before Covid, we knew of 533 sites with at least a tiny amount of exposition, including 30 sites with 24 x 7 perpetual adoration. This is out of the over 4000 parishes and many religious communities in Canada – so there is a huge untapped potential.

In every parish and diocese,  souls can become passionate about Eucharistic adoration.

Upon request, we will provide more documents to help bishops and dioceses to increase adoration.

Our apostolate would be grateful to assist in expanding adoration in parishes. Our apostolate will help to ensure that adoration gets expanded and renewed, is well organized and that the number of adorers is maximized. While we aim for each parishioner to spend a weekly hour with Our Lord, if you have two people scheduled per hour, you have backup and others can visit when it is convenient.

If you have any questions, would like any help or information, a call or meeting (in-person or virtual), we would be delighted to hear from you.

We will continue praying for your efforts and success and are so grateful for all the good you are doing in these challenging times!


Most Respectfully Yours