 |
|
|
Answered prayers at eucharistic adoration
By Jean Torkelson
|
Photo provided |
The story that follows is the first in an occasional series that features the growing interest in adoration chapels for the faithful in the Archdiocese of Denver.
Lois Anne Nadorff is among the growing number of faithful who understand the value of an adoration chapel.
“I’m like a magnet, seeking them out,” she said. “For me, even if you don’t have any struggles going on, it’s so peaceful to be away from the world and with Somebody you love, and who you know loves you.”
For years, Nadorff, 59, sought out the closest adoration chapel, through stages of life and various job locations, and long before she married in 2010.
“I have always been a firm believer, all my life, about going to adoration, wherever I have worked,” she recently told the Denver Catholic Register. “When I worked downtown, I’d walk every day to Holy Ghost Church and make a visit. I’ve just always done it.”
When she met her husband, Bob, in 2008, she discovered he also kept a regular Holy Hour at his parish, St. Francis Cabrini in Littleton. Now, together, they are part of a scheduled rotation of parishioners who pray at the adoration chapel at their parish, Church of the Risen Christ in Denver.
“I think being able to pray together is great,” she said. “It adds another dimension of our faith that we can share.”
Not surprisingly, given her lifelong commitment, she was on the committee, seven years ago, to establish an adoration chapel at Risen Christ. That had been her home parish since she was in high school. The former pastor, Msgr. Kenneth Leone, was an enthusiastic supporter of adoration chapels. In 2009, he told the Denver Catholic Register that an estimated 1,000 people came through the Risen Christ chapel every week, and he credited its presence with helping to triple weekly confessions.
The new pastor, Msgr. J. Anthony McDaid, who arrived this summer, is also a strong supporter. During Sunday Masses, one of the prayers of petition calls for more parishioners to seek out the adoration chapel. Msgr. McDaid goes there to pray as well.
“Over the years I have come to see, especially when working in Rome, the impact that eucharistic adoration has, once it’s begun in a parish,” he said. “Time spent in adoration before the Blessed Eucharist is like getting an oxygen jab … or food for the journey. One gains a perspective and develops a deeper sense of the presence of God in one’s life.”
|
Photo by James Baca/DCR |
Msgr. McDaid noted that a recent novena leading up to the feast of the Assumption drew about 200 people to the church each night.
“There’s a growing awareness of the fact that popular devotion and an individual relationship with God is necessary,” he said.
For Nadorff, over her lifetime there have been countless moments of answered prayers and petitions made, but she points to one moment in the adoration chapel that was particularly powerful.
“I was going through a difficult time—I was being laid off from my job, and my mom was real sick and I didn’t know what we would find out in the medical tests. I just needed help.”
In the chapel that day, she heard the voice of Jesus.
“I actually heard, in my heart, ‘I will take care of your Mom—and you will be OK.’”
Sure enough, her mother’s tests turned out well, and, at work, an employee moved on voluntarily.
“And I took her spot,” Nadorff said. “That was wonderful.”
Given her lifelong devotion for adoration chapels, Nadorff points out, with a laugh, that she has an extra reason to be glad for the one in her home parish.
“Now I don’t have to go anywhere else to scout them out.”
Jean Torkelson: 303-715-3122; www.twitter.com/DCRegister
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||