and children experience exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and to believe
in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.ÂÂ The Story
At St. Mark Catholic Church on Ascension Thursday May 21, 2009, through the inspiration of Jesus Christ, I started a prayer group called Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament. Although we had the traditional exposition of the Blessed Sacrament every Monday from 8:30 am to 8:00 pm with few volunteers, we extended the hours of exposition; Tuesday to Friday from 8:30am to12 noon.
To become a member, we had two requirements; first, to have received the Sacrament of Eucharist; second, to visit with our Lord at any time; even if only for a few minutes. And, we did not ask for volunteers to cover the hours of exposition. We use a daily attendance sheet indicating time spent before the Blessed Sacrament and desired prayer intentions.
On May 21, 2009 we started with 32 members...............On September 25, 2009 we reached 1000 members
On December 2, 2011 we reached 3000 members............On May 20, 2013 we reached 4000 members
On Ascension Thursday May 29, 2014 we celebrated our fifth year anniversaryÂÂ and our membership was 4376
On Ascension Thursday May 14, 2015 we Celebrated our sixth year anniversary and our membership was 5020
On Ascension Thursday May 5, 2016 we celebrated our seventh year anniverary and our membership was 5486
On Ascension Thursday May 25, 2017 we celebrated our eighth year anniverary and our membership was 5980
On Ascension Thursday May 10, 2018 we celebrated our nineth year anniverary and our membership was 6587
The success of our prayer group can only be attributed to Jesus Christ. He inspired the extension of the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from Tuesday to Friday mornings allowing an opportunity for those who so desire (even for only a few minutes) to adore Him and pray for their intentions. Over the past four years, many thousands of visits and hours of prayer were received by our Lord because of the outstanding response of love and adoration given to Him.
Now, all St. Mark school children and CCD children become members when they receive their first Communion and are taught the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The St. Mark school children are scheduled to visit with our Lord 10 to15 minutes once a week. The CCD children visit once every term.
Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament, is easy to implement and would be especially helpful to parishes with schools; for the children to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.
ÂÂ - Deacon John Lorenzo