My Testimony to the Profound Power of Eucharistic Adoration

The Catholic community in my area is blessed with having a perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel that was begun in 1996, and is in a charming old convent. This chapel has been a part of my family for four generations, beginning with my great grandmother, my poppy, my mom and dad, and now this gift has been passed on to me and my siblings.

In 2015, my older brother became sick with a rare brain infection that almost took his life. And it was during that scary time, eight years ago, that my mom and I began going to the chapel with my poppy, to pray for my brother.

My poppy’s hour has always been four to five in the morning on Wednesdays, so he would pick my mom and I up at 3:30 am, and it was always such a peaceful experience being able to pray at such a quiet and still hour. Eventually my family and I chose to go to the chapel at a different time, but even from that very beginning of us going, I knew that no other place in this world would ever feel more like home than being in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. And I am sure that I am not alone in feeling this way.

God used that scary time in my family’s lives, when my brother was sick, to bring us closer to Him than we ever had been. He had also used the time that we spent with Him in the chapel to redirect the course of our lives in such significant ways. The Lord put a burning desire in all of our hearts to surrender every aspect of our lives to Him. So how has Eucharistic Adoration affected my life?

Well, first, God heard our prayers and saved and healed my brother, who is alive and well today. Second, God led my parents to take my sister and I out of the public schools to homeschool us. Now that detail might seem insignificant, but during that time of being homeschooled, God brought my family and I even closer to Him by teaching us so much about Himself and His Church. We were able to slow down from the hustle and bustle of the secular world, and actually hear God’s voice. He developed within us an eternal perspective. He taught us how temporary this life is, and that what matters most in this time that He has given us on earth, is what we do with it for Him.

This is why Eucharistic Adoration is so special. It gives us the opportunity to truly give ourselves to God, to spend time growing in our relationship with the Lord, and to offer up our prayers for others. And when we do these things, as we trust in God and lay down our own wills and desires, He can then actively work in our lives to bring about His perfect will. Which is what He has done for me.

The Lord led me on the path of His will by actually using someone through our community’s chapel to guide me to the college I am currently enrolled at. I am now in my senior year at Holy Apostles College and Seminary, pursuing a Bachelors in Theology, and I trust that God will use me as His instrument to teach about Him and to build His Kingdom.

The Lord has also used the chapel to reach other people in my life. My grandmother was born and raised Catholic, but left the Church to be Episcopalian some years ago. Throughout this entire journey that God has led us on, my family and I tried time and time again to lovingly talk to my grandmother about the truth and beauty of the Catholic Church. Over the years, it became disheartening that she, along with many people today, didn’t understand the truth of the Church or the importance of being Catholic.

However, three years ago, someone started leaving these small books in the chapel, called “The Warning.” As soon as I saw it, I felt compelled to read it. Contained in this book, is story after story of different people who were blessed with visits and visions from Jesus, Mary, and the saints. Jesus talked to these people about the importance of the Catholic Church and of frequenting the sacraments.

I felt called by God to give my grandma this book, and after reading it, she went through the process of coming back to the Church. Thanks to the grace of God, my grandmother got remarried in the Church so that she can receive Jesus in the Eucharist. AND she comes with my family and I every week for our hour of Eucharistic Adoration! Praise and glory be to God!

It is obvious, then, that the Lord has used Eucharistic Adoration, the time that we spend together there, and other adorers, to bless my family and I, and others, in so many ways. Which makes me wonder, what would my life look like right now, if I never began going to the chapel with my Poppy? How would that have affected the lives of those around me? I don’t know when, or if, I would have heard the Lord’s voice so presently in my life. As a result, I am so thankful for our local chapel, and for how God has used it to graciously call my family and I to be soldiers of Christ in the army of God.

God calls all of us, as Catholic Christians, to be His witnesses! The same love, peace, and forgiveness, that God showers onto us while we are in His presence during Eucharistic Adoration, we must go and pour out onto others.

We should also always keep an eternal perspective and remember, as St. Therese of Lisieux said, “the world is thy ship, and not thy home.” So let us thank God for blessing us with His presence in the Eucharist and let us allow Him to work in and through us in this short amount of time that we spend here on earth. I encourage you to spend time in Eucharistic Adoration if you have the opportunity, and experience the peace and joy of God’s active presence in your life.