When perpetual adoration takes on a new meaning
For more than 141 years, since Aug. 1, 1878, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration have maintained the practice that gives us our name. Along with our lay prayer partners, one of us, at all times, has been praying before the consecrated host in our adoration chapel in La Crosse, Wis.
Our congregation has endured multiple challenges and transformations, and our practice of adoration has persisted. Prayer before the exposed Blessed Sacrament has lasted through fire and flood and through changes to our size, structure and form of life after the Second Vatican Council. At our peak size in 1962, we had 1,172 members. Today, we are at 185 members; only seven of us are younger than 50.
Recently, our practice changed in a way that goes to the heart of who we are. We ended the practice of adoring 24 hours a day. We now… [This is the beginning of an article I wrote for America. Continue reading here.]
