A Note From Father Eickhoff
March 30, 2025
Later this week between 12pm Friday, April 4th and 12pm Saturday, April 5th St. Anne Parish will hold a special event called the 24 Hours of Eucharistic Adoration. During these 24 hours the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for all to see on the altar in the church. It is a long-standing tradition in the Catholic Church for parishioners to be present before the Eucharistic whenever the Blessed Sacrament is placed outside the tabernacle. This is one reason why I am asking for parishioners to commit themselves to spending one hour before the Blessed Sacrament so that there will always be people present in the church during these 24 hours. The other reason is more practical. I want there to be multiple people in the church at every hour so that people are comfortable with coming to the church during the overnight hours. If you are able to commit to one or more hours, please sign up. You will find the poster with the sign-up sheet in the narthex of the church. However, the church will be open to everyone who wants to pray even if they can’t commit to spending one full hour.
During the Season of Lent, it is a wonderful practice to take stock of how we have lived our lives in the past weeks or months and ask the Lord for forgiveness for the things we have done wrong and to thank the Lord for His help in those things we have done right. Eucharistic Adoration is a great opportunity to do this. Coming to adoration also provides an opportunity to simply take time to pray, especially if all the chaos of daily life has limited your ability to take the time to pray in the last few weeks or months. You might be wondering: how do I pray during Eucharistic Adoration? The answer is that there is no one way to pray. Some people spend their time in mental prayer to God. Other people read the Holy Scriptures and meditate on what they have read. Still others bring devotional literature with them and read that. It is your choice to do any of these things or some combination of them. Most people who regularly come to Eucharistic Adoration treasure the ability during this time to “catch up” on their prayer time and sacred reading. I encourage you to come to adoration this Friday and Saturday at a time of your choosing for however long you might have and “catch up” on your personal time with Jesus Christ.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Stephen Eickhoff
Pastor