As Gregorian chant filled the air, little feet pattered among the pews and fingers eagerly pointed at the monstrance. The family holy hour at St. John the Apostle Church in Leesburg is just one of many examples throughout the diocese of bringing Jesus to the littlest of his flock.
Marissa Ellis brought her son, Anthony, 5, to the Feb. 2 family holy hour, part of the parish’s 40-hour devotion. “We came last year, which was the first time they did it. It was really exciting,” she said.
Beforehand, Father Edouard B. Guilloux, parochial vicar, sat with the children and gave a brief explanation of Eucharistic adoration. “Does anyone know what’s the most important thing that happens at Mass?” he asked. One small boy mimicked the elevation of the Eucharist, and Father Guilloux smiled and nodded. “That’s right … when the priest holds Jesus up in what looks like bread and wine, it is the real presence of Jesus. And Jesus comes to be with us at Mass.”
During the holy hour, Father Guilloux knelt with the families in the pews.
Watching her son leap about the church courtyard afterward, Ellis said that the opportunity to bring children to adoration is a rare one. “It’s hard to come when you’re home and your kids are rowdy because you don’t want to make noise or disturb anyone. So we’re really happy to have it. It’s nice to just invite the chaos,” she said with a laugh.
Children need to be formed in the Eucharist from a young age, Ellis added. “Being around it exposes them to it and it builds that foundation,” she said. Children will ask more questions about the Eucharist, which will help them grow in the faith, she added.
Father Mark E. Moretti, parochial vicar of Christ the Redeemer Church in Sterling, said that inviting families to adoration emphasizes the themes of the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis this July. Encouraging children to pray in adoration “validates what the bishops are trying to do, which is to increase and enhance a devotion to the Eucharist,” he said. “The Eucaristic Congress will be only a few days, but this is an ongoing and continuous activity here at Christ the Redeemer that we love to do.”
Christ the Redeemer holds monthly family adoration as part of the parish’s First Saturday devotion. After daily Mass, the celebrant exposes the Eucharist in the monstrance, and families spend several minutes in quiet prayer. He then invites the children to gather before the altar.
“I invite them up, and they come up to the sanctuary area, where they kneel down with the priest, and then we give them a guided meditation,” Father Moretti said. The priest then blesses the children and their families with the Eucharist during Benediction. “We’re getting anywhere between 180 to 200 people at the 9 a.m. Mass for First Saturday,” he said. “The kids love it. We invite them all to come up, even up to the teenage years.”
Many have misconceptions about children in adoration, Father Moretti said. “A lot of people think the little kids are pesky, but they’re really not. The parents are really good about keeping their kids disciplined,” he said. “Of course, every now and then you’re going to have a little kid that’s having a rough day, but they’re very sweet, they’re very kind and reverent around the Blessed Sacrament.”
Many parishes use family adoration as a community-builder. Good Shepherd Church in Alexandria holds “holy half-hours” and a dinner for 30-40 parents and children on the first Wednesday of every month.
The practice began before the COVID-19 pandemic, said organizer Stacy Austin, when the parish held a family holy half-hour on a popular saint’s feast day, such as St. Francis of Assisi or St. Nicholas. After the pandemic, the parish brought the practice back and began holding it monthly.
Father Thomas P. Ferguson, pastor, began a recent holy hour by exposing the Eucharist on the altar and giving the children a few minutes for silent prayer. He then invited the families to seat themselves at the front of the church. He read a Bible verse to the children from John 8:12: “Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ ”
“When we’re afraid, when we might be discouraged. When we’re sad, it’s good for us to remember that Jesus is the light of the world,” Father Ferguson told the children. “His light takes away the darkness of our sadness. His light takes away the fear that might be in our hearts, and his light also gives us courage and gives us hope, and his light in our lives gives us joy.”
Father Ferguson helped the children connect the themes of the Bible verse with Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist. “We have light here in our church when we look up at the ceiling. We have light on the altar because Jesus is present on the altar,” he said.
After Benediction, families gathered in the parish hall for dinner. While the parents socialized, kids completed Catholic activity sheets and scampered about the room.
Stephanie Robins, mother of three children aged 15 months to 5 years, said she first learned about the holy hour through the parish’s Little Lambs community for families of children aged 0-5.
“I love that we have the opportunity to teach the kids this part of the faith. Growing up, this was not something that was ever done, at least where I grew up. So, the fact that we can show the kids that Christ can be with us in the Blessed Sacrament and start to help them understand what that means, it’s huge,” she said.
Austin’s children are older now, but, “I remember how it’s kind of intimidating to go to adoration with young children because you don’t know if they’re going to decide that’s a time to throw a little fit, or there’s going to be some sort of disruption that takes away from that silence,” she said. “We always say, ‘It’s the joyful noise.’ ”
