When I was in Middle School, my Mom and I signed up for the local chapter of the Nocturnal Adoration Society. Once a month, we'd get up and go to a Holy Hour in the early morning hours, I believe it was around 2am. Since then, I've been a member of multiple parishes where 24-hour adoration was offered. There's something really special and still about scheduled Adoration at night.

When you get up and go to Adoration while the rest of the world sleeps, you're able to achieve a deeper level of prayer and quiet. There's nothing to distract you at 2am, other than a nagging desire to sleep. Everything is quiet, still, and silent. You're able to direct all of your attention and focus on just prayer. It's a state that's difficult to achieve during the day when your phone may be buzzing, the UPS man comes to your door, or any number of other distractions creep up.

Nocturnal Adoration isn’t easy, that's for sure. If you have kids, there's an ever-changing work schedule, or even if you have a medical condition that's agitated with interruptions to your sleep schedule. If you face any of these challenges, I have no good answer for you. Yet, I'd encourage you, if you ever have the opportunity, even just once, to go and pray in Adoration for an hour early in the morning, take it. Everyone deserves to know the peace that the morning stillness can bring to a restless heart.

Tags: Sacraments