Weekly Adoration, One Year Later

AnneMarie Miller explores the fruits of praying at weekly Adoration as a family.  

When I began taking my young children to Eucharistic Adoration once a month, I discovered the joy of regularly spending time in Christ’s presence with my kids. Although leading my children in this time of prayer could be tiring, I cherished this holy hour and the peace that God brought into our life. I grew comfortable in our routine, and I didn’t plan to increase its frequency. Taking my young kids to a holy hour only once a month felt like a lot. There was no way we could go more often than that — at least, this is what I thought. Yet, as I discussed previously, God had other plans.   

Just over a year has gone by since my kids and I committed to a weekly hour of Eucharistic Adoration. I’ve seen God crush my previous fears, and I’ve also noticed beautiful fruit from this time with Him in the Eucharist.  

What I Was Afraid Would Happen  

Since I have several small children at home, the idea of committing to weekly Adoration was slightly terrifying. I didn’t want to make a commitment that could cause us to miss out on activities with friends, or when I may not always feel like going. I also didn’t want to make a commitment and then not be able to fully keep it. If we ever had to miss Adoration due to a child being sick or being on an out-of-town trip, I was afraid of looking like a failure for missing our holy hour.  

What Actually Happened  

Did my kids miss out on fun activities with friends? There may have been one or two times when we declined an invitation, but our social life didn’t suffer. We learned to plan activities on other days, or at a different time of day than our holy hour. Sometimes, friends would even join us for Adoration and play afterwards. In fact, as I think about our rich experiences over the past year, my “fear of missing out” seems silly.   

I didn’t always feel like taking my kids to Adoration each week, but this became a good opportunity to learn how to sacrifice as we grow in our relationship with God. Even when I felt worn out from simply leaving the house, when we burst through the church doors and looked at Christ in the monstrance, His peace came pouring down. I’m continuing to discover that God always provides the time and energy I need to bring my children to Adoration.   

I’ve also been learning that God provides when there are disruptions in our schedule. Whether it was due to giving birth, experiencing car problems, or travelling out of town, there were weeks when we were unable to make it to our holy hour. However, God has always provided someone — friends in our community or our amazing parish secretary — to fill our hour. I’ve had opportunities to recognize that unpredictable things happen to everyone, and that I can always ask others for help. Learning to rely on the help of others has been one of the many fruits from our weekly holy hour.  

Time with God is Time Well-spent  

I’ve also seen my young children accept this time of regular prayer as normal. Although they are often ready and eager to leave when our hour is over, for the most part, they happily get ready and come to Adoration without complaining. My toddler currently talks about Adoration frequently and even asks to go throughout the week. In a culture that is increasingly noisy and chaotic, our time in Adoration is an oasis of peaceful, prayerful rest.   

It is a time when we pray, sing, read books about the saints, and talk about the liturgical season. It is a time when go through the book of parish prayer intentions and pray for the pope. It is a time when we read and ponder Scripture together. It is a time when we lie prostrate on the ground before Christ and learn to be still as we listen to God speak.  

Furthermore, our holy hour flows into the rest of the week. Together with Mass and daily family prayer, our time at Eucharistic Adoration forms a rhythm that guides our family towards God. While it is impossible to quantify the fruits and gifts that our family has received from weekly Adoration, I do know that time with God is never wasted.

God’s abundant grace and mercy is a mystery, and I may never comprehend the tremendous power and gift of bringing my young children to the church, week after week, for an hour of Adoration.   

What fruits have you have experienced from regular time at Adoration?  

Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles.

Copyright 2025 AnneMarie Miller
Images: Canva