john paul

Saint John Paul II

Eucharistic Adoration

Association of the Archdiocese of Chicago

"He walked here in the same flesh, and gave us the same flesh to be eaten unto salvation ... and not only do we not sin by adoring, we do sin by not adoring."  St Augustine


Chicago Eucharistic Adoration Testimonials


I began hearing a call to discern priesthood while in adoration. We prayed before the Blessed Sacrament every night on this retreat I was on, and as i sat and knelt there I kept having the thought of priesthood come through my mind. I found myself asking if God was calling me to this life in those days. Later, after following the Lord's call and entering seminary, I found the Eucharist to be a source of steadiness. His presence in the Eucharist is a place of rest for me and a source of life and energy to live a life for God to the best of my ability.
John Horan
2nd Theology , Diocese of Joliet, IL



After living a very materialistic life away from the Church for over 10 years, and having my religious view on Facebook listed as “The US Dollar,” I finally found my way home by the grace of the confessional and the Eucharist. On Saturday, January 17, 2015, during Eucharistic Adoration in Mundelein Seminary’s Chapel of St. John Paul II, I finally asked the Lord to help me figure out what to do with my life. Then, like a firm brick to the head, I knew in my heart he was calling me to the priesthood. After wrestling with the idea for a few minutes, I said, “Yes, Lord,” and I was filled with an indescribable peace. A few weeks later, I began the application process to Mundelein Seminary, where I am currently in formation for the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
Robert Ryan
Pre-Theology 1 Seminarian at Mundelein, St. Mary of the Lake University



The language of God is silence, and in order to really hear him speak one must go through a kind of “language immersion” during which the mind is settled, the heart is soothed, and the person learns what it is to be truly at peace. To be at peace in the presence of the King is one of the greatest gifts Jesus gives to his Church. What a joy to meet him, as the woman at the well did, and to say with her, “Come and see a man who told me all I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” What an even greater joy to hear him say, “I who speak to you am he.” (John 4:26, 29) I do not know a seminarian who is not madly in love with the Eucharistic Jesus and who does not draw his strength from him.
Ryan Adorjan
Seminarian at Mundelein, St. Mary of the Lake University



Eucharistic Adoration for me used to be a project. I would go in and try and get as many things done as I could: rosary, divine mercy chaplet, reading, etc. None of these things are bad, in fact they’re really good. But I eventually came to realize that I was hiding my imperfections and trying to keep the Lord from meeting me. I would just speak and pray the entire time, and wouldn’t listen.
Over the course of my seminary formation, as I grew to know myself more, God also grew in me as more of a Person and less of an idea. Now, a large part of my Adoration is done in silence; for the most part the Lord looks at me and I look at Him, and I do my best to listen. The Lord tells me: I am His; I don’t need to become perfect to approach Him, but He wants me where I am; it is not what I do, but who I am that makes me worthy of His love; that I can be His child and that is the deepest identity of who I am. Now the hope is that I can learn to love myself as Jesus does to repeat the Psalm 139:14 “I am wonderfully made.”
Eucharistic Adoration for me is an encounter with a Person. It is not a Transfiguration experience every time. It is a relationship.
Michael Bremer
Seminarian at Mundelein, St. Mary of the Lake University



The grace that I would like to speak about is not very spectacular. My grace came as a realization of a simple yet profound truth that St. Paul encapsulates when he writes in his letter to the Colossians: "... you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col 3:3). In other words, St. Paul says that that in and through me Christ continues His mission and ministry in the world. By being in the presence of Christ exposed in the Blessed Sacrament I am learning the implication of that mission in whatever happens in my life. This learning happens because Christ's love enters more deeply into my heart and transforms it from within.
Fr. Marek J. Duran
Professor of Moral Theology at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary



"I am a deacon in the Archdiocese of Chicago. I was ordained in 1983. About 16 years ago I began to look for ways to enrich my ministry. I wanted to enrich my spiritual life. I worked for Port Ministries, a Franciscan ministry which serves the poor on the south side of Chicago. Part of our working routine was to spend one hour in silent adoration once a week. I began to see a change in my prayer life.
Right after 911 I asked my pastor to allow me to expose the Blessed Sacrament every Wednesday which he agreed to. Since then, I have started Holy Hour in two additional parishes. The first was in Spanish only. The second in Spanish and English. In my present parish of St. Turibius we now pray in Spanish, English and Polish.
But the most amazing thing is how much my prayer life has improved. My wife and I love spending time in Eucharistic Adoration. Even when we travel we always find a place to visit Jesus and express our joy and thanksgiving for his abundant love and everlasting presence."
Deacon Javier Pineda
St. Turibius Parish, Chicago



"Daily Eucharistic Adoration in the Chapel of the Nativity at the Relevant Radio Headquarters in Green Bay, Wisconsin is what has kept us on the air and growing for the past fifteen years.The Eucharist is truly the source and summit of all we do.Everything depends on our care for the Most Blessed Sacrament."
Rev. Francis J. Hoffman
JCD, Executive Director of Relevant Radio



" As Assistant Pastor of Santa Maria Reina parish in Ponce, Puerto Rico, I can assure you that the parish 'came to life' when we started Eucharistic Adoration. For over 30 years of consecrated life, coming to Jesus in adoration has given me the divine intimacy and inspiration I needed in easy and tough times. Whatever the challenge we face, our Eucharistic Lord is the answer, and time with Him gives the victory. "
Fr.Robert Nicoletti M.J.
General Director, Miles Jesu



"We have Perpetual Adoration 24/7 in our parish since Jan 9, 2005. Immense blessings began and have continued. Increased mass attendance, confessions, personal testimonies of deepened faith, and a great peace emanates from our simple chapel. We pray the Divine Mercy chaplet every hour for the sick and dying and for the intentions of the Holy Father. I urge all pastors to inaugurate Perpetual Adoration in their parishes."
Fr. Michael Sullivan OFM Cap., Pastor
St. Clare of Montefalco Church, Chicago, Illinois



“I go to the chapel daily to be inspired. The faith of the adorers, their joy to be in His Presence, their peace that He is with them all touch me deeply. Strengthened by the grace of God sharing the air of the chapel, I, too, succumb to peace and joy.”
Father Lawrence J. Malcolm, Pastor
St. Daniel the Prophet Church, Chicago, Illinois



“The Eucharistic chapel provides a rich and hallowed place where visitors and believers can get a taste and feel of God’s tender unconditional love for them. For until we discover that we are loved and cherished just as we are, we will not be able to reach out in genuine love to others.”
Father Bernard J. Pietrzak, Pastor
St. Raymond De Penafort Church, Mt. Prospect, Illinois


Saint John Paul II Eucharistic Adoration Association of the Archdiocese of Chicago
c/o Charles D.Smith
230 West Monroe Street
Chicago, Illinois 60606
630-842-6258
information@pjp2ea.org