Five Minute Friday: Adore

Note: This post is my weekly contribution to the Five Minute Friday community that is hosted by Kate Motaung on her blog Heading Home. Click here for more information about Five Minute Friday and how you can get involved! To link up with all the other entries for today's prompt word, click here. 

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2009

It is late on a Sunday night and the humid air outside has only the barest of breezes to cool me as I walk from my car to the chapel door. It is my usual hour to come here. I have been coming here every Sunday night at this time for a few months now. This place, once foreign to me, is now very familiar. I punch in the code on the door lock and turn the handle.

As I enter the small chapel from the outside, I see Him immediately. He is there before me, resplendent and beautiful in the golden monstrance upon the altar. I take a breath, dip my fingertips in the small font of holy water beside the door, bless myself, and fall to my knees on the cold, hard tile. I have needed this moment all week. After a few moments of silent prayer and greeting to Him, I rise from my knees and sign in at the table to my left, before entering one of the half a dozen or so pews that face the altar.

This is my hour to adore. I share it with a married couple, but even though we technically share the hour, I wouldn't miss it for anything. It is here, adoring Him present in the Blessed Sacrament that I may pour out my heart as I sit at His feet. It is here that I may be still and quiet after the craziness of my day. I kneel, take up my rosary, and gaze at him as I begin my prayers and meditations. For the space of twenty minutes, I am caught up in adoration, completely unaware of anything but Him and this moment we are sharing. Everything else fades away -- all sounds, all smells, all sights -- all but the beauty of His face. Everything except for Him fades to a haze and even my troubles and the depression that has been dogging me for the last couple of months seems nonexistent.

I breathe in and breathe out. The rosary beads slip between my fingers, one after the other as my lips barely move, marking the time with the familiar prayers. My mind is meditating on the mysteries I am contemplating and my gaze is transfixed on Him. O my Jesus, I adore You! I breathe in and breathe out. My fingers come again to the rosary center piece and I conclude my prayer with the sign of the cross. Normally I would move, take a seat in the pew, and perhaps read scripture or some other spiritual reading, but tonight I remain kneeling, unable take my eyes off of Him.

I adore.

I gaze upon Him and He gazes upon me. We remain there in this moment together and when, at last, I tear my face away from His, I feel a peace settle over me like a warm blanket. I sit in the pew, but instead of reading, I just sit with Him.

I adore.

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