Pope Aids Launch of Adoration Project

ROME — Before the Year of the Eucharist officially began in October, David Craig, the national director of Adoration for Vocations only dreamed of how far his apostolate could go.

He promoted perpetual adoration for vocations from his small diocese of Norwich, Conn. He hoped to do much more.

That hope will be realized this month when the Vatican launches adoration for vocations worldwide.

The ball started rolling when the Vatican contacted Craig and his wife, Bridie, after Father Francis Bonnici read in the Register about their perpetual adoration program. Father Bonnici is head of the Office of the Pontifical Work for Vocations to the Priesthood.

“The Vatican came up with the idea they would like to have prayer and adoration for vocations worldwide,” Craig said. He and his wife met with Father Bonnici in Rome, along with Daniel Gonzales, national director for the website Vocation.com. Although Adoration for Vocations is promoted independently, it comes under the umbrella of Vocation.com, an apostolate of the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi. “The Vatican was basically asking for some ideas for what we could do in conjunction with them and provide ideas of what they could do for the Year of the Eucharist,” Gonzales said.

As a result of the meeting, Adoration for Vocations and Vocation.com will be partners with the Vatican in this worldwide effort.

It was Father Bonnici’s idea to get all the continents and geographic areas of the world to pray for vocations. He combined Craig’s Adoration for Vocations program with the knowledge that prayer for vocations shouldn’t be confined to one particular hour or day, but should be continuous and universal.

This worldwide effort is off to a quick start. Already, all the apostolic nunciatures have been informed about the project by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, which includes Father Bonnici’s office. In turn, they’ll ask all the world’s bishops to promote this effort at the diocesan level.

Father Bonnici explained that every continent and geographical area will have two specific month to be responsible for adoration. The lineup begins this month with Africa, then moves to North America in February, South America in March, Asia in April, Europe in May, the Pacific in June then Africa again in July, and so on.

Pope Was Happy

On Nov. 24, Pope John Paul II blessed six monstrances at his Wednesday general audience. Craig recognized this as “a kickoff for this worldwide effort to show the Holy Father was behind us.”

He and his wife, along with Father Kevin Reilly from the Norwich Diocese and Father Joseph Marcello from the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., presented the North American monstrances to the Holy Father for the blessing.

“Since the Pope announced the Year of the Eucharist, I think this project — people praying in front of the holy Eucharist with the special intention for vocations — made him very happy,” Father Bonnici said. “As soon as we asked for an audience with the Holy Father, the person in charge, Archbishop (James) Harvey, not only accepted the idea of the Pope blessing the monstrances, but said the Holy Father would also mention it in his speech on that day.”

Archbishop Harvey is an American priest who heads the Prefecture of the Papal Household. As the Pope blessed them, “he was happy,” Father Bonnici said. “He looked at us with eagerness.”

The idea of having special monstrances for adoration as a visible sign of praying for vocations originated with the Craigs in their Norwich efforts.

“We can get monstrances purchased in Rome, then have them brought over to a general audience and blessed by the Holy Father and have them shipped to the diocese or parish or whoever orders one for adoration,” Craig said.

He also provides materials and recommendations for dioceses and parishes on how to start adoration for vocations. (Contact him at [email protected].)

By the end of January, materials and guides for parishes and dioceses should also be available from vocation.com.

The way adoration is spreading because of Norwich’s example is an indication of what can happen worldwide. The other two dioceses covering Connecticut — the Archdiocese of Hartford and the Diocese of Bridgeport — will have perpetual adoration for vocations, Craig said.

‘It’s Up to Us to Pray’

Gonzales also has a vision of what can come to pass. “The program we already have in place has been successful to the tune of anywhere from 7,000 to 10,000 hours a month of adoration for vocations,” he said.

“The hope with this project is that this number will increase 10-, 20- or 100-fold because it’s a worldwide effort. We hope partnerships and alliances with other organizations will help to increase participation.”

According to Father Bonnici, Serra International and “other groups of lay people who are keen about prayer for vocations” will join in the worldwide effort.

Their roles haven’t been finalized but will include follow-up work.

Overall, nothing will be done without Father Bonnici’s approval or commitment of support, Gonzales said, noting the priest’s highly successful work with vocations.

In fact, since Father Bonnici was ordained in 1972, he has been assigned to nothing other than vocation work. In his native Malta, he saw about 150 young men enter the seminary — 100 are already priests.

That’s the kind of gift from God everyone is hoping for through this worldwide adoration effort that’s expected to continue after 2005.

“It should not be limited to one year. When it comes to prayer for vocations, it should go on. Jesus, the Lord of the harvest, told us to pray,” Father Bonnici said.

“First of all, we have to believe while praying before the Eucharist that we are in the presence of Jesus, who is really suffering for us, and he is offering his sacrifice to the Father,” he said.

“Secondly, he is asking us to help him to pray for vocations,” Father Bonnici continued. “Jesus needs us to help him. And that is our dignity and honor that we can help Jesus. When we pray, we really show God we want the priests because only the priest can do the Eucharist,” he said.

“Now it’s up to us to pray.”

Joseph Pronechen writes

from Trumbull, Connecticut.