Outdoor Adoration Offers Peace in Pandemic

The Blessed Sacrament appears daily in the rectory window of All Saints – Todos los Santos Parish in Waterbury. The rectory parking lot is located on the campus of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, where parishioners are welcome to park and pray in their cars for eucharistic adoration. Photo by Aaron Joseph/Archdiocese of Hartford

Story by Shelley Wolf

WATERBURY – Father Diego Jimenez wants everyone to know that Jesus is beside them during the pandemic. As pastor of All Saints – Todos los Santos Parish in Waterbury, he has found a way to draw people closer to Christ, where they can find comfort and peace, even if they are unable to step inside a church.

Father Jimenez has placed a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament in the window of the All Saints – Todos los Santos Parish rectory, located on the campus of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes. The large multi-paned window of the rectory faces the combined church and rectory parking lot, which can be accessed from South Main Street, allowing parishioners to drive up and pray in their cars in a form of outdoor adoration.

To ensure they see the Blessed Sacrament, the clergy at All Saints Parish added the word “JESUS” above the monstrance in bold red capital letters. This way, all can adore Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

“People are afraid of COVID and some are afraid to come to church,” Father Jimenez says. “And people are suffering in the pandemic because sometimes someone in their family has COVID. They come and they find peace. They come and they find hope and a strong faith. So this is the reaction from the people. People come and say, ‘Father, I have peace in this moment when I make my prayers here.’”

Parishioners lined up in the All Saints – Todos los Santos rectory parking lot for 24-hour outdoor adoration last April. Photo by Carmen Maisonet/Courtesy All Saints Parish

Father Jimenez got the idea to make the Blessed Sacrament more available and visible when the pandemic struck in March 2020. He also hoped to encourage people to participate in the beautiful devotion of eucharistic adoration. “We started on March 17 when everything closed,” he says. “I thought, ‘Why not have something for the people?’ Maybe they could take a moment for prayer or for meditation.”

He discussed the idea with Father Hector Rangel, who was the parochial vicar at All Saints Parish at that time. “The next day, we cleaned the glass in the window and put up the five letters for JESUS. Then we put the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament in the window,” Father Jimenez says.

From that point on, the Blessed Sacrament was visible 12 hours a day, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. – and it still is.

“Sometimes when everything was closed, people in the parish asked for it to stay up overnight,” Father Jimenez adds. Two groups, including those participating in the Cursillos in Christianity Movement and in the Pope John XXIII Movement, organized their members at least once a month for a 24-hour adoration in the parking lot.

“When they ask, I make it public by mentioning it at Masses or on social media and more people come,” Father Jimenez says. In less frigid months, sometimes as many as 20-25 cars have been parked in the lot, specifically for adoration, he adds.

Cars also appear daily. “Every day we have at least one person, but usually some in the morning and again later in the evening,” he says. The Blessed Sacrament has also drawn some unexpected devotees. “It’s facing the parking lot on South Main Street, so a lot of people see it,” the priest says. “Sometimes people come up to see what’s in the window.”