Saturday, January 10, 2004
Nuns Keep Alive a Chain of Prayers, Nonstop Since 1878
With so many requests from around the globe, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in La Crosse, Wis, hours would seem to be filled with nonstop praying - and indeed, at the chapel, prayer never ceases. For the past 125 years, since 11 a.m. on Aug. 1, 1878, the sisters have been praying around the clock, in rotating shifts.
The up-to-the-second Perpetual Adoration Clock at www.fspa.org is ticking at more than 45,800 days. With at least two people always praying, it is the nation's longest uninterrupted prayer, the sisters believe.
An informal nationwide search by Sister Maria Friedman in La Crosse earlier this month turned up only a handful of other American convents that practice nonstop prayer.
The prayer requests keep coming. "Last year at this time, we were getting about 25 prayer requests a week; now we're getting about 25 a day, and they come from around the world," said Sister Ronalda, citing attention surrounding the 125th anniversary, when the convent spread word that such requests were welcome.
Why invite requests?
"Just sending the prayer request connects that person with God," said Sister Malinda Gerke, a sister for nearly 50 years. "It is one act, one step of faith. If they didn't have that much faith, they wouldn't even ask or try. That is the seed planted in the soil. When we receive these requests, my first reaction is, thank God that people have that much faith that they believe in the power of prayer," she said.
Do their prayers work?
"Whatever the divine plan is, will be," Sister Malinda said. "Some sisters recite a formal prayer for each request, but I have a very personal kind of style with God and say, 'Now, God this is yours. I have called your attention to this.' "
The work can be riveting. "Every time I go to pray, there are 100 or so requests, and I feel the anguish of the world as I read through them," said Sister Maria Friedman, who noted that many people write after receiving bad news. "I picture the person making the request reeling from this new calamity and wondering how to cope." She prays for the best solutions, for hope and for support from professionals, family and friends.
It would require an extraordinary disruption to halt the ministry. In 1923, the sisters continued praying despite a fire that stopped at the chapel doors, Ms. Custer said. And in 1968, some members took to praying eight hours each day, when other sisters were hit by a flu epidemic. "This practice is central to the identity of the congregation, and members are very serious about doing the utmost to see it continue," she said.
Today about 90 other people who have been trained by the sisters join the sisters as prayer partners, a practice instituted in 1997.
Indeed, perseverance is in the roots. In 1878, after the bishop in La Crosse refused the requests of Mother Antonia, the congregational leader, to begin perpetual adoration, the sisters tried it nonetheless, demonstrated that it was not too burdensome, and have continued ever since, Ms. Custer said.
Holding vigil is rooted in tradition, according to the Rev. Dr. Edward Foley, professor of liturgy and music at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. "Perpetual adoration reflects a convergence of the need for tangible encounters with God and an instinct to keep vigil, like standing guard outside Buckingham Palace, rain or shine," he said. "Those are human instincts across civilizations and religions."
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