15 years of Perpetual Adoration Chapel has brought graces to individuals, community

IC photo/Marie Mischel

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The Perpetual Adoration Chapel in Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Ogden is accessible 24 hours a day; it is secured by a keycode lock.

OGDEN — For 15 years, the faithful in northern Utah have prayed continuously in Saint Joseph Parish’s Perpetual Adoration Chapel, a spiritual oasis available 24 hours a day.

The chapel opened on March 19, 2010, the Feast of Saint Joseph. This year on that same feast day, Bishop Oscar A. Solis celebrated a Mass marking the anniversary. Concelebrants were Father Kenneth Vialpando, the diocesan vicar for clergy who was pastor of the parish when the chapel opened; Father Joshua Santos, the current pastor; and Father Victor Alvarado, parochial vicar. Assisting were Deacon Honorio Moreno and Deacon Howard Schuyler. Deacon Lynn Johnson was Master of Ceremonies.

In his remarks, the bishop said that the Perpetual Adoration chapel gives the faithful in Utah “the opportunity to renew our faith in God,” and the anniversary was a “moment of grace and renewal.”

At the end of Mass, Fr. Santos said some religious vocations have come about because of the chapel, including one young man who is scheduled to enter the seminary this fall.

“He shared with me that … he heard God’s call in that adoration chapel,” Fr. Santos said, and thanked Fr. Vialpando and the group that started the chapel.

At the announcement of the priestly vocation, Bishop Solis gave Fr. Vialpando a high five.

In an interview, Fr. Vialpando said the idea for the chapel came from a parishioner, Sue Taylor, and “I was all in right from the start because of our need to have the Eucharist. … It’s like a continuation of the Mass, where we could focus on the life of Christ, who would support us with his grace and blessings along the way. It could strengthen marriages, foster vocations, increase Mass attendance – all the blessings and grace and favors of God would be present there.”

Working with the Parish Council, Taylor and others addressed the concerns about security that arose from the idea of having the chapel open 24 hours a day. They also established a roster of people who committed to praying in the chapel one hour a week on a regular schedule.

Verona Gilliland, one of the current coordinators of the chapel’s prayer roster, said she believes its presence has “brought some peace to the area” around the church, adding that she has never felt unsafe going in, even though she has taken shifts in the hours from midnight to 7 a.m.

Other benefits of the chapel have been a family whose prayers for children were answered, and “other people that say, yes, their prayers have been answered after going to Adoration and spending time with our Lord,” Gilliland said.

The chapel “is a wonderful blessing for everyone,” she said. “For myself, I enjoy … the ‘me time’ with God.”

That hour without interruptions allows her to increase her prayer life and “try to open my mind to what God’s telling me or where he wants me to go,” she added. “If I walk in a little anxious about anything, I always find myself walking away peaceful and singing a hymn as I walk out to my car quite often, just because it’s been so relaxing.”

Deacon Jesse Ricardez, who was ordained last year and is assigned to St. Mary Parish in West Haven, has been involved with the chapel from the beginning. At the time he hadn’t even thought of entering the diaconal program, he said, but now credits his vocation to the time he spent in prayer.

Like Gilliland, he sees the chapel helping others as well.

“People have come and they’re in pain because something is happening in their life,” and praying helps them, he said.

Spending time in Adoration also helps strengthen belief in the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, he added. “There are times when you go and you feel like the hour is taking two hours, and there’s other times when you go and you feel his presence with you – it’s one of those sweetnesses God gives you. You feel him there, but you’re not going to feel it all the time, but I think it’s important to give of our time to Christ. And when you don’t feel it, it’s when you’re giving of yourself; the other times is when he’s giving something to you.”  

For those who come to him for Confession, Fr. Santos often imposes a penance of prayer in the chapel, he said, because “it just gives them a sense of hope; whenever they are discouraged … they kind of find the strength to go on.”

He is thankful for the “beautiful initiative” to establish the chapel that parishioners undertook 15 years ago, and those who pray there regularly today. “I am just reaping the fruits of their hard work,” he said, noting that these days adorers come from throughout the Ogden region. “This adoration chapel is not only for St. Joseph, it is for all peoples. … I just feel gratitude, on my part.”