The church on the hill in Stockport

On Saturday 22 October 2022, the Feast of Pope Saint John Paul II, Bishop Mark Davies stood in St Joseph's, Stockport and dedicated the church as the Diocese of Shrewsbury's Eucharistic Shrine of Perpetual Adoration. Continuous prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, day and night, by lay people and clergy of our diocese, with a special mission to pray for vocations to the priesthood. It is one of the great gifts of our generation, and it is twenty minutes from Manchester city centre.

If you have never been, this article is for you.

What Bishop Davies said at the dedication

This new Eucharistic mission stands in the long continuity of the witness of this church set on a hilltop. Today, I ask you to pray that Saint Joseph's will continue to be the Emmaus we have always known, a church with open doors. In Pope Francis's words, may all who come through these doors also come to a new and personal encounter with Jesus Christ.

Bishop Davies, dedication of St Joseph's Stockport, 22 October 2022.

And, in the same homily, the line that has become the refrain of his episcopate:

Let us be attentive to the reality of the Eucharist which contains the Church's entire spiritual wealth, Christ Himself.

That is what perpetual adoration is. The Church standing always before her supreme treasure. Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, never alone in his own house.

Why adoration?

Adoration is not extra. It is the natural response of faith to what we believe is on the altar. If the consecrated host is truly the Body of Christ, as the Catechism teaches and as the Church has held since the first century, then sitting in his presence is the most reasonable thing a Catholic can do.

Saint John Henry Newman, who specifically named Shrewsbury in his Second Spring sermon, put it like this: He is not past, He is present now. And though He is not seen, He is here. Bishop Davies has quoted this line many times. It is the whole logic of adoration in fifteen words.

Scripture frames it too. Could you not watch with me one hour? Jesus asks the apostles in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:40). At St Joseph's, somebody is always watching with him. The question is whether you will be one of them.

What it actually feels like

You walk in. You genuflect. You sit, or kneel. Christ is exposed in the monstrance on the altar, surrounded by candles. The church is quiet, sometimes very quiet, sometimes with one or two others praying. There is no programme. No music to follow. No sermon to listen to. Just him, and you, and the silence between.

For the first ten minutes, your mind will race. The shopping list. The argument from this morning. The work email. Let it. After a while, the noise settles. You begin to be still. You may pray with words, or read a psalm, or simply sit. Saint Jean-Marie Vianney, whose relics are now in the new altar at Shrewsbury Cathedral, used to describe a parishioner who sat for hours in front of the tabernacle: I look at him, and he looks at me. That is enough.

How to begin

• Start with ten minutes. Not an hour. Ten minutes is enough for the Lord and enough for you.
• Bring a Gospel and read slowly, or pray a single decade of the Rosary, or simply sit.
• Sign up for a regular hour when you are ready. The shrine needs adorers, and a committed slot keeps you honest.
• Pray for the 12 men in formation for the priesthood in our diocese. The shrine was dedicated for vocations. Your prayer is part of how the next generation of Shrewsbury priests is being raised.

If Stockport is too far

Most parishes in our diocese have weekly adoration. Ask in your parish. The principle is the same wherever the Lord is exposed: come, sit, look at him, let him look at you.

The Cathedral is the second of our two Jubilee 2025 pilgrim churches and a natural place to begin. Weekday Mass at 12 noon Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday includes time before and after to pray quietly before the tabernacle.

Your next step this month

Make a plan. Pick a Saturday in the next four weeks. Drive to St Joseph's, Stockport, walk in, and sit for ten minutes. Then thirty. You will find that you have not given Christ time. You will find that he has given time to you.

• Address: St Joseph's, 71 Higher Hillgate, Stockport SK1 3PX
• For more information, write to info@dioceseofshrewsbury.org or speak with your parish priest about how to commit to a regular hour.

The Lord is on the hill in Stockport, day and night. He is waiting for you.