November 27, 2024

By Mary Beth Bracy, consecrated virgin
Contributing Writer

Parishes throughout the North Country are offering opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration with praise and worship music, whether as special events or on a regular basis. Attendants have shared the overwhelming joy and peace they find in the Real Presence of our Lord. Faithful from children to young adults to senior citizens are coming out to give thanks to God and experience His healing love anew.

Sarah McIntosh, administrative assistant at St. Mary’s in Canton, said the parish recently held “Our annual ‘Pumpkins & Praise’ event [that] we host for our college students during the month of October. That includes a Holy Hour with praise and worship music which is typically led by either some of our students or alumni.”

Praise and worship typically includes more contemporary worship songs, often performed with guitar and other instruments accompanying the singers.

A Praise and Adoration Holy Hour was also held on November 4 at St. Peter’s Church in Plattsburgh. One of the organizers, Riley McQuade, spoke about her faith journey.

“I was first exposed to praise and worship when I attended the college retreat at Camp Guggenheim in 2023,” she said. “Experiencing praise and worship for the first time is something I will never forget. Having all of the college students singing and worshiping Jesus [truly present in the Holy Eucharist, exposed in the monstrance] was such a beautiful and moving thing to experience. As someone who prays through music, I knew if I was able to have more opportunities to participate in praise and worship I would take it.”

McQuade was moved to bring this experience to the faithful in Plattsburgh.

“A few months after that I spoke to our Newman Association board and our advisor to see if we could do some praise and worship sessions,” she said. “We had done a few and I fell more and more in love especially when it was done in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I have a few friends in the diocese who would do praise and worship in their parishes and any chance I got I would go to them. As I was attending regular adoration at Holy Cross Parish I felt more and more called to speak with our music director and pastor about starting praise and worship here. We were given the greenlight to do it on the first Monday of every month and I was so excited. We rehearsed and prepared and eventually the day was upon us. We ended up having 34 people come which was incredibly moving to see so many people show up to spend an hour and worship Jesus. Afterwards many people spoke about how impactful it was for them. They said they had such a great experience and were looking forward to the next time. I was overjoyed to have shared something that was so impactful in my life with members of my parish.”

Abigail Turner also helped lead the music for the Praise and Worship Adoration at St. Peter’s.

“I was first introduced to praise and worship adoration when I was 12, when I went to Guggenheim for the first time,” she said. “When I turned 18, I had the opportunity to be on staff at Guggenheim which is where I met Nate Pultorak. He ended up moving to Plattsburgh where our friendship was able to thrive through our joint love of the faith. We both enjoy music so we started dabbling in doing evenings around the area offering praise and worship adoration with the help of some of the local pastors. We started doing occasional evenings of adoration at St. Alexander’s in Morrisonville and St. Peter’s in Plattsburgh, along with a monthly adoration schedule in Malone. Nate, an occasional guest, and I were really excited about how beautifully the music ministry we were doing was growing.”

“Unfortunately just as everything was looking the most promising, COVID hit full force and everything came to a standstill,” Turner added. “Finally COVID was settling down and then life for me took a bit of a different direction. I married my now husband in 2021 and we found out we were expecting soon after. Life became complicated and despite the effort to try and get back into praise and worship regularly, unfortunately it wasn’t falling into habit like it had before. Recently, Riley and Nate were able to establish a schedule with St. Peter’s in Plattsburgh, the first Monday of the month. Now, it’s really encouraging that there will be three of us regularly making praise and worship adoration available on a regular basis.”

The organizers hope to increase the opportunities for Praise and Worship Adoration in the future. “The goal is to expand the availability of this ministry through including other parishes. It would be wonderful to start back with St. Alexander’s again, however we haven’t done any specific planning or coordinating to make it happen yet,” noted Turner. “The last time that Riley, Nate, and I had spoken we had discussed the desire to have praise and worship scheduled every other week, rotating between two different parishes to provide easier access for parishioners. That’s the hope, but we’ll see how the Lord directs us. My husband, Josh Turner always tells me how it’s like a breath of fresh air going to praise and worship. He says that it’s so peaceful and relaxing it refreshes him. I’ve had quite a few people come up to me and comment similar sentiments.”

Madonna Champagne of Malone leads the music for the praise and worship Adoration in the Malone area.

“Praise and worship offers a special opportunity where not only do we have the opportunity to sit before our Lord in the Eucharist, which always changes us regardless of if we feel it or not, but also where we are able to praise him through song,” she said.

Champagne explained what inspired her to become involved in praise and worship Adoration.

“The first time I experienced praise and worship was in high school, the Izzo’s from Lake Placid came and I remember thinking ‘Wow, I want to do that someday!,’” she said. “Soon after, opportunities presented themselves for me to help lead praise and worship and I have continued ever since. Part of why it is so special to me is because of the peace present like no other with our Lord in the Eucharist. The other aspect of my love for praise and worship specifically is because of the deep love for singing that God placed in me. It is hard to describe how much singing moves me, perhaps it is best to describe by saying it gives me a surreal joy that makes me feel fully myself. When I first asked to lead praise and worship in Malone after moving back home from Buffalo, I didn’t know if anyone would come but really knew my heart needed it. It gives me energy to be a better teacher, friend, daughter and person in general!”

“Praise and Worship in Malone is on Thursdays from 6 to 7 p.m. I love to offer it every week but because of concerts (due to being a music teacher) the current dates are found in our bulletin [at https://standres.org/],” Champagne continued. “After the holidays it should resume every week, with dates in the bulletin if there are any we can’t offer. During the longer days of light, we hold it a little later from 7 to 8 p.m., any changes can be found in the bulletin as well.”

The response of the faithful is encouraging.

“A lot of people who I have spoken with from different praise and worship experiences have commented on the peace it gives them and how it is the break in their week that they really need – me too,” said Champagne. “Something else people have shared that I also find true, is how the songs remind us of the truth of God’s relentless love for us! Some praise and worship music is repetitive and others more text dense, both allowing us to sing and meditate on God’s vast love. The transcendence of music paired with good texts and adoration provide a beautiful experience that can guide us closer to God. When I lead praise and worship, I try to choose classic hymns that everyone can sing along with and songs that have beautiful texts that people can learn through experiencing praise and worship. There are worship aids with the lyrics and divine praises on them for the conclusion of adoration and to help people who want to participate during adoration.”

In the words of Champagne, “Praise and worship is an amazing reminder that God is always with us, He loves us so deeply and we can always come home to Him.”