By Nirmala Carvalho

Mumbai: A house of the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master in the Archdiocese of Bombay hosted a 24-hour Eucharistic adoration in response to Pope Francis’s call “to celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation in the context of Eucharistic adoration.”

The community’s Prarthanalaya [House of Prayer] Chapel – located in the Bandra neighborhood, a center of Christianity in the western Indian city – was scheduled to be open for adoration from 7 a.m. on March 9 until 7 a.m. on March 10.

“The Blessed Sacrament was exposed after 6:30 am Mass, and since then, people from all areas of the archdiocese have been coming for adoration,” said Sister Amita Mascarenhas.

She told Crux her order sees themselves as “the modern version of the women of the Gospel.”

“The center of our discipleship is our Divine Master who engages our minds, wills, hearts, and energies. He is our Way, our Truth, and our Life, perennially present in the Holy Eucharist,” she said.

Francis has sponsored the “24 Hours for the Lord” adoration project as an opportunity for people to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Lent.

The pope has asked that a church in every diocese around the world be open for 24 consecutive hours as part of the initiative.

“The objective,” according to Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, “is to offer to all – especially to those who feel uncomfortable entering a church – the opportunity to seek the merciful embrace of God.”

Mascarenhas said that in Mumbai, priests will be available in the chapel to hear confessions.

“The chapel will remain open to all – bishops, priests, religious, but also individuals and groups of faithful, families and friends, anyone who wants to worship the Eucharistic Lord and ask for his intercession for all humanity, especially for needs of the Church,” she said.

From 9 am to 10 am, the candidates to be religious sisters prayed the rosary.

“The Our Father is prayed in common, and the Hail Mary’s prayed in seven regional languages, plus English and Italian…symbolizing the diversity of the Catholic Church in India in communion with the Holy Father,” said Sister Diana, the order’s formation director.

Various times of prayer have been scheduled during the day, including the rosary, the Divine Mercy chaplet, and special periods set aside for young people.

During the night, the sisters of the community were scheduled to pray in front of the Eucharist.

(Source: cruxnow.com)