From the beginning of the Missionaries Servants of the Poor, Father Giovanni, our founder, asked us to be assiduous in Eucharistic Adoration. Personally, it was almost a novelty for me to have daily Eucharistic Adoration. I had been in a youth group since I was 13, but we had no training in this practice. I remember that, at first, I prayed looking at the crucified Christ, and not at Christ himself truly present in the tabernacle.

Thanks to the Lord, little by little I learned to savor his presence in the consecrated and exposed form. The first thing Father Giovanni did was to ask the archbishop of Cusco for permission to have the Blessed Sacrament in our little chapel at the Hogar Santa Teresa de Jesús, and this permission was granted.

Since then, in all our chapels, the Missionaries Servants of the Poor reserve the Blessed Sacrament and have Eucharistic adoration throughout the day. In the City of Boys, we have different centers—the Minor Seminary, the School, the Technical Vocational Training Center (Cetpro), the farm, the administrative area, the fathers' house, and the Children's Home—and each one has its own chapel. We also have a larger chapel.

Following the spirit instilled in us by Father Giovanni, we proposed to the maintenance and CETPRO staff (about 22 in total) the idea of having the Blessed Sacrament exposed for one hour each week. The proposal was well received, so at the end of April, we began adoration with the Blessed Sacrament exposed.

We wanted participation to be voluntary. We only asked everyone to be present at the beginning. Since work starts at 8:00 a.m., we begin adoration ten minutes earlier on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. (On Tuesdays, I cannot expose the Blessed Sacrament because, as an Extraordinary Minister of Communion, I must go on mission to communities outside the City of Boys). On Wednesdays, at 8:00 a.m., we have Mass for the collaborators.

After the exposition begins, the collaborators go to their tasks, and one of them stays every 15 minutes to accompany the Lord. It is very beautiful to see the piety and devotion with which they participate, both at the beginning and during the adoration shifts. The groups are of four people, except for the last one, which was originally only two. These two people approached me and asked not to be joined by two others, but that each of them could do half an hour of adoration. Of course, I gladly agreed.

It is moving to see each collaborator adoring with such love, in silence, and in some cases, even with tears, before the Blessed Sacrament. Surely the Lord will pour out the graces that they, as well as our benefactors, so greatly need.

Pepe Lucho