www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Is Your Church Always Locked ?

This caused me alot of frustration on both Maundy Thursday and Good Friday when I like to visit as many churches as possible. I can remember a time when I was little, (and I still don't have gray hair) when Churches kept their doors open every day until well into the evening, usually 9pm. My Mom insists that when she was little, that some churches had their doors open 24 hours. Nowdays it seems like churches are kept locked up as often as possible. On Maundy Thursday I tried to visit St Nicholas Ukrainian Rite Cathedral in Chicago and it is was locked, as were a few RC Churches as well. On Good Friday though, I was positively shocked at how many RC Churches in Chicago were locked during the afternoon. At St Barbara in the Bridgeport area (I love to name names) I watched astonished parishoners as they attempted to get in the front doors at 2:30 pm ! Another nearby parish, St Mary of Perpetual Help actually had it's doors closed 15 minutes before mass time on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception last year.

If priests do not understand that their are still people who want to go into churches to pray at various times of the day and night, then sadly it is a good indication of how out of touch with reality they are.

Hi Lawrence,

I think that the reason behind locking church doors is the fear of theft.

However, atleast in G.O. churches, the priest and/or the church secretary is usually in the church office, which is usually adjacent to the church, so there is usually always a back door, or church hall door open somewhere which can take you to the main sanctuary to pray. It isn't ideal, I agree, but atleast it is something.

In Christ,
Alice

Sadly, this is the way things are now in most places. Insurance companies have much to do with this now, as they don't like it when churches are left unattended. Many times, though, the church will be open during business hours, if the rectory or parish offices are nearby. Here, in central Missouri, as well as in other rural parts of the state, many of the churches are always open, as most folks are honest and don't bother anything, and anti-Catholic hostilities have abated for the time being. I do not know if the Lutheran churches here are open regularly as well

At one time, there was a minor order, that of porter or sextant, which was responsible for guarding the church building when there were no services. It would be good to restore this order.

In Austria, in the urban centers, there is a program whereby the big cathedral parishes are trying to stay open 24/7 by having parishioners voluteer to kkep watch over the church. As it turns out, people are coming back or converting to the Church because of the safety, and the experience of God's presence in the darkest hours of night.

I don't believe that fear of crime is the real reason so many churches are kept closed, because I know of several churches in low crime areas that are on regular lockdown. At one parish I attended in the 90's, their was either a Brother or trusted parishoner in the church at all times, and the church was kept open for the faithful during business hours. And as someone who's seen it himself, people still do want to stop in and pray throughout the day, even if it's for only 10 minutes.

Having grown up Roman Catholic a highlight of our Holy Week was when we took turns staying after the service on Holy Thursday in order to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. I remember that parishoners took turns signing up to keep the vigil. I think it went on even past mid-night and probably well into Good Friday. We would sit there in the quiet sometimes for an hour or longer and I used to think of the words of Jesus, "Won't you stay one hour with me?"

This Holy Thursday at the local Catholic church at the close of the service we were told we could stay until 8:00 p.m. while the priest and servers moved some things out of the sanctuary, but then we needed to leave so they could close the church. That left us about about twenty minutes....to keep the vigil.

It is certainly true that churches are the targets of vandals, robbers, and those with hatred in their hearts. This has brought us to the locking of the doors. Several years ago in a Roman Catholic Church in Washington State a maintenace man was murdered while trying to guard a large church. The old marble communion rail was pock marked with bullets which flew when the police killed the perpetrator some time later. The killer was a drug addict gone beserk. In a cathredral in Alaska in the 80's one of the stone carved stations of the cross was removed from the wall and never was found again. Only the outline on the wall until something like it could be imported from Italy. I am sure there are more tales of loss and destruction.

It is so sad that we, as a society, have come to this. As a college student at a Jesuit University in the 50's I loved just popping in any old time to visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament or make the Stations of the Cross in the large, city church next to our campus. Students often stopped for a visit after supper and sometimes after spending an evening studying in the campus library. A few years later my husband and I were married in that church. Twenty years later the maintenance man mentioned above was killed in that very church and, as I recall, it was in the daytime.

It seems that with the shortage of priests there is seldom anyone available to guard the church so that it can be left open. Besides, some priests must cover two or three parishes. I had never thought of insurance company policies before reading about that requirement on this forum, but that seems to be an important factor.

We need to make the best of the time in our churches when they are open. These days the House of God, like our own house, has to be locked when we are away and when we sleep, but surely you would think 'open' on Good Friday afternoon....? Sad-- but another sign of these difficult times and reason to pray for God's Mercy on us all.

Porter, a sinner in need of Mercy but looking up.

This is the same over here too

Many many Churches are locked . We have Perpetual Adoration so the Church is normally open from after 9.30 Mass till 6pm. However we do have CCTV installed - there is an Alarm system for the Altar and we have those awful electric votive lights [ on the Fire Brigades insistence ]

We even lost one bank of those And even worse last year we lost our Paschal Candle

There is a Rota for Adoration - which should mean that the Church is never empty - but sadly there can be gaps - and incidents can still happen.

Anhelyna

It is very sad to hear how so many churches are frequently locked.

Back home, my parish recently constructed a priest's office in the rear of the church, so the church is open on most days in the morning and afternoon if Father is in his office. Parishioners will occasionally stop by and pray, and a lot of Russian immigrants in the area tend to come by and light candles. On Great Friday, the church was open from 8:00 AM or so until 9 or 10:00 PM, and from 8:00 AM until the midnight service on Holy Saturday.

The worry of crime and vandalism is a big issue these days, and I don't think it is wise to leave a church unattended. However, provision could be made for most churches to be open at some non-service times for the benefit of the community.

Dave

It is the same thing down here, lots of churches are closed throughout the day. Lots are closed from 2 to 4 pm and close around 8 pm, but many of them are only opened for Mass, one or two times a day on weekdays. Last saturday, around 7 pm I was near the Orthodox Cathedral of St. George, but it was closed; on Monday the Priest told me they only opened on Sundays at 11 am for the Divine Liturgy and sometimes on Saturdays when there is any special event, the rest of the time they are closed It is very sad, but it is also true that lots of thefts are ocurring in churches...

God bless you all

Dear Friends,

Certainly property crime is an issue with keeping churches locked. There is another serious reason.

Desecration of the Holy Eucharist. It has happened at my parish more than once. The Holy Eucharist is stolen from the tabernacle. This may be done by Satan worshippers who desecrate the Eucharist in their evil ceremonies.

I hate to say this but, a couple was found having sex in a confessional.

Nonetheless our parish does remain open during business hours and into the evening when Mass or other meetings are held.

It is a difficult balance between allowing people to visit our Lord in His temple and protecting church property and sacred things from evildoers.

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.

Paul

Is there a problem with going to one's room and praying? Will God not listen? It is a nice pious practice to pray in the temple. But such prayers can be done anywhere, especially if they are just private prayers. The temple is where the community gathers. It is where the liturgies of the Church takes place.

Suggestion: one local Latin parish has a 24/7 chapel open which is annexed to the main church building. One cannot access the main church during off hours, but can spend as much time in the chapel. Can't our own temples have a traditional chapel in the front like monasteries do that can remain open for those who prefer to be near or in the temple building during off hours? Maybe an icon-chapel where the icon can be bolted to the wall? Just wondering.

Joe

One of the reasons why orthodox parishes are often closed is that they do not offer so many services because of the minority status, the lack of clergy and the particular aspects of the easter rite.

Catholics tend to offer several Eucharistic Liturgies everyday no matter if the mass is often breve and badly celebrated as long as the people can have the chance to attend the Holy Sacrifice and benefit from its graces.

Orthodox think it's enough to have a very high Divine Liturgy on sunday when there's a sufficient number of people to start the service. The three Cathedrals here offer a Divine Liturgy on sunday and a Wednesday Vespers.

There's also one thing, the lack of clergy and money. You cannot keep personal there working and taking care of the building because the priests have to go and celebrate elsewhere.

The Ascension Cathedral (Exarchate) is also am monastery but the priests also work as teachers, painters, etc and they're all the week touring chapels celebrating mass for their missions.

The next thing is insecurity. I read in the newspapers that an armed gang irrupted during a Catholic mass in Mex City and assaulted the faithful. Now they recomend people not to bring car at church because of robbery danger. These are hard times in all the countries.

Our church is locked when not in use, and I have no problem with that. We are on a busy main road. The church is close to the street, and the rectory is several hundred yards out back. No way you can see the front door from there. We'e had attempted break-ins, and now sport a security system.

Folks, if you want to visit a church, and you aren't sure if it's open, why not call first? Most pastors & church folks are pretty accommodating of people who want to come pray.

Sharon

Hi Joe,

Christ is risen!

You have good ideas on separate chapels less vulnerable to vandalism.

Our parish converted a meeting room inside the church to a chapel. It is locked from the nave and sanctuary. It isn't open 24/7, but does have extended hours.

I agree with you that one can pray anywhere, any time, and that should be our goal as St. Paul says "to pray unceasingly."

Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are a special grace because our Risen Lord is present physically: body, soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist. I consider these visits an audience with the King of heaven and earth. Quite awesome!

Of course visits to the Blessed Sacrament are not always possible with our busy schedules and locked churches. Then prayer can be done in our own temple of the indwelling Trinity,
and in our prayer closet.

Would someone please tell me about the Eastern theology and practice of Eucharistic adoration?

God bless you,

Paul

Here, in New England, if the church is locked it depends on the town and the type of area.

Where I live (the town) while some of the major church get locked, there are at least three places I may go (up to 10pm). A small chapel built into rectory up the hill (25 chairs), a major seminar close by (pretty neat to be sitting there and have seminaries file in every hour on the hour), and a chapel at the local Catholic book story.

All within a 5 minute ride.

Uh-oh! now I have given myself - no excuse!

-ray

If the prishinor is a familiar face - and they go to the rectory (RC) and ask, it may be that the church would be opened to them with directions to make sure it is locked upon leaving.

Maybe. Sometimes.

-ray

If churches are prone to vandalism and theft wouldn't the presence of praying people be a deterent? Perhaps the locked churches are a symptom of our spiritual coldness...
On the other hand I generally have been allowed into churches that were locked when I knock on the door and ask. Usually the secretaries or the priest or the priest's wife are only too happy to let me in.

Dear iconophile,

Christ is Risen!

What an idea you have about people being in church as a deterrent to crime.

When our parish has Eucharistic devotions on First Fridays the church is open until midnight. Parishioneers are invited to visit with our Lord during that time.

I understand that some monasteries and parishes have perpetual (24/7) adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Parishioners sign a schedule to pray at the church.

My point is. as is yours, is that we need more people praying in church. A great way to decrease vandalism and to grow in the spiritual life.

Paul

DEar Paul,

Last week, I stopped into an RC Church.

There were two girls, obviously high on something, screaming "prayers" into the microphone near the altar.

I had to report on them, none of those present seemed to care.

There should be a guard of some sort on duty . . .

Alex

Of course one should pray everywhere and at all times, but often a church that is an artistic treasure, provides a setting that just makes deep fervent prayer come so much easier. It would be wonderful if I could pray that way all the time, but realistically speaking I know how helpful the visual aspects are for myself and others.

I hate to see us surrender in yet another area, and adopt the view that "we just can't keep the church open anymore because it isn't safe". Don't we already have enough fear in our lives ? We easily except things our parents and grandparents never would have. Keeping churches open and encouraging the faithful to pray early and pray often can only help to strengthen our churches.

The idea that a church just exists for the purpose of holding Divine Liturgies or Mass, is of Protestant origin.

Dear Friends,
Christ is Risen!
I like the Idea of building a vandal/robbery resistant chapel near or attached to one of our Churches. It is laudable to have a place to pray in a holy place.

Since the Byzantine Church traditionally does not have an extra-liturgical cultus to the Reserved Eucharist, it would not be neccessary to Reserve the Holy Mysteries in such a Chapel. But if one would choose to have the Reserved Sacrament, there is an ancient practice of Reserving the Holy Mysteries in a niche above the High Place. With an appropriate "Wall-safe" style Tabernacle, the Holy Mysteries could be properly and saely reserved.
Christ is Risen!

Dear Alex,

Christ is risen!

It's good that you reported the disrespectful behavior.

Once in a blue moon I've seen weird people do weird things in Catholic churches (maybe Protestant churches experience the same thing).

It seems like weird and mentally ill people are attracted to churches. For example, sometimes a homeless guy hangs out in the front of our parish church.

My theory is that God wants us to see these people who are loved by him regardless of their behavior/hygeine. And could they be the least of our brothers and sisters?

Of course, order must be kept in the assembly. One job of ushers is to remove disruptive persons from the church.

I hope you had a peaceful and joyous Pascha.

Paul

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Father Vladimir:
Dear Friends,
Christ is Risen!
I like the Idea of building a vandal/robbery resistant chapel near or attached to one of our Churches. It is laudable to have a place to pray in a holy place.

Since the Byzantine Church traditionally does not have an extra-liturgical cultus to the Reserved Eucharist, it would not be neccessary to Reserve the Holy Mysteries in such a Chapel. But if one would choose to have the Reserved Sacrament, there is an ancient practice of Reserving the Holy Mysteries in a niche above the High Place. With an appropriate "Wall-safe" style Tabernacle, the Holy Mysteries could be properly and saely reserved.
Christ is Risen! [/QUOTE

Fr Vladimir

We do have such Tabernacles - that in my own Parish is not quite like that - but it is still considered reasonably safe - but this is only because of the Alarm system on th Altar. The photo of the Altar can be seen on https://www.byzcath.org/bboard/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=001095;p=2

Our Second Tabernacle, used during the Triduum ,is the wall safe type but it is not 'alarmed' and an attack was made on that one one year

It is sad but I think we have to accept that if they are determined to access a Tabernacle - they will manage it somehow.

Anhelyna

An usher caught a homeless guy peeing into the holy water fonts in the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Philadelphia. The usher tried to "usher" the guy out. Now he is being sued.

Dear Anhelyna,

Thanks for the photo link.

What a positively BEAUTIFUL church!

You are very lucky! How prevalent is the modern RC style of churches in your country?

Curiously,
Alice

Mike C.,
Most upsetting.
Is there a chance this story might not be true?
Where did you read or hear of it?
Communion of Saints

In the Richmond VA area, we've had 6 churches of various denominations arsoned over the last 5 months.
Most churches are locked during the day if there is no service scheduled. Some churches downtown are open from about 10:00am -4:00pm; St. Peter's RC, St. Paul's Episcopal, and Centenary UMC. You have to wade through a sea of "street people" to get into any of them.
There is a monastery in the burbs w/ an adoration chapel that is open 5am-midnight; after 9pm you have to know the code for the keypad to get in. People praying isn't enough, if an elderly lady is there alone, she could assaulted and harmed.
I know of 24/7 chapel, an Episcopal church in the burbs has a 24/7 Lady chapel; the wall is glass so you can see the high altar and the tabernacle w/ the presence lamp.

Dear David,

Dear David,

In Virginia??? I would have never imagined....Why???

In Christ,
Alice

The article about the homeless person peeing in the holy water fonts was in the Philadelphia Inquirer. I will try to find the article.

Indeed we are lucky Alice - and we know it well Our beautiful Church is a 'Listed building' so there is no chance of pulling it down and rebuilding.

It's pretty typical of the older Glasgow Churches - they are all in similar style to this - known as Pugin and Pugin Churches.

The ghastly modern ones were put up when there was a massive expansion of housing and these are all giving problems - to the extent that many are not repairable

Out daughter Church is modern - red brick and to my mind very ugly all angles and it has a large Cry Chapel and I'm not a fan of those

Still we still have lots of the older ones - thank goodness. Even better - many have managed to retain their Altar Rails .

Anhelyna

I don't know, Alex, maybe those girls screaming prayers into the microphone was just a bad Novus Ordo Mass...I stumbled onto a Teen Life music practice at our local Neo-Gothic Roman Catholic church and it sounded about like what you found.
RC churches with Eucharistic adoration generally schedule two people at a time for safety's sake.
Hey, why don't we just rope off the tabernacles with barbed wire? We could gold plate it....

Mike:
Thanks. I was just hoping for a moment that there was some error. Probably not.
Iconophile:
Yes, I too have gone into a church at four pm on a Sunday for some peaceful prayer, only to be astounded at the LOUD barrage of sound - unbelievable - I had to exit the church immediately. "What was THAT?" I said to someone there, pointing to the front of the church near the altar. "Oh, they're practicing for the next Mass, the "Teen" Mass." I ran hurriedly out. It was pretty deafening.
CS

Christ is Risen!! Indeed He is Risen!!!

Unfortunately, the problem of vandalism seems to be universal. I belong to a country parish that has an entrance that cannot easily be seen by the neighbors and is away from the rectory and office. Our new pastor tried to leave it open and is going back to the previous pastor's habit of keeping it locked but offering a key to anyone who wants to go over to pray. Too many problems with people trying to vandalize the property. In my mother's church, 100 miles to the north and much more rural, they had a problem with kids pouring the altar wine around and dissolving the altar breads with water and wine, people taking small candles and lighting them in the confessionals, etc. So the sacristy is now deadbolted and the place is locked down more often than not.

A priest friend of mine told me that he had some of his vestments partially burned in his sacristy before he found them and put out the fire. So much for rural areas.

I also talked to a priest in a Ukrainian Orthodox parish when I worked in the Philadelphia region many years ago. Seems someone walked in and took all their Chalice sets one day: all made in the Russian Empire before the Revolution and considered quite valuable. He definitely locked his church after that.

And why? Guess I'll save that one for the Good Lord.

In Christ,

BOB

What about vandalism from within? A fellow seminarian friend of mine, who arrived at his first parish assignment (Latin), discovered one of the sisters throwing out all the pre-Vatican II vestments. He later went back to the dumpster behind the parish and took them back. One Lenten vestment was all in purple and gold with hand-embroidered images of Christ. His own vestment maker figured it would have cost at least around $10,0000 to reproduce today.

What about all those antimensions we keep hearing about being sold on e-bay? How in creation do they get on the market? Another fellow seminarian from Ohio found a Greek Catholic antimension in his parish garbage can (Latin) in Columbus, Ohio after they were doing some spring cleaning. It was signed by Bishop Basil Takach for the community of Columbus, Ohio!

How do these things happen?

Don't relics and blessed items have any value?

Joe

Joe

You ask about vandalism from within ? As far as I'am concerned it's the worst kind of all, because it comes from those entrusted to be our spiritual leaders. When Cardinal Cody took over the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1964, one of his first acts was to remove all statues and stained glass windows from Holy Name Cathedral (the interior is now hideous) Actually the stained glass windows weren't just removed, they were shattered and consigned to the garbage can. Following the Cardinal's lead the Pastor of the very beautiful church of St Anthony of Padua at 28th-Wallace, organized a group of men from his parish to take sledge hammers and demolish the church's magnificent side altars to Our Blessed Mother and St Joseph. Do such men truly love Our Saviour ? I think not.

P.S. A demented man who urinates in Holy water is less offensive than a Cardinal who orders the destruction of images of Our Saviour.

Dear Lawrence,

Is the Cardinal's full name "Wild Bill" Cardinal Cody?

Paul

But there are also stories of rescues. When I was in the Roman seminary in the mid 1980s I had a friend and at every parish he was assigned to he eventually asked about the old pre-Vatican II vestments, which were usually stored somewhere in mothballs. He acquired a closet full of heavily brocaded fiddleback casubles and dalmatics. "Charlie," we asked, "What in the world are you ever going to do with those?" He would just smile.
Then one day Rome issued the indult allowing the Old Mass again and the now-Father Charles Pope had enough vestments to equip a full altar of celebrants and servers. If any of you ever attend the monthly High Mass at Old St Mary's in DC you will see the fruit of Charlie's foresight.

Dear iconophile,

Actually, the two girls really were on drugs and have been formally charged by the parish.

Alex

Dear Icon:

Fr. Charles' foresight equals that of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, for he has been a "Pope" before, now, and forever!

Amado

P.S. I hope to see Fr. Charles "in action" when my family is in DC this June.

Dear Friends,

The idea of vandalism from within reminds me of the true story of the theft of a ciborium from a Church in Italy in the 19th century, I believe, that was written up by Joan Carroll Cruz in her "Eucharistic Miracles."

The thief slid the Hosts in the ciborium into the parish poor box on his way out with it . . .

The next day, the local bishop called for public prayer to find the Hosts etc.

The Hosts were later discovered caught in the cob-webs surrounding the opening of the poor box - obviously, donations for the poor were, well, poor in that parish . . .

As the Hosts were stained, the bishop ordered them to be placed in a glass container on the Altar for public worship until such time that the Hosts would naturally decompose - and would, at that point, cease to be the Holy Eucharist.

And those Hosts have miraculously remained in pristine condition for all this time and are to this day worshipped as miraculous - Bl. Pope John XXIII visited the church where they are kept after he was elected Pope.

Alex

Dear Friends,

Let's talk a bit about the differences between Latin Catholics visiting Churches during the week and Eastern Orthodox/Eastern Catholics doing so?

The Latin Catholics see such visits as visits to the Blessed Sacrament to adore Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

In Orthodox countries I've visited, the people come to church during the week to pray, light candles before the icons, to kiss the icons and the like.

And there would be EC's who would visit chapels and churches for both purposes.

In the Eastern Churches, one would want to visit a church not only to pray, but to reverence icons and light candles - and if they cannot owing to security issues, how does this "take away" from the point of it all, if it does?

Could laity come together at special times in such chapels to pray the Office together or parts of the Office? Would that be allowed?

We all want to have a "prayer nook" wherein we may keep in touch with God in our special way.

What are some ways that we can do this at work, as well as at home, and when travelling?

I've seen an "Orthodox travelling worship kit" - what do you think of something like that?

Just wondering out loud . . .

Alex

Christ is risen!! Indeed He is risen!!!

Alex:

I was given a small set of icons, hinged together, for traveling. They're about an inch and a half wide and two and a half inches high. They're great for taking along when traveling to turn a strange room into another corner of Heaven.

I, too, have seen an antique home shrine with icons that originated in Russia before the Revolution. It folded up so that it looked like a carved oak box, but opened to have two hinged panels flank a central Pantocrator icon. The top was hinged so that it folded upward so that a cross hung over all. Quite impressive.

Joe:

I couldn't agree with you more. I rescued a set of altar stones with the relics intact and they now rest in three small Orthodox churches that did not have relics in their altar tables. I also rescued some vestments that I gave to a friend who was in a High Church Anglican parish: small and poor, but very appreciative.

My pastor many years ago left a very impressive collection of chalices that he had been given as gifts throughout his priesthood to our parish when he retired. When the next pastor was there for awhile they all disappeared. Go figure.

This past week our local newspaper featured an Old Roman Catholic church that has been formed in our area. The bishop wore a set of vestments made in France over a hundred years ago and they are still in excellent condition. He told the reporter that he had bought them in a thrift shop. I've also come across Orthodox vestments and the coverings for the Chalice and Star Cover, as well as veils.

I'm with you, though. Even though the Church is not supposed to be a museum, there is still a need for reverence for those items consecrated to the Lord's use alone. (I was taught that vestments were supposed to be burned if they were no longer useable or to be used. So much for that.)

In Christ,

BOB

Dear Bob,

You're one cool dude, man!!

Alex

Alex

I'll have to disagree with your assessment of the differences between EC's and LC's visiting churches. When visiting Churches, devout LC's will stop and pray at every statue from the vestibule right up to the altar, or if they're a little less devout (or in a hurry) just maybe one of Our Lord and Our Lady, not just the Blessed Sacrament.

Dear Lawrence:

I know that finding a church that is open in my part of the world is difficult, although most make extra effort on Holy Thursday/Good Friday. Around here, the fear is mostly theft or even desecration. Sadly, I think both are possible. There are usually sign up sheets for people who are willing to schedule prayer time to make sure there is a parishioner on hand to observe. This goes on all night at my parish, so that the Tomb is always watched. Someone has to sign for every time slot.

The priests and deacons I know are really overly scheduled. I used to work next door to a little Italian church. I'd call it a marginal neighborhood. The pastor there is from a missionary order and is a wonderful man - but we all knew that he treated his M-F office workers equally to his real parishioners. He could only leave the church open for a little before and after his noon Mass, despite his desire to accomodate everyone. It wasn't that he didn't want people to be able to come in and pray. He just knew that there were many scary folks in the neighborhood who might well mess up God's house or steal from it - and that it wouldn't be a good idea to leave anyone or anything in there unattended. And like most priests he had sick calls and meetings and had to run around most of the day. He was apologetic about the need to lock things up, but he really had no choice.

Even the suburban RC church that I used to live by and that was in a very nice neighborhood had interesting problems. The church was stolen from several times and could only be open limited hours when the office was also open. The poor box had to be removed after every Mass - it was stolen three or four times that I know of. If you wanted to light a candle, you had to pay at the office, because the candle payments were stolen. Interestingly, the thief was caught - he wasn't poor, he was a regular guy who was a clepto and the priests didn't like to prosecute after they found out that he needed treatment. I shudder to mention it, but once in awhile, there was a woman I could only describe as some sort of "priestess" who used to come in and engage in odd rituals in the side, Marian chapel until she was gently removed. I have no idea what she was actually doing. It was weird. But the priests knew she was there and how to deal with her. She was unusual, but extremely polite.

I was shocked when I visited a small church in Ontario near a touristy area and found it open. In most of my experience, which was mostly urban or close-in suburban, churches just had to be locked unless they could find someone to effectively be there to stand guard all day. And like you, Lawrence, I'm still fairly young and once in awhile I just want to go in a church and talk to God and reflect and it would be nice to be able to do that with more ease.

Dear Lawrence,

That's O.K., Big Guy, I was asking, not telling . . .

Alex