Adoration leads to priesthood

By Christina Galeone
CFP Correspondent

The sound of soft footsteps in an atmosphere of tranquility. The radiant gleam of the golden monstrance and the infinitely more radiant, brilliant glow from the Blessed Sacrament it shelters.  Eucharistic adoration has had a profound impact on many. Father Laurence V. Brault is one of them.
When he was in elementary school, he was an altar boy at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Hopkinton. The church held Miraculous Medal devotions – which included adoration – every Monday night. And he frequently volunteered to serve.
“I can remember being very moved at being in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and being able to pour out my heart to him in prayer,” Father Brault shared. “At a very early age, the beauty of the liturgy and devotions that included eucharistic adoration inspired me to a love of the Church and the thoughts of priesthood.”
Now the pastor of St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in Upton, he still experiences the rich blessings of eucharistic adoration. But those blessings also flow into the pews. Father Brault’s love for and understanding of the devotion has evolved, and that evolution has led him to offer various ways for his congregation to experience it.
Despite his childhood aspirations, it wasn’t until his junior year at the College of the Holy Cross that he “came to a personal and intense discovery of the truth of God – specifically through reading the philosophical writings of Gabriel Marcel – and the thought of completely dedicating my life to the service of God came back to the forefront of my thoughts and prayers.” He noted it was his “personal conversion moment leading to my discernment of God’s call in my life.” That prompted him to attend St. John’s Seminary in Brighton.
After his ordination, he was an associate pastor at St. Paul Cathedral, St. Luke the Evangelist in Westborough, St. Francis of Assisi in Fitchburg, St. Brigid in Millbury and St. Anne in Shrewsbury before becoming pastor of the former Holy Angels Parish in Upton in 1992. He was pastor there until 2011, when it became St. Gabriel’s, and he became the co-founding pastor of St. Gabriel’s.
Throughout his ministry in Upton, he has been highly involved with Worldwide Marriage Encounter, the Archangel St. Raphael Holy Healing Ministry and the twinning of his parish with St. Anne’s in Haiti.
In recent years, eucharistic adoration has become an increasingly important part of his life. Father Brault said that happened when he made a connection between adoration and John 1:35 – in which Jesus sees and asks two of his future disciples what they’re looking for. It helped him realize that adoration went beyond the wonder of allowing him to look at Jesus and open himself in prayer to him.    
“Eucharistic adoration was all about Jesus turning and looking at me; it was about being caught up in his gaze of love,” he said. “My presence before the exposed Eucharist was letting Jesus love me. At about the same time, I attended my first Steubenville East Conference and was overwhelmed by the power of the eucharistic adoration that took place there – a moment in which I experienced a personal physical healing. Since that time, I have an even greater sense of my ministry being all about leading people to Christ in the Eucharist and offering my people the opportunities of experiencing that eucharistic presence in their lives.”  
In addition to offering adoration every Tuesday and during the First Friday devotions, Father Brault has been giving people the opportunity to attend “Adoration Under the Stars” on designated summer nights. The pastor had heard about its success in evangelizing people in other parts of the country. So, in 2021, he decided to try it to inspire the congregation to embrace the Eucharist again.     
“In putting together these evenings, we placed a table outside the church, covered with altar linens and with candles and invited people to come … with blankets and lawn chairs; those who wanted to remain in their cars could do so,” Father Brault explained. “The Eucharist was brought from the church in the monstrance and placed on the table. There was music provided by Court Francis and a meditation on the Eucharist put together by Eileen “Neenie” Francis. After a ten-minute time of total silence and then praying the Benediction prayers, I took the monstrance and brought it down to those in attendance, blessing them as individuals or as families.”
Many of the more than 100 people who attended shared their powerful experiences with Father Brault.
“There were those who reached out to touch the monstrance just as the crowds in the Gospel would reach out to touch the tassel of Jesus’ cloak,”  he recalled. “What I did not realize until the next day after our first … was that there was a person present who had been suffering from intense body pain for a year and a half and when she touched the monstrance experienced an electric charge through her body. She went home freed from her pain to experience the first full night of sleep in a year and a half.”
The success of those tranquil evenings has inspired a couple of dreams in Father Brault. One of them is to hold “Adoration Under The Star” during Christmas week. The other involves the congregation as well.
“It is my hope that these services will bring my people to a greater and greater awareness of eucharistic presence and the importance of Eucharist in their lives,” Father Brault shared. “All I can say to those who have not experienced this devotion in their lives is: come yourself and see! Let Jesus turn and look at you, letting his gaze of love enter into your heart and soul.”


On Thursday, October 20, the Diocese of Worcester is planning Celebrate Priesthood! / Taste of the Diocese event from 5:30-7:30 p.m. to celebrate the ministry of our diocesan priests.  We are excited to share that we will be returning to the Saint Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High School, 144 Granite St., Worcester. For information and tickets go to worcesterdiocese.org/celebrate-priesthood