John Angerer, 93, has been adoring Christ in the Blessed Sacrament at St. Augustine, in Barberton, Ohio, for an hour each week for the past 63 years — since the parish began perpetual adoration on All Saints’ Day 1962.
Pope John XXIII had just opened the Second Vatican Council in Rome 21 days earlier. That means the nonagenarian has done more than 3,276 hours of adoration.
“It’s good for your soul,” Angerer said, “a beautiful way to talk to God with no disturbances.”
“The year before going perpetual, we had adoration from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” he recounted. “A group of us men decided we’d do the night hours. Then, we went two by two around the neighborhood, inviting people to sign up for adoration. Some wanted time to think about it, and we’d go back to see them again. We had three people an hour.
“Many people have died since then,” he continued, “and now we have one or two people an hour and some are doing one and a half hours to make it work.” Although he retired long ago,
