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CHARLOTTE — In the midst of talks, concerts, lunch and Catholic shopping sprees, many Eucharistic Congress attendees also spent additional time in Adoration over and above the Holy Hour that followed the Eucharistic procession on Saturday morning.

A simple, softly lit tent provided the temporary chapel for the Most Blessed Sacrament for the full day of the congress. Colorful Knights of Columbus alternated 15-minute shifts throughout the afternoon as watchful guards.

John Lefeber from St. Charles Borromeo Church in Morgantown stood watch around lunch time and was impressed to see parents who had never been to Adoration bring their young children and instruct them in silence and prayer.

"There was a variety of folks in a variety of dress," he noted, commenting sadly that some people need to mind modest dress in church.

As during the Holy Hour on Saturday in the Charlotte Convention Center, the faithful knelt on the bare concrete floor to offer their prayers and worship to God.

"Christ is here," said Dr. Austin Osemeka of St. Michael Church in Gastonia. "What's kneeling on concrete?"

Alyssa Dimmock, 10, left the chapel beaming, holding a jeweled rosary. "I like to pray the rosary in Adoration," she said simply.

Lisena Maria Moss from St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville likewise held a rosary as she left the chapel following her time spent in Adoration. She had soft tears in her eyes and praised the opportunity to make a Holy Hour with the thousands of Congress attendees.

Sister Archana, SCV, of Christ the King Church in High Point, said that she and the 13 sisters of her convent "could feel the living presence of the Eucharist" at Adoration. She called this experience "very touching in our hearts."

— Mary B. Worthington, correspondent. Photos by Bill Washington and Ruben Tamayo.