Day and night Small Illinois parish mounts perpetual prayer cir

WESTVILLE, Ill. -- It's midnight when Elmer Nicklas climbs out of bed. He's on a mission -- and it's not to dig a late-night snack out of the refrigerator.

The Catlin resident and his wife are among the 150 worshippers from St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Westville who belong to the church's perpetual prayer circle, called Perpetual Adoration. Members of the congregation go to the church at various times throughout the week to pray for one hour -- with the number of participants ensuring someone is praying at the church every hour of the day and night.

Nicklas signed up to pray at 1 a.m. on Wednesdays at the church. Surrounded by silence, the 62-year-old retiree sits at the south end of the church in the Mother's Chapel leafing through a Catholic prayer book and reading several scriptures.

For Nicklas and his wife, it's one of the most peaceful hours in the week.

"It's a time that you can sit down and not have any outside interference," he said. "It's perfectly quiet and you reflect on the things you need to be reflecting on as far as your faith.

"You know the phone won't ring, there's no TV, no radio, someone's not going to come to the door," he said. "It just gives you that opportunity."

Ahead of schedule

The perpetual prayer, which began Jan. 1, is the result of work by the Rev. David Erickson. Still a newcomer to the Westville community, Erickson said it had been one of his goals since he arrived, but it took the events of Sept. 11 to bring perpetual prayer to the forefront for St. Mary's.

"I was thinking three or four years down the road," he said. "But then 9/11 happened and I just told the folks, 'If not now, when?'"

Participants pray for world peace and the needs of both St. Mary's and the community overall. With only 150 volunteers and 160 hours in the week, some people take on more than one prayer hour. Erickson said many pastors told him he would need 2,000 families to put it together.

"I thought to myself that it was a good thing and it was something we need in light of everything that happened starting with Sept. 11 and now," Nicklas said. "There's nothing wrong with everyone giving another hour to our Lord."

Their 'quiet hour'

The perpetual prayer volunteers are a cross-section of the congregation, ranging from eighth-graders to longtime church members. Nicklas said several parishioners who are retired help fill the daytime hours when others are working. Erickson said several parishioners have called the time of prayer their "quiet hour" in an otherwise hectic day.

"Especially the ones who've never done it before," he said. "They're just reporting that 'Father, I never knew there could be so much peace in my own heart.'"

Perpetual prayer is far from a new concept. Erickson said it has been around for centuries, but became less common. Now only two other churches (one in Peoria and one in the Quad Cities) use it in the 26-county, 16,933-square-mile Diocese of Peoria.