March 11, 2011
Eucharistic Adoration chapels
Parishes provide information about their chapels
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
Bonnie Reuber was raised Catholic, and has attended both Catholic and some non-denominational churches. When she lived in Evansville, she used to pray in the chapel at St. Mary’s Hospital, and when she moved to Jasper she discovered the chapel at the Providence Home.
Then she heard about the adoration chapel on the grounds at Precious Blood parish, and now she spends five to 10 minutes a day there “after work. It’s peaceful and quiet, and it’s helped me through the trying times. (Related story: Ways to celebrate Eucharistic Adoration)
“It’s a great place to go for quiet times.”
Father Gary Kaiser is the pastor at Precious Blood Church.
He spoke to a man recently who asked him where he served. When Father Kaiser answered, “Precious Blood” the man said, “That’s where the adoration chapel is.”
He added, “Father, I haven’t gone to church in years.”
Father Kaiser said, “That’s all right.”
There was a long pause, and then the man said, “You know, Father, I go to the adoration chapel. I feel at home there.”
Father Kaiser believes that “Jesus is drawing them in. Through the Blessed Sacrament, he is reaching out and healing people who are not comfortable going to church. I firmly believe it’s Jesus bringing them back to church.”
He added, “Blessings happened the day we opened the chapel. I firmly believe this.
“As a new pastor, there were difficult challenges. I was focusing on trying to be a shepherd.” At the same time, “people were adoring before the Lord, and doors opened. I could feel God guiding us as a parish.”
He knows that when people are in the chapel, they pray for jobs, for the sale of homes and for the health of those they love.
“It’s simply that we are placing our trust in God, and he’s hearing our prayers.”
The chapel at Precious Blood will soon be expanded “because there is not enough room.” The expanded chapel will have the capacity for 22 people, he said.
Parishes around the Diocese of Evansville were invited to provide information to the Message about their Eucharistic adoration chapels. Here are their responses.
ST. BENEDICT CATHEDRAL, EVANSVILLE
At St. Benedict Cathedral exposition of the Blessed Sac-rament is held Monday through Friday from noon until 5 p.m., according to Benedictine Sister Patricia Ann McGuire, pastoral associate.
“The room on the east side of the sanctuary, which serves as a nursery for infants and toddlers during liturgical celebrations, also serves as the Adoration Chapel during the week.
“On the First Friday of every month, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is on the main altar of the cathedral. On these days parishioners are asked to pray especially for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
“Exposition is cancelled when schools are closed due to inclement weather. There is no exposition of the Blessed Sacrament on Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas eve and day, New Year’s eve and day, and during Holy Week.”
For more information contact Louise Mehringer at 812-473-4929 or the parish office at 812 -425-3369.
BOONVILLE
Father Lowell Will said St. Clement Church in Boonville does not have a “special Adoration Chapel in our new church, but we do have Ado-ration on all the Fridays of Advent and Lent.”
In Advent, the hours are after the 8 a.m. Mass to 6 p.m., and in Lent the hours begin after the 8 a.m. Mass and last until the beginning of the 6:30 p.m. Mass.
Father Will is the pastor at St. Clement’s and at St. Rupert Church in Red Brush.
EVANSVILLE
• Good Shepherd parish does not have an Adoration Chapel, but there is Adoration each Tuesday and the second Wednesday of each month.
Each Tuesday, Adoration begins at 4:30 p.m. until 5:15 p.m. at which time Father Zach Etienne, pastor, has Benediction.
After Benediction at 5:30 p.m., there is a celebration of Mass. While Adoration is going on, Father Etienne is in the Reconciliation Room hearing Confessions.
The second Wednesday of each month, the Blessed Sacra-ment is exposed beginning right after the children’s Mass, usually around 8:15 a.m. and is exposed all day until 6 p.m. at which time Father Etienne has Benediction.
People sign up for specific hours, with the school children visiting periodically throughout the day. Both of the Adorations are in the Church.
• The perpetual adoration chapel at Holy Redeemer parish in Evansville has been named for St. John Vianney.
“We are located in a building (former rectory) behind Holy Redeemer Church,” said Cecilia Phillips, a member of the adoration committee.
“The Knights of Columbus Council 12541 also occupies this building, which opened in November of 2009.”
There are 186 regularly scheduled adorers and 123 substitutes who faithfully cover the 168 weekly hours,” she said. “It is not necessary to be a member of Holy Redeemer parish to register as an adorer or substitute — or even to visit the Cha-pel. Everyone is welcome.
“Our Lord receives an average of over 40 visitors per day. We have had over 17,000 adorers, substitutes and visitors since opening — in addition to many others who were unable to ‘sign in’ due to periodic computer malfunctions the first few months. We now have the problem corrected.
“Door locks automatically from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. If anyone wishes to register to be a scheduled adorer or substitute, he/she is given an ID number that is used to ‘sign in’ on the touch screen as well as open the door during the nighttime hours. (Otherwise, the adorer present has the option to unlock the door — we do not encourage admitting an unknown person).”
• Providence Sister Mary Mundy is the pastoral associate at Holy Rosary Church in Evansville.
She said that Holy Rosary has Adoration five days a week, Monday through Friday, starting after the 7 a.m. Mass and ending most days at 9 p.m. “We have a key pad entry for safety and welcome all to participate. Our faith is deepened and we are healed by spending a quiet hour in the presence of our Lord.
“Holy Rosary is blessed to have a special Prayer Room, Adoration Chapel, located in the back of the church. It affords a peaceful setting and quiet time to spend with Jesus, present in the Blessed Sacrament.”
For more information, contact Marilyn Doyle at 812-473-0720, marilynadoyle1@yahoo.com or Sister Mary Mundy at the parish office, 812-477-8923.
• Father Phil Kreilein, pastor at Resurrection Church in Evansville, said, “The Adora-tion Chapel is within the church to the left of the entrance by the canopy. The hours are Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m.
• Sister Jane Nesmith said, “We have no chapel, but we have been having Eucharistic Adoration in the Prayer Room of the church every Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. for the past five years.”
Sister Jane is a Sister of the Blessed Sacrament, and the pastoral life coordinator at St. John Church, Evansville.
• Father Steve Lintzenich, pastor at St. Mary Church in Evansville, said, “Our Lady’s chapel is a Blessed Sacrament chapel where Eucharistic adoration does occur.
“In fact, our new parish calendars for 2011 has this on the cover.
“We also have done Evening Prayer Monday through Friday night in the chapel for the last 20 years. It is open from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. as is our whole church building.”
• Deacon Tom Lehman said Sacred Heart Church, Evansville, has a Day of Adoration every first Friday.
“We have exposition of the Blessed Sacrament following the 8 a.m. Mass and continuing throughout the day with closing Benediction at 5 p.m.
GIBSON COUNTY
“Currently we do not have an Adoration Chapel at any of our cluster parishes,” said Amy Silva. “We do have every Friday adoration at Sts Peter and Paul and other scheduled adoration times at Holy Cross and St. Bernard.”
She is the assistant to the pastor, Father Tony Ernst, at Holy Cross Church, Fort Branch, St. Bernard Church, Snake Run, and Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Haubstadt.
HAUBSTADT
“We here at St. James have First Saturday Adoration, which is a 24-hour prayer vigil,” said Patty Maurer, secretary.
“We always start at 7 a.m. the day before First Saturday and have all night adoration; on the next morning which is First Saturday we have the closing and that includes Rosary, Chap-let, Confession time of about 30 to 45 minutes. Then we close the Benediction and have Mass. The entire prayer time is 7 a.m. (Friday) to 7 to 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. We have had this for about 13 years since Father Kenneth Betz came.”
IRELAND
Father Ron Kreilein, pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Ireland, said, “We don’t officially have an ‘Adoration Chapel’ but, we do have Eucharistic Adoration 30 minutes before each weekday Mass, Tuesday through Saturday, and on First Fridays from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., and on First Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Everyone is welcome to attend.”
JASPER
The Divine Providence Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel at Precious Blood par-ish opened on December 1, 2009, with Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration beginning on October 1, 2010, according to Connie Schroering, committee member.
“The Chapel is located at 1385 West Sixth Street on Lechner Lane in Jasper.
“Faith-filled parishioners from the Jasper Deanery are on the scroll of over 300 scheduled adorers who make it possible for the chapel to remain open 24/7 for anyone to spend time with Jesus.
“It’s heartwarming to hear the witnesses from adorers of the blessings and grace they have received, not only for themselves, but for their friends, family and the community.
“Many of the visitors have expressed their gratitude to be able to come to the chapel to pray even though they are not of the Catholic faith, or have not been active Catholics.”
For additional information, call 812-482-4461 or 630-8382.
LOOGOOTEE
Father Joseph Erbacher is the pastor of the four Martin County parishes. He said, “We do not have a Eucharistic adoration chapel; however, we do every Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at St. John in Loo-gootee have a day of Eucharistic Adoration.”
MONTGOMERY
Father James Koressel said, “We do not have an adoration chapel at Montgomery or Can-nelburg. At Montgomery we have adoration for one hour after Mass on the first Friday of each month.”
He is the pastor at St. Peter Church in Montgomery and All Saints Church in Cannelburg.
NEWBURGH
“We have held Eucharistic Adoration in our chapel at St. John the Baptist Parish in Newburgh since November 1, 1995,” said Father Joseph Ziliak, pastor. “At that time, Adoration was held three hours per day.
“Our ministry has grown, and the current schedule is Monday through Friday from noon to 5 p.m., and on the first Friday from 7 a.m. Mass until 7 a.m. Mass Saturday. Our Knights of Columbus organization takes the evening Adoration hours.”
The chapel is located inside the church building at 625 Frame Road. “Enter the Narthex and turn right.”
John Hancock is the coordinator. He says, “Anybody and everybody is encouraged to come to Adoration. All are welcome here to spend time with the Blessed Sacrament.”
Some parishioners sign up for specific times while others come when they are able.
For questions or to sign up for time with the Blessed Sac-rament, call John Hancock at 317-641-2059.
POSEY COUNTY
“Since June 18, 2006, members (and some non-members) of St. Philip Church have enjoyed visiting Jesus in the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel every hour of every day (24/7),” said Dolores Masterson, a parishioner at the Posey County parish.
“St. Philip is located seven miles west of Evansville; the chapel is in the rear of the church and has a separate entrance.
“It is open all hours for casual visits, and everyone is invited to consider committing to a specific hour each week.”
For more information contact any committee member: Jackie Fehrenbacher 812-985-5019, Todd and Kathleen French 812-985-2089, Paul and Deanna Goossens 812-423-7046, Tom and Dolores Kirsch 812-985-5247, Bob and Anne Martin 812-985-7826, Larry and Lois Martin 812-985-9425, Dan and Dolores Masterson 812-985-2411, Lorraine Stratman 812-985-3904.
PRINCETON
Susan Williams is the DRE at St. Joseph Church in Princeton. She said, “Eucharistic Adoration is held in the Day Chapel on the 16th of each month from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. “When the 16th falls on a Sunday, Eucharistic Adoration begins at noon. Benediction follows at 5 p.m.
Sign-ups are coordinated by Jerry and Judy Marx and Gil-bert Karcher; however, the Day Chapel is open to the public during adoration hours. Those who visit the chapel are asked to pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood, deaconate and religious life as part of their meditation. For more information, contact the parish office at 812-385-2617.
SCHNELLVILLE
“At Sacred Heart Parish in Schnellville, Eucharistic Adoration has been ongoing since January 7, 2002,” said Eileen Hauser, office manager.
“Beginning at noon, four days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday) and at 1 p.m. on Thursday and ending at 11 p.m. on Monday and Thursday, and at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Fri-day, people from our parish and several surrounding par-ishes are present before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the small chapel in the rear of Sacred Heart Church.
“Each has chosen one hour per week as their ‘select space’ for prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.”
The coordinators include Manda Leonard, Eileen Hauser, Sandy Turner and Joni Wagner. “All are welcome to spend time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.”
VINCENNES
“Our Catholic community, made up of six parishes, is blessed to have a Eucharistic Adoration Chapel named ‘Jesus King of Angels,’” said Zoe Cannon, committee member.
The chapel, which opened on July 11, 2010, is located in St. Vincent de Paul Church on Hart Street Road.
“At this time, the chapel is open three days a week, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Adoration begins after the 8:10 a.m. Mass at St. Vincent on Tuesday mornings and closes at 11 p.m. On Wednesday and Thursday morning the chapel is open from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m.
“We pray the number of days will continue to grow into a ‘Perpetual’ Eucharistic chapel one day.”
The core planning committee includes
- Sacred Heart: Zoe Cannon, Jeff Jacobs, Julie Marchino, Em-ily Giordano;
- St. Philip Neri: Louise Branch, Leah Singleton, Mary Cullison, Margaret Strange, Joan Dupire;
- St. John the Baptist: Lita Matick, Don Biggs, Ron Shafer, Jaclyn Snyder, Dick Vieck;
- Old Cathedral: Pat Earley;
- St. Thomas: Judy Ruppel;
- St. Vincent de Paul: Judy Bilskie, Nancy Ketchum.
WASHINGTON
There is a Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel for the Washington Catholic Community that is located in the Our Lady of Hope Church building.
The following parishes are part of the Washington Deanery and the Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel: All Saints Church, Cannelburg; St. John Church, Loogootee; St. Joseph Church, Bramble; St. Martin Church, Whitfield; St. Mary Church, Shoals; St. Peter Church, Montgomery; Our Lady of Hope Church, Washington; Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Petersburg, St. Mary Chapel, Barr Township, and St. Patrick Chapel in Corning.
The website notes that “we of the Washington Catholic Community are helping to realize the dream of Pope John Paul II. The Holy Father said that our communal worship at Mass must go together with our personal worship of Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration in order that our love may be complete.”
In Dominicae Cenae, the pope wrote “Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love. Let us be generous with our time in going to meet Him in adoration and in contemplation that is full of faith and ready to make reparation for the great faults and crimes of the world. May our adoration never cease.”
Photo caption (from the top of the story): This monstrance is taken from the website for the Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel which is located in the Our Lady of Hope Church building in Washington. The website notes that “we of the Washington Catholic Com-munity are helping to realize the dream of Pope John Paul II. The Holy Father said that our communal worship at Mass must go together with our personal worship of Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration in order that our love may be complete.”