St. Thomas Adoration Chapel to celebrate 25 years as ‘heart’ of parish

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

In 2001, St. Thomas Parish, Ft. Thomas, opened its Adoration Chapel. And now, 25 years later, the parish will celebrate the chapel’s anniversary. The celebration will take place March 1 at the Parish, with adoration at 6 p.m., followed by Benediction then dinner at 6 p.m. All are welcome to join in the commemoration.

According to long-time, now retired, adoration coordinator and adorer of the Chapel, Ellen Curtin, the idea to establish the chapel came from parishioner Gary Smith. From there, he pursued the idea and gathered a committee — the rest is history. And, while open hours have lessened and available adorers have dwindled over the years, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the chapel has stayed open every week for the past 25 years.

Adorers come from all around the area, according to Mrs. Curtin, reminiscing on her time as coordinator, citing people coming from “every parish,” and some even from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

As an adorer herself, Mrs. Curtin said that she “found that committing to an hour made me go … It’s the commitment to me that is the powerful thing. It’s lovely to know that adoration is possible … I have found it powerful for my spiritual growth. Adoration is a beautiful way to spend an hour.”

“Eucharistic Adoration is the quiet heart of a parish, just like prayer is the quiet heartbeat of the individual,” said Father Ross Kelsch, St. Thomas’s pastor. “In adoration, we can bring what we carry: gratitude, grief, decisions, fears, hopes … Adoration creates space for God’s grace to work patiently within real lives. The chapel is where the parish breathes — and everything else draws life from that breath.”

“This anniversary reminds us that for 25 years people have come before the Lord here at every hour of the day and night. Generations have kept watch, often unseen, carrying the prayers of the whole parish,” Father Kelsch continued, remarking on the reduced hours of the chapel since the pandemic. “We have not yet returned to perpetual adoration and currently offer it several days each week. Even so, the chapel remains a place of deep faithfulness — because every hour someone keeps is a gift not only for themselves but for the whole parish. I am grateful to those who built it, those who sustained it for years, and especially those who continue to come now. A chapel lives because people return.”

Looking forward to the future, Father Kelsch said that, “My hope is simple — that more hearts will rediscover the peace found there and that, in time, we may again keep watch around the clock. Not as a program to accomplish, but as a sign of love — a community choosing to remain with the Lord who never stops remaining with us. May the next 25 years see even more people find in this chapel a place of rest, trust and quiet transformation.”