JEFFERSON — It is often said that good can come out of bad situations, and there are many quotes in Holy Scripture that back that up.
One example is Romans 8:28 which says “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
According to Fr. Tom Coyle, pastor for almost 18 years at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Jefferson, the story of getting the parish’s Perpetual Adoration chapel up and running during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 was something like “a gift from Heaven,” he said.
The Perpetual Adoration schedule was officially started on April 20, 2020, the day after Divine Mercy Sunday and just days after the six-week lockdown ordered by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers had expired.
“The parish had been holding Adoration hours periodically for the past five or six years starting with 12 hours on the first Friday of the month and a few years later expanding hours to every Friday and more, but what developed during the first few months of the pandemic was simply amazing,” he said.
“During the initial closing of the churches, parishioners were coming to me asking if we could add Thursday Adoration hours and I said yes, and then they came asking if we could add Wednesday hours and I said yes, and then they came asking if we could add Monday Adoration and I said yes. And so it went until we realized we were getting close to Perpetual Adoration,” Father Coyle explained.
Adoration up until this time had been held mostly in the parish center basement.
When it first began five years ago, it was held in St. John the Baptist Church (St. Francis of Assisi Parish consists of three communities: St. John the Baptist, St. Lawrence, and St. Coletta’s of Wisconsin).
According to Chapel Coordinator Lizzett Perez, “during the six-week quarantine (the last two weeks of April and the month of May), we asked Father if we could have Adoration 24/7 and he said ‘yes!’ But after that concluded, we asked everyone if they would like to continue and all said ‘yes’ again!”
Former convent chapel ‘found’ in parish center
Space was “found” in an area of the parish center building that was being used as an area to teach religious education, but what used to be a chapel for the Nuns.
The current parish center used to be the Sister’s convent but later was converted to house the parish offices.
It needed refurbishing and clearing out, but it made the most sense to be used as an Adoration chapel, Perez explained.
According to St. Francis of Assisi Director of Religious Education Tiffany Topel, the idea to create a permanent spot for Adoration had come over the years, but with the strong desire by parishioners to have Adoration during the pandemic, the idea grew more urgent.
Then out of the blue, a lightbulb went on — or more likely the Holy Spirit intervened — Topel said, and the old chapel used by the Nuns was brought to the table.
The pluses for its use as a chapel were that it had restroom access and it was possible to make an entrance from outside of the building without too much expense or complication, Topel said.
A little sacrifice on office space was made by all of us, especially for Religious Education Coordinator Jodi El-Beri, who facilitates the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program for 4K-sixth grade at the parish.
Her atrium/teaching spot had been in the area of the new chapel.
El-Beri moved her atrium to the upstairs of the parish center and she took the smallest space for her office.
It all worked and our whole parish community is grateful and blessed to have this beautiful Perpetual Adoration chapel, Topel said.
Third Perpetual Adoration chapel for the diocese
Topel added that she grew up in Fennimore where there is a Perpetual Adoration chapel at St. Mary Church.
“I grew up with Adoration and it gave me a personal spark for having Adoration available in my parish now.”
There were only two Perpetual Adoration chapels in the Diocese of Madison: At Holy Redeemer Church in downtown Madison and at St. Mary in Fennimore.
The creation of another Perpetual Adoration chapel is truly a gift and a special grace for Jefferson, Topel said.
Topel also explained how back six or seven years ago when the Adoration hours were started on First Fridays at the parish, there was much enthusiasm and participation from the Hispanic families, and a lot of the hours “kind of fell into their lap and soon they were asking for more hours to be available.”
Many parishioners — Hispanic and others — worked first or second-shift jobs and they wanted overnight hours available for Adoration so they could have a Holy Hour.
The parish started offering a dinner once a month to bring Hispanic and other parishioners together for a Family Adoration evening with singing, prayer, and fellowship, Topel said.
We are one family and connected in prayer — then and now. This new chapel brings us even more together,” she said.
So fast forward to the “pandemic opportunity.”
Parishioners came together in various ways to help get the space created and set up for Adoration.
A community carpenter, Don Reinders, built the altar for the chapel from old pews he and his wife Kay had purchased earlier from St. John the Baptist Church.
Reinders donated the pews and designed the altar to match the altar of the main church.
Some of the other structural changes that needed to be done were building a new entrance door to the chapel and concrete work to make a walkway to the entrance.
Also, the chapel needed new ceiling tiles and a coded entry lock, which allowed each adorer to enter with their own code.
The parish raised the money needed — about $8,000 — thanks to donations from the community, monetary and hours of work.
Some other parishioners who helped on the project included: Mark Gallardo and family, Sam and Jodi El-Beri, Garcia Concrete, Brandon Moran, Michael and Barbara Provenzano, and Love Begins Here high school students.
Many beautiful items such as statues and Stations of the Cross paintings were also donated, she added.
In conclusion, Perez explained, it all worked because people had time on their hands because of the pandemic restrictions. They found ways to keep safe by taking turns working in the chapel. They rotated by either members of one household, one couple, or one person in the new chapel for Adoration hours.
The students at St. John Baptist School also come for Adoration hours, she said.
The new chapel was up and running by September and the parish chose September 8, the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, for its inauguration day, she said.
Procession celebrates Perpetual Adoration start in Jefferson
On Divine Mercy Sunday last year — April 19, the parish decided, with Father Coyle’s approval, to have a Eucharistic Procession with Father Coyle and the Blessed Sacrament (in the Monstrance) driven in an SUV around Jefferson to bless parishioners and all people in their homes since no one could go to Mass or congregate for this great feast of the church.
The procession was a culmination of celebrating four events at St. Francis of Assisi: Divine Mercy Sunday, the start of Perpetual Adoration, 50 years of priesthood for Father Coyle, and for his birthday on April 21, Perez explained.
Father Coyle was so supportive through this whole process, and he himself has four hours of Adoration in the wee morning hours, she said.
“We are so grateful for his leadership and support. He encouraged us all the way while being concerned and cautious for everyone’s safety.”
St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Jefferson consists of about 1,000 families in the three faith communities previously mentioned.
In upcoming weeks, there will be more stories covering the combined history and various ministries of this vibrant, prayerful parish.