HOT SPRINGS — When the perpetual adoration chapel at Good Shepherd Home closed last year, it left the people of Hot Springs without a place for quiet, constant prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
Father Erik Pohlmeier, pastor of the St. John the Baptist and St. Mary of the Springs churches, felt the parishes should try to remedy the situation. On the campus of St. John is a two-story building. The lower floor has been used as offices for parish staff and the upstairs provided housing for the priests in residence. The second floor also has a chapel with an outside entrance. St. John Parish recently purchased a home in a nearby neighborhood and the priests are now living off campus.
It was decided to convert the rectory part of the building into additional office space and the priests’ private chapel to a perpetual adoration chapel. Besides offices for Father Pohlmeier and associate pastors Fathers T. J. Hart and Alan Rosenau, there are offices for three church secretaries.
The new floor plan also provides an office for the parish accountant and a guest suite for overnight visitors. There are two small meeting rooms, “and we even have room for storage now,” Donna Hayes, one of the parish secretaries, said.
The original adoration chapel was located on the campus of the Monastery of Our Lady of Charity and Refuge, also known as St. Michael Convent or Good Shepherd Home.
In September 2007 six of the sisters were excommunicated and the Catholic Church no longer recognized the monastery as a Catholic institution. The Blessed Sacrament was removed from that location by diocesan administrator Msgr. J. Gaston Herbert and the chapel was closed.
The new chapel opened on March 9.
“The need for an adoration chapel after the closing of the chapel at St. Michael was the motivation for the changes in the rectory,” Father Pohlmeier said. “The adoration chapel (at St. John) is suffering the usual growing pains of any new enterprise and that’s getting new people to make the commitment.
“The people that were involved at St. Michael’s are very grateful for the opportunity to resume their commitment, but we still have a few hours in the 24 hours that are not covered,” he said.
The chapel has an outside entrance that is accessible 24 hours a day. The door is locked, but opens with a combination. There is an elevated walkway to the right of the front doors of the church that leads to the chapel. From the front door of the office building, the chapel is accessible by stairs.
“Praying before the Blessed Sacrament is a wonderful experience and many graces have been gained by taking part in the spending of an hour with the Lord,” Jayne Dierks, perpetual adoration chapel coordinator, said. “We would love for people to volunteer for an hour each week, but you can just drop by the chapel. Just ask at the office about admittance to the chapel.”
The chapel is supported by the three Catholic parishes in Garland County: St. Mary and St. John churches in Hot Springs and Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Hot Springs Village.
Dierks, a parishioner at St. John, can be reached at (501) 623-4458. Call St. Mary parishioner Doris Kalahicki at (501) 815-3132 for questions or to volunteer on a weekly basis.
