The image shows a compilation of various cats, primarily in shades of orange, black, and gray, with some cats having stripes and others solid colors.

THOMAS TOGETHER CAMPAIGN

What an exciting time to be here at St. Thomas Aquinas! We have so many exciting things happening at our parish, and Thomas Together is just one of them. The capstone for Thomas Together will be two amazing additions to our already magnificent church.

The first will be building a permanent chapel for us to adore our Lord. We want this space to be a warm, inviting, and intimate place for all our parishioners to come and spend time with Jesus. Pope Saint John Paul II said, “The Eucharist is the heart of the Church. Where Eucharistic life flourishes, there the life of the church will blossom.” Eucharistic life at St. Thomas Aquinas will flourish even more with our new chapel.

The new chapel will be in keeping with the architecture that has inspired our entire campus, that of the old Spanish missions. When complete, we hope to have created a chapel which is completely at home within the beautiful church that is St. Thomas Aquinas. In order to accomplish this, our chapel will share the DNA of the likes of those magnificent chapels from San Miguel, Las Trampas, and Chimayo.

At the same time, we want to pay tribute to our St. Thomas Aquinas heritage. We celebrated Mass in the old mission church on Litchfield road from 1919 until 1983, and our current (temporary) adoration chapel contains some of the artifacts from the STA Mission.

We will incorporate these pieces into the design of the new chapel to highlight both their beauty and significance to our parish. Figuring prominently on the new chapel reredos will be the crucifix from the old STA mission.

Our design planning is also working to place our wonderful statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and of our patron, St. Thomas Aquinas in proper places of significance in the chapel. These are both important artifacts from the old mission and will find new life in our beautiful new chapel.

After the chapel is complete, we will turn toward the sanctuary in the main church. Our tabernacle has been on a temporary stand for several years now. With a beautiful new chapel providing a permanent home for adoration, it will be timely and appropriate for us to provide a permanent home for the tabernacle in the main church.

The second addition from the Thomas Together Revival Campaign for our church will be a re-design of the existing reredos (the wall on which the crucifix hangs behind the altar) which will allow us to incorporate the tabernacle.

Although our design planning is not as mature on the reredos, the criteria will be the same; maintain the Spanish Mission feel of our church and provide a permanent home for the Holy of Holies.

A traditional church altar with religious artwork, a white statue, and candle stands, enclosed by a wooden railing.
Interior of a historic building with framed artwork, a statue in a niche, and a large portrait on the wall.

Donate to the campaign!

be a part of the expansion and beautification of our parish to serve our growing community.

Be a chapel builder

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  • We at St. Thomas Aquinas are starting a campaign to build a new Eucharistic Adoration Chapel. The temporary chapel we opened over a year ago has been a huge success with available hours for adoration nearly doubling from when we started. It’s now time for a permanent chapel for our campus.

  • The chapel will be used for Eucharistic adoration, smaller more intimate masses, weddings, funerals, and baptisms, prayer services for the school and various ministries, and quiet contemplative prayer space for parishioners.

  • Our parish is growing at a dramatic pace. In August 2022 we registered over 70 new families! We are registering new families at a rate of over 2 per day! Some are lifelong Catholics and some are new to Catholicism and looking to learn more. This growth provides us with amazing opportunities to bring more and more people into relationship with Christ. Having facilities available to host a variety of sacraments, prayer services, gatherings, and modalities of prayer is essential to meeting the needs of our growing community. From building St. Bonaventure and the St. James room, to adding the Doc and now this new chapel, the goal has been and will continue to be, growing our parish to help more and more people find a home and extended family at St. Thomas Aquinas, and to grow in their relationship with Christ.

  • It will be in the current church building re-purposing the spaces currently occupied by the current (temporary) adoration chapel and the Avila room.

  • We are continuing our fundraising campaign to raise the necessary funds. Many in the parish have generously donated to the diocesan “Together Let Us Go Forth” Campaign. This has allowed us to build St. Bonaventure, the St. James Room, and the DOC, not to mention doing enormous good for the entire diocese. As that diocesan campaign comes to a close we would ask every parishioner to make a contribution to this new chapel. This is a worthy cause which will enrich the lives of current parishioners and those who come after us.

  • We haven’t forgotten about the music ministry, which is absolutely vital to the life of the parish. There are plans to address the needs of the choir after the Avila room is gone.

  • The most important part is that we do this TOGETHER. We’re not looking for 10% of the parish to do all the heavy lifting. We’re looking for everyone – every single person in the pews – to contribute something to this new chapel. Whether you can afford a large donation or a small one doesn’t matter. What matters is that you participate; that we do this together for our future and the future of our parish family. We want every single parishioner to be able to go into the new Chapel, kneel down before the Eucharist and say to Jesus “I helped to build this for You. I pray You use it to bring those who enter this chapel closer to You and to one other.”