Rev. James D. Conley, D.D., S.T.L. | Diocese of Lincoln website

St. Cecilia High School in Hastings will host an open house on Wednesday, June 12, to showcase the new Our Lady Chapel. The event is scheduled from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. and will feature a brief ceremony, a barbecue meal, and music. It also marks a farewell to Father Thomas Brouillette, the longtime chief administrative officer of Hastings Catholic Schools, who has been appointed vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln. Father Cyrus Rowan, currently principal at St. Cecilia and assistant chief administrator of Hastings Catholic Schools, will succeed Father Brouillette as chief administrative officer.

The chapel was blessed and dedicated on May 20, coinciding with the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church. Fourteen priests joined Bishop James Conley for the Mass where he consecrated the altar and blessed the chapel by anointing its walls and reposing the Eucharist in the tabernacle for the first time.

Designed for small Masses and other liturgies as well as prayer and adoration, the new chapel includes a sacristy and a confessional. Key features such as the front sign, altar, ambo, and medallions were installed on May 1 during St. Joseph's feast day celebration. The stations of the cross—originating from Crosier Monastery that once served Hastings—and a crucifix were installed shortly after along with new flooring. Jean “JJ” Kriz and Vern Dvorak contributed to creating various elements including the ambo, altar, archways, cross, and other finishing details.

This addition is part of a larger project initiated in 2021 under St. Cecilia's “Our Faith, Our Future, Our Time” campaign aimed at raising funds for renovations across St. Cecilia High School and Middle School as well as St. Michael Elementary School; it also established an endowed teacher fund for Hastings Catholic Schools.

Renovation efforts began in 2022 resulting not only in the construction of Our Lady Chapel but also new educational spaces at St. Cecilia alongside upgraded HVAC systems, flooring, windows, paintwork, and fixtures—the first major renovation since its completion in 1961.

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