Dear Parishioners,

    My attendance at the National Eucharist Congress a few weeks ago has inspired me and confirmed me in the importance of the Eucharist and the Eucharistic space reflecting its importance. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. If our Eucharistic worship is at the center of our parish life, all our ministries will flow from there and flourish. 

    If Jesus is really present on the altar at Mass and in the tabernacle then our church needs to reflect the greatness and beauty of the guest and the reality of Paschal Mystery that is being celebrated at Mass. 

   Over a year ago the Pastoral Council, as part of our Pastoral Plan, began discussions about improving the church environment. An approach of “restoration” was adopted in which we would follow the lines of how the church was originally constructed, similar to the approach we took with St. Joseph in Valley. We have some good early pictures of St. Mary’s and thus the name of this project is “Restoring Beauty.”

    Two pillars of this project are the “Calvary” statue at the center and above the altar and a stained glass window of Mary in the East wall of the sanctuary. I was able to locate the original depicted “Calvary” statue the was in the church at a warehouse in Pennsylvania. This Calvary is a cluster of statues depicting Jesus on the cross, and Mary, John and Mary Magdalene at the foot of the cross. This Calvary is part of a high altar of which we would like to reproduce to include the statues of St. Joseph and the Sacred Heart. Since the Mass is the re-enactment of the Sacrifice of Jesus made on the cross, this Calvary is appropriate to foster Eucharistic devotion and a reminder of the meaning of the Mass, when Jesus was “Poured Out.”

    The other pillar of the project is to honor our Lady of the Rosary, who is the patroness of our parish. A stained glass depiction of Mary with a rosary could go into the East window opening. It is appropriate to have this image so close to the altar because Mary was the first to receive the Eucharist in her body and it was from her body that Jesus took his human flesh. 

    I would like to invite you to an information and Q & A session next Sunday, August 18 after the 10 am mass in St. Mary’s hall for this proposed project of “Restoring Beauty.” I would like to present to you the scope, budget and team that has gathered that would help accomplish this proposal. We will have to do fundraisers to realize this project and Alexis Peters would chair this committee. 

   An ancient approach of church design and architecture was that the Church should be a “Porta Ceoli”: a gate to heaven. Meaning the materials, architecture and art in the church and sanctuary should have a transcendent, uplifting, beautiful and other worldly quality about it. When we enter our church we should feel like we entered another space, a sacred space, altogether that moves us upward to worship God, to heaven.