Diary of a Parish Priest

Faith Seeking Understanding: Church History

Join us for the next series of topics in our Faith Seeking Understanding discussions every Wednesday evening at 7 PM in the St. Michael Media Room in Holy Cross School.

In the coming weeks, we will discuss church history using How to Read Church History Volume 1: The Beginnings to the Fifteenth Century by Jean Comby. We should have a limited quantity of the books at the Parish Office by Monday. The requested donation is $ 20. The book is available online at Amazon and from many online sellers of used books. I can't figure out an efficient process to buy bulk quantities of one used title. 

We will be using this title for many weeks with the possible exception during Lent when we might cover a Lenten theme. 

We will supplement the readings with slide illustrations of the some of the works of art and architecture referenced in the text.

 

Church Project Update

Several exciting developments with the church project:

• Design of the Donor Memorial Book is proceeding. The cast bronze cover and first page should be on hand for viewing in the near future. The cover will feature a casting of our altar cross.
• Revision of sketch for new St. Michael the Archangel aisle window is being worked on, as is a sketch for a second, new rose window design for the choir loft.  Final design sketches will be published as soon as we have them.
• Final design of a window depicting events in the life of St. Francis of Assisi is pending. This window will use 4 of the 14 scenes from the life of St. Francis we own from the other windows. This window will be located between St. Francis’ main window and St. Clare’s window. One of the scenes features Francis blessing Clare.
• Electricians are working in the church basement, even in this cold, and steel workers continue to weld the beams and supports.
• The relics will be cut from our old altar stones and installed in our new altar when the altar is consecrated by our bishop at the church dedication.
• Design plans are being worked on to re-use our ambry (oil repository), poor boxes, holy water stoups and processional cross. Bronze/brass items will be cleaned, polished and lacquered.
• The newly purchased baptismal font will be shipped to the same marble mason who is working on fabricating our new altar. It will be polished, repaired and a drilled with a drain.
• Two marble angel statues we had planned to purchase from a closed church in Philadelphia are now unavailable due to a contractual dispute between the buyer of the building and the Archdiocese.
• Right now, plans are to reinstall our old electronic bell carillon and also to reuse the speakers which are still in the church steeple. An upgrade to a more modern and efficient system is being considered pending both an inspection of the old unit to determine its working order and the cost of a new electronic bell carillon.
• The original church bell still hangs in the steeple. As part of the renovation project, an electric striker to ring the bell will be installed.
• Weather delays
  • Manufacture and delivery of the steel trusses
  • Pouring of concrete floor
  • Construction site meeting postponed until next week

Snow On the Church and Snow IN the Church

An unusual site, to be sure: snow in the church. The high winds have drifted snow here and there on the site with some areas clear and others buried under drifts.

I may try for a closer picture later in the day, but for now, I didn't feel like trekking out in knee-high drifts to get one!

The electricians are working in the basement today. Tomorrow there is on on-site meeting with architects, contractor and owner.

 

Watch and Support the March for Life

There's a fantastic 360 degree webcam live streaming today's celebration of life in Washington, D.C.

Access the camera by going to the March For Life's webcam and clicking on the link!

March for Life Website and Webcam

 

Adult Faith Formation: Faith Seeking Understanding Cancelled Tonight

January 22 Liturgies: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until 3 PM

Our maintenance crew did a terrific job of plowing out the parking lot this morning and sanding the walkways, so we were able to celebrate Mass at 9 AM.

We have exposed the Blessed Sacrament for adoration until 3 PM on this very important day. Let us pray for the conversion of so many minds and hearts around the world to respect the dignity of human life. Let us encourage one another to counteract the growing tend to treat human life like a commodity.

Our chapel webcam is also streaming for those who can join in a moment of prayer on the web.

 

Holy Cross Bus for Washington March For Life Cancelled

Window Work

Artisans at Beyer Studio are today cleaning pieces of glass to assemble for one of our windows. So far I haven't seen any identifiable fragments to indicate which saint. It's fun to watch from time to time as they accomplish their goal, click on the link.

Beyer Studio Webcam

Basement Beginnings

Workmen were still welding when I walked down into the basement this afternoon, so I surely needed my hard hat. 

It's not fancy, yet, but it's quite a different view from the time when there was nothing but sky above when standing in the same place. 

It is uncertain whether the trusses will be released from the manufacturer next week for installation. Their installation will make a remarkable change in the profile of the building and should be quite exciting to see.

Church Construction

Now that more of the church building is beginning to take shape, more than one contractor has work to do. It's interesting to see plumbers, carpenters, electricians and steel workers all on hand.

I was in the new church basement with the architect last week, but didn't have a  camera. It looks very different now that there is a ceiling over the space. Since it's a nice day and the mud has dried out a bit, perhaps today is a good day for me to climb down into the basement and take a photo.

We've contacted the stained glass window studio about the possibility of creating a full sized stained glass window from 4 of the 14 panels we own depicting events in the life of Francis. One of the scenes is Francis meeting Clare, which would be included in a window to be located between each of their separate windows. We have a choice of three other scenes. Probable choices are St. Francis giving his riches, St. Francis and the Christmas Manger, St. Francis and the Animals. Since we already own the glass, this window should be economical. I'll post the details once we have the cost estimate from the studio.

This is a rough digital composite of what the window would look like:

 

 

Adult Faith Discussion Tonight

Join us for our second discussion of The Church Unlocking the Secrets to the Places Catholics Call Home, Wednesday, January 15th at 7 PM in Holy Cross School's St. Michael Media Room.

 

The Crane has left the Building

The crane was dissembled and driven off the site today, having finished its assigned tasks. Iron workers continue to weld connections in the steel building frame.

The carpenter is affixing clips to the beams on which the trusses will be installed. Hopefully, the delivery will be next week.

Electricians have installed temporary lighting to the church basement and plumbers have installed the septic and ejection pumps in the basement level. 

 

Progress Report on Church Building

The stained glass artist is working on a second rendering of a potential new St. Michael stained glass window after receiving some feedback from the architect and staff on the initial drawing.

Cleaning and restoration of Holy Cross windows are underway. Several are 80% complete.

Steel trusses are scheduled for delivery in approximately one week. These will align the roofline of new and old.

Workmen are continuing to install the deck in preparation for another concrete pour. You can also see the floors for the choir loft and organ in the second story. 

A Memorial Donor design is being finalized. It will be a bronze book kept on a pedestal in the gathering space. The cover and Page One dedication to major donors will be available for viewing in a few weeks.

Thank you to all those who are continuing to fulfill pledge donations; your faithfulness is much appreciated. There are still many opportunities for donors to memorialize items in the Church. Please call the Parish Office to express your interest.

 

Give Thanks

 

Today marks the end of the Church's liturgical celebration of the Christmas/Epiphany season.

Let us give thanks for a Blessed and Grace-filled season of so much joy and hope.

Stained Glass Cleaning and Repair Well Underway

I hope that you have been able to check out Beyer Studios live web camera feed; they are now working on many of our windows, both the originals from Holy Cross and the ones we purchased from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Link to Beyer Studio 

Here are some photos of the repairs underway:

St. Alphonse and St. Anthony Windows

Portions of the St. Helena Window

 

Sts. Alphonsus and Anthony: Portions can be recognized

 

Portions of the Windows from St. Francis

 

Oxidation being washed from the windows

School's Back But Not Easily!

What formidable weather we've had over the past few days. Snowfall, rain storms, gale force winds and bitter cold! Quite an interesting two days for school to reopen.

Happily, we had plowed the snow away by Saturday evening and then the rains helped wash the parking lot clear of snow. The rains didn't flood anything and except for a casualty in the Christmas manger (Joseph fell onto the fiberglass ox, wounding its side with his lantern!), the high winds seem not to have done any damage. The high winds are supposed to calm down overnight along with double digit temperatures tomorrow. Even the overground temporary water supply pipe to the rectory didn't freeze!

Bitter Cold Day to Work Outside

God bless anyone who had to work exposed to the elements today, the biting cold and ferocious wind made it a challenge to stay warm. Even those indoors without adequate heat or insulation suffered from the elements.

Today our workmen spent the day welding the floor (deck) of the church to its support beams. 

Blessed New Year

Blessed New Year to everyone!

The Vigil mass for the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God in our little chapel was packed and the Spirit was truly present.

The Marian hymns sounded spectacular as everyone present raised their voices in song. I can't speak for everyone, but I was a little sad there weren't more verses to sing.

 

Thank you to everyone who sent cards, well wishes and gifts to the Parish Office for myself and the Parish Staff. We appreciate them very much. I especially enjoy all the photo cards of our parish's growing families!