Diary of a Parish Priest

Thanksgiving Friday

There was a little work at the site today: the most obvious were doors and more insulation.

West nave toward gathering space. It's very bright and cheerful.

 

The crossing where the dome will be suspended.

 

Doors! These lead out to the west courtyard.

The main doors under the belvedere

 

From the choir loft

 

The basement door through which space many of us have already tred.

 

Basement meeting room with a little daylight

 

Elevator shaft

 

Narthex looking toward doors to the nave on the left and the main entryway on the right

A Perfect Gift For Christmas

Donate a paver brick in Holy Cross Prayer Garden in memory of a deceased loved one, in esteem of someone living, in thanksgiving for favors and graces received or in prayer for present and future parishioners, family and friends.

The prayer garden pavers will line the path to the Shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary on the southwest corner of the garden. The statue is a hand carved, 6 foot high statue of Italian marble being crafted in Italy by experienced artisans. Thanks to the generosity of donors, the prayer garden will not only include beautiful plantings and the Marian statue, but a custom-designed garden fountain, and a specially comissioned sculpture of "Jesus Calming the Storms."

Upon request, a certificate note card acknowledging the gift will be sent to the donor, in case they wish to send it in time for Christmas giving. Certificates can be personalized and mailed if purchased before December 17th and available for in-person pick up in the parish office between December 17th and December 22nd. 

Pavers can be ordered online or by completing a form available at our masses or in the Parish Office. Click on the garden path in the blog's sidebar.

Thank you for being part of our parish project and helping complete this beautiful space.

 

Jesus Calms the Storm at Sea

Here are some photos of the preliminary work for our life-sized bronze statue of Jesus in the new church's prayer garden. The statue will be mounted on a marble pedestal facing the river and the ocean and will be illuminated at night. 

Sculptor Nick Ring with maquette of our sculpture.

Thanksgiving Prayer Service

Today's Thanksgiving Prayer service with the children in our school was a blessing! 

Each of our 3rd graders drew something they were thankful for and the images were projected while each in turn expressed thanks. They did such a creative and interesting job with their drawings and did so well reading their prayers, I thought you might like to see the drawings of gratitude.

 

Doors and Ceilings

Perhaps not the most exciting, but surely necessary parts of the building. Actually, the ceiling of the church will be quite exciting and interesting and it looks as though preparations are nearly ready in the north transept and the nave for workers to hang the barrel vault ceiling frames.

Sunset in the nave looking west

Suspended ceiling frames in basement meeting room

Downstairs ceramic tile grouted

 

One of the most complete windows in that all the shingles have been applied around the window, including the recess, the frame is mostly painted. This is one choice of the several that have been applied to six of the exterior window frames.

 

The ins and outs around the main entry and belvedere are intricate

 

Spire, belvedere and steeple.

Work at the End of the Church Liturgical Year

Application of insulation and sprinkler system in North transept

 

Several of the clear windows in the narthex

Restrooms galore

 

Elevator cable and shaft

 

When you take a picture in the dark, you never know what you'll find! HVAC in the basement.

Many crews of workers have been on the construction site over the last several weeks. More drains and underground conduits were installed. The shingling of the building continues. On the south side it's great to see how the recessed arches around the windows look now that they are shingled. 

Most of the progress on the inside of the building has been in the ceiling and the basement: finishing the insulation and sprinkler system so that the barrel vault ceilings and dome can be installed, and tiling the downstairs rest rooms. 

The door openings have been closed off with heavy duty plastic and there is some portable heat in the basement to help the tile cement dry. The electricity has been switched on and the gas is next to come. 

A timely generous donation has enabled us to upgrade all the floor tiles in the upper church to ceramic and stone. 

 

Interior Panorama of Church

View from altar across transepts and toward the narthex, or gathering space in the center distance.

Feastday Elizabeth of Hungary

 

Holy Cross' St. Elizabeth of Hungary Window

Today is the feast day of Elizabeth of Hungary whose stained glass window from St. Francis Church in Philadelphia we have restored. The PTA graciously donated the window to Holy Cross from the school children. 

 

At today's mass, we learned about her great concern for the poor, especially children and her affection and devotion to St. Francis of Assisi. Her spirit of generosity and simple lifestyle, despite her royal heritage, can be an inspiration for us all. The children will be given a laminated prayer card of our window with a prayer to her on the reverse side.

Our thanksgiving food drive is a great opportunity for us to emulate St. Elizabeth's efforts to feed the hungry. 

Holy Cross' window depicts St. Elizabeth wearing the crown of royalty, with two children looking to her protection. Her cloak is filled with roses which appeared miraculously when jealous advisors to her husband, the king, accused her of stealing treasure from the palace. Instead of simply food, roses appeared marking God's approval of her efforts to help the poor. 

 

Rainy Monday

Much work can be accomplished inside the church now, even if the weather is inclement. Workers were busy today:

Cutting and distributing ceiling insulation. It doesn't look like much was actually installed.

Removing the old window frames and installing the new ones for the sanctuary Resurrection and Ascension stained glass windows.

 

The gathering space and baptismal font vestibule are taking more shape.

 

Work has finally begun on the elevator installation now that there is electric power in the building.

 

Tiling in Mens Room

Tiling in Ladies Room

Church Truck Donation

Many thanks to Jim Kennedy's mother and his family for their donation of a truck to the church with which we can keep the parking lot and driveways cleared of snow this winter. Hopefully we won't have to call on it much, but now we are prepared.

Church Basement

There's a little light on the subject now...

Just a sampling of the heating system equipment

Meeting Room facing south

 

Meeting Room facing north into Mechanical/Storage Rooms

Church Project Update: Laetare Sunday Dedication

There has been a lot of activity on the northwest side of the church not visible to most. The underground electric cables and the air conditioning lines are being installed. The new transformer for the church is humming with electric power. Electric power to the rectory will be routed through the church, as per JCP&L; that switchover will occur soon. 

Meantime, the shinglers have expedited their work and have been here with two crews on Saturdays in an effort to complete the job before the weather turns really cold. Priority inside the church has been to complete the ceiling  insulation and sprinkler system. Discussions between building inspector, contractor and architect resulted in several weeks of delay until it was clear how the job had to be modified to comply with the inspectors new instructions that the attic be fully sprinkled. As you know, all modifications cost time and money. 

Once the sprinklers and insulations have been fully installed, the dome and the vault ceiling arches can be hung. Hopefully the construction crews will ready the space so that the contractors who are supplying our liturgical needs (the altar, the pew, the stained glass windows, etc.) can begin work as soon as possible.

 Bishop O'Connell will dedicate our new church on Laetare Sunday, the 4th Sunday in Lent. Pray that we complete our project in God's good time. 

 

Church Construction Completion Restimate

As you can probably guess by outward appearances, the church will not be finished by the estimated date of December 23rd, nor by the anticipated ready-for-dedication-date of January 24th. 

The new estimate is early Spring, which should leave plenty of time for the celebration of our sacraments in the church. What parts of Lent and/or Holy Week, and whether or not we will celebrate Easter in the new church  depend on the exact date the church is celebration-ready and when it can be dedicated. Rather than fixing another date now, we promise to set one as soon as it seems practicable.

Meantime, keep praying and thank you for your patience!