Parishioners Eulogize St. Bernadette At Last Mass With Tears, Memories
EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Parishioners gathered Sunday morning for an emotional final mass at St Bernadette Church, which will no longer be used for Catholic liturgical worship. The mass and relegation ceremony for the Evergreen Park parish was attended by hundreds of current and former parishioners.
A woman remarked that she hadn’t seen that many people fill the church since St. Bernadette combined with Queen of Martyrs Church to form St. Gianna Parish two years ago.
The mass had a funeral quality to it as the church building was “relegated to profane, but not sordid use,” a term used in Canon law signifying that the building not be used in a way that is offensive or immoral to the Catholic Church.
Find out what's happening in Evergreen Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
While there is no official rite for a parish closure or merger for the deconsecration of a church building, St. Bernadette’s mass and relegation committee referred to other church closures through the Archdiocese of Chicago and the United States.
“This is a sad day filled with heaviness for all of us,” said the Rev. Benedykt Pazdon, pastor of the combined parishes. “We look to God to touch our souls.”
Find out what's happening in Evergreen Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Fr. Pazdon was joined by nearly two dozen additional archdiocesan priests concelebrating the mass.
The presentation of St. Bernadette symbols – adult and children faith formation, Knights of Columbus, ministries, Altar & Rosary Society, ushers and greeters, to name a few – were brought to the altar before the eucharist.
Baskets of items representing parish life ranging from pet blessings, family fests and fish fries, to pinochle club, spaghetti dinners and cow pie bingo were presented with gratitude for the many decades of service St. Bernadette has given to her people and the community since 1947.
A commemorative brick from St. Bernadette School, which closed in 2014, was also added to the collection.
Finally, the sacramental books, recording the thousands of baptisms, first communions, confirmations, maries, funerals and book of the elect were added to the items to be brought to St. Gianna Parish.
Speakers also offered reflections eulogizing the church throughout the mass.
The Rev. Bernard Cotter, a frequent visitor from Castlehaven Parish in Myross, Ireland, said buildings don’t last only faith lasts.
‘At the end of the day, we leave the building behind,” he Fr. Cotter said.
The former principal of St. Bernadette School from 2000 to 2014, Arlene Baumann called the day “a beautiful celebration of our cherished memories.”
Click Here: union bordeaux begles rugby jerseys
“Whenever the school needed anything [the parish] always ready to pitch in,” Baumann added.
Brothers Bill and Bill Schmitz, long-time St. Bernadette parishioners said it was a difficult day for those who have walked through the door to worship.
“This is a place where we found our sanctity,” Bill Schmitz said.
Lifelong parishioner Betty O’Connell and a 1973 graduate of the parish elementary school, said St. Bernadette was a vital part of her family.
“A parish is our identity and our faith,” O’Connell continued. “Always keep the faith.”
Fr. Pazdon visited each “station” of the church, offering a final blessing and prayer of thanksgiving, including the baptismal font, the ambo, the ambry, and shrines.
The crucifix on the altar was lowered and procession with the tabernacle. The Evergreen Park Fire Department, where Fr. Pazdon currently serves as chaplain, carried the tabernacle out on a stretcher and loaded it into an ambulance.
Firefighters carried the cross and parishioners the statue of Christ and placed both on an Evergreen Park fire truck before beginning the 27-block procession to the former Queen of Martyrs, now St. Gianna, completing the merger.
OSF-Little Company of Mary Medical Center purchased the former parish elementary and convent buildings on the property at 9343 S. Francisco Ave. The buildings were demolished due to their age. The church building is also said to have been purchased by the medical center and will be used as a chapel for the time being.
Originally meeting in Ketchum Funeral Home on a piece of land owned by Little Company of Mary Hospital, St. Bernadette has served the Evergreen Park community since 1947. A 12-room parish school opened in 1949 with additional classrooms added during the 1950s. Parishioners were also holding fundraisers to raise money for a church building. St. Bernadette celebrated its first Mass on Feb. 5, 1958 at its Francisco Avenue location.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
