One Last Detail Put Into Place

Back in October when we had the dedication of our new church, the building was nearly complete.  All the necessities were in place to hold the dedication; however, one very important, and identifying, detail was still incomplete.  That detail is the statue of Mary that was to be placed inside the steeple high above the main doors of the church.  Mary was still being prepared when the dedication was occurring.  She is made of Italian marble that came from Italy and stands 10 feet tall and weighs a measly 5,500 pounds. 

On Wednesday, Mary was shipped to our church and the work began to un-crate Her, connect Her with the utmost safety and precision to the crane, to raise Her and then place Her in Her final resting place.  Towards the end of the day on Wednesday the kids in school were able to take time out of their classroom to see them unload Mary off the truck and start to open the shipping crate she was in.  After school, Trevor wanted to stay and watch them lift her high with the crane so we stuck around for a bit.  It obviously took the workers some time to make sure they had the proper restraints on the statue so we left and went home to get a snack.  Around 4:30pm we returned to school to see if any progress had been made.  Much to our surprise, and liking, they were getting very close to lifting Her up.  Around 5pm the crane starting lifting and didn't put her down like it had a few times before.  She went up, up, up, 39 feet up into the air.  After about 10-15 minutes of making sure they had the exact placement of where Mary needed to be, the crane lowered just a bit and She was placed in the steeple right where She needed to be!

The scene where it all took place

Testing the straps... was everything right?

Yep... must have been.  He's up there waiting and Mary's being lifted

Almost there!

One last little adjustment

And Mary's in place!

 There were many people standing out in the cold to witness this special moment and others, like us were sitting in the parking lot with our vehicles turned toward "the show" so that we didn't freeze while waiting and watching.  Ethan was not all that thrilled about sitting in the van during the whole time we were there, but the next morning when we were able to see the entire statue up above the entrance doors of the church, Ethan's first words were, "Mom, that is so cool that we saw them put Mary up there!!  We saw that!!"   Wednesday night, being that it was fast approaching dinner time when the finally had Mary up in the steeple, we decided to go home once they had set her down.  However, they had not disconnected all the crane wires and security straps, nor had they uncovered her.  So while we arrived at school on Thursday morning we took a little detour to see Mary first.   And this is what we saw...  both the boys said, "Awe.... it's beautiful!", as did I!

Trevor asked why Mary was so much smaller now!  Depth perception, my child, depth perception.  She's still 10 feet tall and 5,500 lbs of pure marble

And now, our church is completed.

A Beautiful Beginning - Church Dedication

On October 31st we, as a community, witnessed something spectacular in the dedication of our new church.  I have never been though a dedication before and was very excited to see all the rituals of blessing a new church.  It was amazing.  We were there for two and a half hours (and that's a LONG time for us Catholics ;o)  ), but it felt like it was no longer than an hour.  It was wonderful just to see all the hard work and preparation come together in a beautiful ceremony in an extraordinary facility that we now call our church.  We were given sneak peeks of the church as they were building it, but I never pictured the whole thing and how it was going to look. It is more beautiful than I ever imagined and those that worked on it should be very proud of the job they did.  It is beautiful and I will be in awe each and every time I am in it.

At the end of the dedication ceremony a member of our parish stood to tell us about the windows and symbols of the church.  Below is the write up of his talk.  I could have paraphrased it, but it was so well done and explains things so clearly, that I figured I would just copy it word for word.  No need to read it all if you don't want - I am really putting it all in here for my benefit so that I don't forget about the "why's" of the church's design.    Enjoy the pictures that I have added throughout the text.  They, of course, don't do the church justice, but hopefully it gives you a glimpse of the beauty we will see each and every time we step into our new church.

Front of Church - the black area up in the temple is where a 10,000lb statue of Mary praying the Rosary will be placed (it was the one thing that wasn't finished for the dedication)

East side of church (above); North east of church (below)

Write up from church
As you approach the main entrance of the church, you are greeted from the tower by Mary, Queen of the Rosary.  As mother and patroness of our parish, her presence is the constant reminder that she is praying with us, and intercedes for us.  With Mary, we pray that we can come into a deeper relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We are assured that she is with us from conception/birth to death/resurrection.  We join her prayer and example: not our will, but God's will be done. 

The four large stained glass windows in the sanctuary represent the four mysteries of the rosary, and tell the story of who we are and Whose we are - the human and divine story  of LOVE.  Bordering each window are the beads of the rosary.  In the east window we behold the nativity, the incarnation of the Christ in full innocence and humility.  The glory of God shines through this joyful act of human creation.  All humanity, from kings to shepherds, embraces this mystery. 

On the west window is the crucifixion.  Jesus endured, and surrendered it all.  The Pieta not only symbolizes Mary's sorrow, but moves us from hate, pain and agony to compassion and love, that in turn lead to resurrection. 

On the south window is a representation of the Eucharist - real food for eternal life, and symbolic of our oneness with Father, Son and each other. 

On the north window we have the descent of the Holy Spirit.  It depicts God's love and grace poured out on us as the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit, to bring us into communion with Father and Son. 

From east to west we have the human story from birth to death, from joyful to sorrowful, from Love to Love.  Facing north and south, in the Holy Spirit and the Eucharist, the love and grace of Father, Son and Holy Spirit are portrayed.  Fruits and gifts from the Spirit, and food for eternal life that help us live God's life.  From Love to Love in all directions. 

On the small stained glass windows are medallions symbolic of God.  They remind us who God is and our relationship to Him.  Represented on the four smaller, corner windows are the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  On the other eight windows God's relationship with us is depicted as....the Light of God... God's presence and call... the Word of God.... God the beginning and the end of all things... God Creator of our wold... God's providence and omnipotence.... God's authority and rule... God's covenant with man.

The inside walls of the church are lined with 14 stations, commemorating the Passion of Christ, The Way of the Cross.

In the front of the church and in the sanctuary stand statues of the Holy Family - Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.  In the back of church are the statues of St. Theresa of Liseux, and St. Anthony of Padua.  By the example of their lives, and the lives of all the saints, we are reminded of our vocation to live a life of love, centered on God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. 

Centered above the tabernacle is the cross and corpus of Jesus that dates back to our mission church in 1896. The alter is framed by an ornate wooden reredos, comprised of three arches, representing the Holy Trinity.  It is here in the midst of these sacred symbols, above and behind the alter, that we place the tabernacle, which houses the Blessed Sacrament.

View from gathering space at back of church

View of front of church from back doors

The alter (closer up) 

For several years it has been our prayer at Holy Rosary that we surrender to God's will and ask the Holy Spirit to inspire and guide us to create a worship space that leads to prayer and adoration.  Now, in immeasurable gratitude and humility, we praise God and thank the Holy Spirit for guiding us to the realization and completion of our new church.  May God bless all who visit and pray here.

Letter of the Day - C

The letter for Friday (we skipped on Thursday since we had Story Time at the library) was C. We wrote our letters, and drew things that started with the letter C (Ethan helped Trev a bit with that cat you see, but Trevor was all about decorating his own cake and putting the candles on). Once the worksheet was complete, the activity to go along with it was to Count the number of steps in and around your house. The boys counted and I tallied them on Trevor's paper. Ethan started tallying, but then stopped for some reason.

In addition, we continued our C activities on Saturday by baking a cake! The boys were having fun adding the ingredients and just as we started mixing a visitor showed up at our door.... our priest from church. Were we being bad? Did we need to repent for some reason?? Nah, we're angels. Ok, maybe I exaggerate a bit on that! But Father Philip was coming over to ask Rick if he could help with moving some stuff out of the current church after mass on Sunday. And then he proceeded to sit with us in the kitchen where the cake was being made, the kids were licking off the beaters, and I had crap everywhere on the counter! Guess he gets to see us in "real life"! It was a nice visit, but it sure did remind us that we are living in a small town!!