Letter
from Msgr. Schaedel for bulletin of June 11, 2000)
Dear
Parishioners,
Welcome
to La Chiesa Del Santo Rosario, Holy Rosary Church! It’s the weekend of our seventeenth annual Italian Street
Festival. In a particular way this
weekend, we welcome the hundreds of parishioners, former parishioners, and
visitors who will be with us at the Italian Parish of Indianapolis.
We also
welcome the Concord Ensemble and Catholic Choir of Indianapolis who provide the
music for our Saturday Masses on festival weekend. Thank you for being with us.
This is
Pentecost weekend; some call it the “birthday of the Church.” The Holy Spirit gave the apostles the
courage to begin the work that Jesus had commissioned them to do. Here at Holy Rosary, we continue to do that
work—leading people to Christ.
“La Chiesa e il tempio del Signore, la porta
del cielo; venite, dopo una settimana di cure terrene, dopo tante fatiche, dopo
tante tristezze, dopo tanti patimenti, riposate le vostre membra, rigenerate il
vostro spirito alle fonti della grazia, innalzate la vostra mente a Dio,
ringraziatelo dei benefizzi ricevuti nella creazione e nella vita quotidiana,
domandategli forza per poter vincere tutte le lotte della vita, per poter
godere dei frutti della redenzione.”
These
are the words of our founding pastor, Msgr. Marino Priori. Msgr. Priori founded Holy Rosary just over
ninety years ago on May 2, 1909.
Translated from the Italian, here is what Msgr. Priori said:
“The
church is the temple of the Lord, the gate of heaven. Come after a week of earthly cares, after so much toil, after so
many sorrows, after so much pain. Rest
your limbs. Regenerate your spirit at
the sources of grace. Raise your mind
to God; thank Him for the benefits received through His creation and in daily
life; ask for strength so you can win all of life’s struggles, and be able to
possess the fruits of redemption.”
What
beautiful words! They were true then
and they are so true today. We thank
God and thank Monsignor Priori and all the thousands of men and women who have
gone before us. They made Holy Rosary
what it is today. It is truly “the
temple of the Lord and the gate of heaven.”
The end
of the last century saw many changes here.
We have shared pastoral leadership with one or two other parishes at the
same time. We’ve been fearful that we
would be closed or merged with another church.
Lately there has been the false rumor that Holy Rosary no longer is the
“Italian Church,” but has become the church where only the “old” Latin Mass is
offered.
To
begin with, it seems to me that Holy Rosary is stronger today than she has been
for some time. Our numbers will never
be what they were thirty or forty years ago.
The city and the neighborhood have changed. On Friday evening of this festival weekend we dedicated the
historical marker on the north west corner of our parking lot. This neighborhood is historic and we are
proud of it.
But now
Holy Rosary has two priests: one
part-time pastor and a full-time associate pastor. We have three Masses every weekend. One of these is the traditional Latin Mass. We have at least one Mass every single
weekday. In years past, daily Mass was
offered only one day and it was celebrated in a room that had been converted
into a chapel. That’s no longer
possible. There are too many people
coming to any given daily Mass here. We
would never all fit into the chapel that had been in use.
Our
next major project will be the installation of an elevator. Many of our long-time parishioners find it
had to make it up and down the front steps to enter the church. Our plans to build an elevator shaft just
east of the church have been approved by the Archdiocesan Building
Commission. They are out now for
contractors’ bids. The architect’s
rendering is posted in the rear of the church.
The elevator will have the capacity to take folks to the main floor of
the church, the choir loft, and Priori Hall downstairs. This was the main focus of our recent
successful “Legacy of Hope, From Generation to Generation” campaign.
The
best thing about the parish today is our loyal parishioners. They make the whole thing work. Many of them have moved from the
neighborhood, but a good number of them still live within walking
distance. We have several new young
families. They work hard to keep our
parish alive.
We
proudly help sponsor Central Catholic School for our elementary students and
Roncalli High School for our high school students. Let the record show that Holy Rosary does even more than its part
to support these two fine Catholic Schools.
We are pleased to be able to do it.
I celebrated the final Mass of the school year with the Central Catholic
students last Friday. They were ready
to see summer vacation begin! Enjoy.
Naturally,
the biggest single event of the year is our Italian Street Festival. Runner up would be the Saint Joseph’s Table
in March to benefit youngsters who otherwise could not attend a Catholic
School. This year, in thanking us for
our support, this is part of what our principal, Mrs. Kathleen Tichenor, wrote: “You have no idea what a blessing it has
been for me every year to know that I can sit down and work with a family who
is having financial trouble and be able to have sources to help them.” Every family with children at Central
Catholic pays something; every family sacrifices. But many cannot afford the full cost. We are privileged to help.
I am
proud of the fact that not only are we paying our own bills, but we reach out
to others (like families at Central Catholic School). Recently, I’ve received thank-you letters from those we have
assisted recently: The Cistercian
Sisters who bake our altar breads, Sister Diane of the Servants of the Gospel
of Life and our own Pro-Life Office, and the Indiana State Council of the
Knights of Columbus for our support of the annual K. of C. Tootsie Roll Drive
to benefit Saint Mary Child Center.
Our
parishioners seem to have known what Stewardship was long before the term
became popular. You will meet most of
them at the Italian Street Festival this weekend. It’s amazing how the largest festival in the city comes together
with just one meeting! People know what
to do and they do it!
By the
way, speaking of Stewardship, I want to say a word of thanks to Susan
Pizarek. On Good Friday the “closer” on
one of the main church doors fell off.
Upon inspection, it was a complicated job to replace it. Susan did!
Thank you. I only wish I were as
handy with a toolbox and had the patience to do things like this!
Next
weekend we welcome to Holy Rosary Msgr. John B. Kauta of the Archdiocese of
Tororo, Uganda, East Africa. He will
preach at all of the Masses and ask for our assistance for his missionary
archdiocese. As always, I know you will
be generous.
Sunday,
June 25th will be the feast of Corpus Christi.
We will have the traditional outdoor procession through the neighborhood
with the Blessed Sacrament immediately following the 12:15 p.m. Mass that day.
June
also brings the official start of summer and summer vacations. Let’s remember that the serious obligation to
attend Sunday Mass is for fifty-two Sundays a year—without exception—unless one
is ill or truly prevented from attending Mass.
Being
on vacation is not an excuse. How in
the world does one take a vacation from God?
Some people will claim that they were out of town and could not find the
church. Baloney! If people want to find a certain restaurant
or shop, they sure do it. The same should
be true for the church. Plan ahead.
A group
called Mass in Transit has information about churches and Mass times all over
the United States. It’s a great
service, available twenty-four hours a day.
Their phone number is 800-627-7846.
You need to have the zip code of where you are going, which you can
obtain from any post office or from travel brochures. You will receive the name of the church, phone number, address,
and times of the Sunday and weekday Masses.
Sorry
this letter is doubly long-winded this week.
I am extremely proud of all that we have accomplished and continue to
accomplish here at Holy Rosary. Our
regular folks have heard much of this before, but I wanted our visitors to know
about it as well.
We are
alive; we are strong. We are not
interested in being the “old fashioned” anything. But we are interested in being known as a parish where the beautiful
Liturgy of the Church is celebrated with beauty, dignity, and grace. Holy Rosary will continue to be for all who
come to her doors “the temple of the Lord, the gate of heaven.” I think our founding parishioners and
Monsignor Priori would be proud. I know
I am.
Faithfully
yours in God’s Providence,
Monsignor
Joseph F. Schaedel, V.G., Pastor