Dear Readers,
As the season of Lent begins (February 25, Ash Wednesday) I thought for purposes of inspiration and hope I would give you an update on two churches in Boston, Massachusetts that a cash strapped Archdiocese wanted to close nearly five years ago.
“Grazie a Dio” the two churches were in what once were predominantly Italian neighborhoods. Many parishioners remembered how their parents and grandparents had sacrificed to donate their labor, time and money to build their own “Italian parish” in a Catholic city then dominated top to bottom by the Boston Irish.
Now, nearly a century later, when scandal reared its ugly head and church properties were being sold to developers to be converted into condos, the faithful parishioners at Sacred Heart in Boston’s North End and the parishioners at Mt. Carmel in Boston’s East End said the Italian equivalent of “Oh, no we won’t go” and they are still there! Frankly it has not been easy and any donations would be most welcome.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (in East Boston) is one of five churches in the Boston Archdiocese whose parishioners are resisting orders to close. The other four churches are in the nearby Massachusetts cities of Framingham, Wellesley, Scituate, and Everett. The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church has been occupied by parishioners since October 12, 2004, the day of its closing Mass, marking the longest such occupation in the history of the Roman Catholic Church in America.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a church and parish located in a predominantly Italian neighborhood of East Boston, Massachusetts. The church was built in 1905 and was a focal point of the local Italian American community until it was ordered shut down by the Archdiocese of Boston in October 2004. The East Boston Church vigil is the first to reach its fourth anniversary.
Many of the vigil’s followers are long-time, dedicated parishioners, like Lorenzo Grasso, a mechanical engineer and senior technical writer, whose family has been part of the church since his youth more than 40 years ago. According to Lorenzo Grasso, Vice President of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Survivors Committee, as the final Mass was being celebrated at the church on October 10, 2004, a statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel fell to the ground from its pedestal in front of the altar.
According to a Boston Globe article dated October 11, 2004, “after 99 years of feasts, funerals, weddings, and baptisms, parishioners who went to the final Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in East Boston declared that they had witnessed a miracle. The church’s statue of the Virgin Mary, which stood in front of the altar, tipped over suddenly and thudded to the floor after Mass, seemingly unmolested by human hands, parishioners said.
Trembling and weeping, they called it a sign from God protesting the Boston Archdiocese’s decision to close their church, part of the lifeblood of the working class, Italian American neighborhood since 1905. “This is a miracle!” Gerry Costa exclaimed after parishioners righted the 5-foot statue, which was missing a few pieces from its back. “Miracles do happen, and this is a miracle. Viva la Madonna!”
The conclusion to the East Boston church’s final Mass in Italian boiled with pain, anger, and hope, a tumult of emotions engulfing many parishes in the Archdiocese as the process of closing 82 parishes continues.” Since that final Mass over four years ago, Mr. Grasso, Vice President of the Survivors Committee and also a Eucharistic minister, has continued to offer a weekly service delivered both in Italian and English to the vigil followers that continue to attend the church.
This exemplifies the tremendous passion, dedication and perseverance of Mr. Grasso and these devoted vigil followers. Although the prayer service is not a Mass, it is devoutly delivered by Mr. Grasso and meets in a sense the obligation of attending Mass, because although the consecration of the host does not occur at the prayer service in the church, the Holy Eucharist is distributed through hosts that have been consecrated by necessarily anonymous but sympathetic members of the clergy from neighboring parishes.
The members of the Survivors committee do all the necessary maintenance work and hold spaghetti feeds and other events to pay all the utility bills and other related costs. Our Lady of Mount Carmel houses a one-of-a-kind shrine. The shrine, made of marble, was sculpted in Italy and dedicated to Padre Pio.
It depicts Padre Pio in a sitting position. The Church also possesses an original relic of Padre Pio’s glove from San Giovanni Rotondo di Foggia.
In addition to the damaged statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel prominently displayed and glass-encased on the altar, there are also statues of St. Anthony, St. Caterina da Siena, St. Liberatore di Ariano Irpino (AV), St. Gerard Maiella (AV), St. Rita da Cascia, St. Lucy and Our Lady of Monte Viggiano located in a side chapel of the church. Church closings have been a great concern to faithful Catholics throughout the U.S.A. and recently it was reported on national news broadcasts, January 25, 2009 CBS Evening News with Katie Couric and January 26, 2009 ABC World News with Charles Gibson, that five Boston parishes are also maintaining vigils to support the re-opening of each of these churches.
Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley has closed numerous parishes since 2004 to address an anticipated shortage of priests, financial struggles triggered by the clergy sex abuse crisis, and a push to streamline staffing.
The cardinal has allowed some religious services to be offered by the five parishes that have refused to close but has denied requests for priests for major church events. However, Cardinal O’Malley has given no indication he intends to evict the holdout congregants, because he realizes that handcuffing a bunch of faithful churchgoers, many of them elderly, would be a public relations disaster.
In the meantime the vigil at Our Lady of Mount Carmel remains strong, and Lorenzo Grasso and other vigil followers remain committed to fighting the Archdiocese. They remain hopeful that Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church will reopen. If you are interested in supporting the campaign to save Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, checks can be made payable to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Survivors Committee and sent Attn: Lorenzo Grasso, 38 Francis Street, Revere, MA 02151.
It is also hoped that because Mt. Carmel Church poses a blessed statue of (now) Saint Padre Pio and a genuine relic, Padre Pio’s glove worn by him while saying Mass at San Giovanni Rotondo in Foggia, there may be some interest in the Church declaring Our Lady of Mount Carmel a Shrine.
***
Next week I will give you a happy update on Boston’s Sacred Heart Italian Church located in Boston’s North End (near the Old North Church, of “one if by Land and two if by Sea” fame.)
10631 Vinedale Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 - Phone (818) 767-3413 - Fax: (818) 767-1410
