The 150th
Anniversary
Much of 1988 was spent preparing for the 150th anniversary of the
founding of the parish. Fr. Eckert had
carefully saved the money for renovation during the ten years of his pastorate. The church was rewired, new lights were
installed, and the interior painted.
In early 1989 Fr. Eckert began to display souvenir items for the
anniversary. Each parishioner received a
pin with the
·
Marian
Eschman, a friend of the parish from Portland Presbyterian Church, created an
embroidered cloth that hung from the pulpit.
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In
addition to hosting the reception, the Ladies Club made a huge blue and white
quilt, each square representing an historic event in the parish’s history. During 1989, this quilt hung in the
vestibule.
·
Fr.
Lally donated the painting of the Virgin Mary that hangs in the vestibule.
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Mona
Yates created the altar cloth and wall banners.
Unlike the previous two anniversaries in 1989 and 1964, there were two
Masses to mark the occasion:
August
8, 1989 – A Sesquicentennial Eucharistic Celebration
Along with Bishop Charles
Maloney were about twenty–five
visiting priests. So many parishioners,
former parishioners, and friends attended the 5pm evening Mass that he church
overflowed, spilling out onto the sidewalk.
Afterward a reception was hosted in Lehmann Hall where refreshments were
served and where many an old friendship was renewed.
Celebrant......... Most
Rev. Charles G. Maloney, Auxiliary Bishop
Deacon............. Deacon Bob Steinmetz
Homily.............. Rev.
William Fichteman
Musicians......... Denny Nash (cantor), Larry Lowe
(organist), Bob Loeffler & David Wise (guitar), Robin Loeffler (dulcimer)
August
15, 1989 – The Sesquicentennial Mass
The principal celebrant was Archbishop Kelly, and the celebration was
for parishioners only. After Mass,
everyone enjoyed catered refreshments in Lehmann Hall, including a cake shaped
like the church building.
Celebrant......... Most
Rev. Thomas C. Kelly,
Archbishop
Homily.............. Rev.
William Fichteman
Musicians......... Bob Jackson (cantor), Anthony
Emrich (French horn), John French & Joseph Burzinski (trumpet), Larry
Miller & Jim Talyor (trombones), Rick Knoop (organist)
150th
Anniversary Sermon
The following sermon was delivered by the Rev. William Fichteman:
I’d like to begin with a personal note by thanking
Fr. Eckert for inviting me to preach the homily for this celebration. It’s a privilege to preach at the anniversary
celebration of the parish you grew up in.
In fact, I feel like I ought to be in a pew about one–third of the way
back on this side, where we always sat.
Because my own faith roots are planted so deeply here, I have much to be
grateful for when it comes to Our Lady’s.
I.
INTRODUCTION
The
II.
SIMPLISTIC
BEGINNINGS
And you know, “simply Our Lady’s” is not so
bad a response. As we listen to Mary’s
great song of praise, the Magnificat, we get the feeling somehow Mary
was blessed precisely in her simplicity.
From what we can surmise, Mary was a girl of simple origins:
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No
great social position.
·
No
important family background.
·
Very
little money.
·
She and
her cousin Elizabeth found simple joy in the fact they were both expecting
their first child.
Quiet, simple hope in the basics of life is
the feeling we get as we listen to Mary’s song of praise.
The parish of Our Lady’s too has always had a
beautifully simple image. In The Record article a few weeks ago, Mike Recktenwald was
quoted as saying people used the call Our Lady’s the “poor little church on the
river.” But then
The beginnings of the parish in 1839 were
rather basic too. There was a Committee
of Management (translated into modern terms a ‘parish council’) who offered Fr.
Perche, the first pastor, a choice when it came to salary: He could have $300 a
year and pay his own expenses or he could have $150 a year and the parish would
supply him with lodging, table, fire, candle and would feed his horse. Depending on the miles per gallon of oats his
horse got, that could be important because Our Lady’s territory went along the
river out
The first church cost $3000 and the bricks
were fired on the spot, lumber cut from trees felled on the property. Some of the same bricks incidentally are said
to be in this very building. A rectory
was built at a cost of $563! Our Lady’s
had simple beginnings to serve the French speaking immigrants to
III.
OUR
STRUGGLES & THE LIFE OF MARY
From the
simple beginnings however, some rather complicated struggles emerged. Life always seems to start out simple enough,
but we begin struggling with complications very early on. So also it was with Mary our patron. In the words of the Magnificat, “God
looked upon Mary in her lowliness.” In other
words God took notice of her struggle that very quickly complicated her life:
·
Brought
her son into the world without the security of a warm home.
·
At times during his ministry she couldn’t get near him
because of the crowds.
·
She experienced terrible anguish at the foot of the cross.
·
She walked with the other disciples through the uncertain
days of the early Church.
Time and again, God looked
upon Mary in her struggles. So also, Our
Lady Parish for 150 years has experienced complicating struggles emerging from
her simple beginnings.
·
In 1866 the church was rebuilt because the original simple
church was too small. But the new church
only lasted six years because in 1872, the walls began bulging and it was
considered unsafe. The parish was
burdened with building two churches within 10 years.
·
In 1883, the first of several floods hit
·
1913: One half of the members homes were flooded, 6 inches
in the church, which was nothing compared to 1937 when water reached window
sills of the choir loft, side altars were wrecked and the floor was torn from
its foundation. That and parishioners
were dealing with their own personal losses.
·
In 1962 came the complication of the
Like Mary, like all of us,
life for Our Lady’s parish is a history of complicating struggles. God looked upon Mary in her lowliness. And God looked upon Our Lady’s Church in her
complicated times of struggle to move on.
IV.
A
RAISING UP
But God did more than
merely look on Mary in her lowliness.
God, who is mighty, did great things for her. God raised the lowly to high places. Our Lady’s too time and time again was raised
up out of their struggles to new life.
The bulging walls were rebuilt; the church was restored after the ‘37
flood at a cost of $18,000 if you can imagine that; and immediately afterwards
Fr. Doherty was transferred to
Another interesting event
that caught my eye in the history of the parish was the fact that while I was
in school here, in 1953, the basketball team was coached by Fr. Joe Miller,
Sherill Sipes and Paul Hornung. Now
that’s quite a coaching staff.
But the real raising up
has been in the lives of parishioners.
And here I can speak from personal experience:
·
I always remember the ‘family spirit’ that lifted one up at
Our Lady’s. People always stood around
after Benediction on a warm Sunday evening for a half–hour of chatting with Fr.
Lehmann. It was ‘community’ before we
knew what to call it. The ‘family
spirit’ still endures. Fr. Eckert tells
me that people chat a half– hour in the back of church after Mass every
morning.
·
I remember the loyalty of parishioners working until the wee
hours of the morning at the summer picnics.
·
I remember the countless individuals who rose above their
struggles and the priests and sisters who helped us in all that.
·
Sister Mary Jane with a paddle tucked carefully up her
ample sleeve.
·
Sister Mary Columba who nonchalantly transferred the snake
a classmate had mischievously put in her desk drawer into her more than ample
habit pocket.
·
Fr. Lally who very pastorally but firmly saw us through the
changes of Vatican II.
·
Fr. Elder and Fr. Waldie who brought the parish through
more changes and Fr. Eckert who has so revived a sense of pride and
spirit. Fr. Eckert has told the
personnel board more than once: “You know you can just leave me here at Our
Lady’s until I’m 70.”
V.
ROOTS
& WINGS
Our Lady’s has a way of working
its way into your bones, making itself a real part of you. Someone has said that the most valuable gift
parents can give their children are roots and wings: roots – our longing to
stay planted firmly in the place we’re most comfortable, and wings – a longing
to fly off on your own. They come
wrapped in the same package – us. In
fact, we find ourselves caught in a struggle between our roots and our wings.
For many of us gathered
here, we cherish the strong and maybe even stubborn roots Our Lady’s has given
us. But we also cherish the wings, a
gift that says: “Continue the journey.
Don’t stop now. Keep dreaming of
something beyond.”
When you love someone you
have to let them go – it’s the only way to keep them. Mary experienced that and so do we. Our Lady has had to let go of its past to
move on. Our Lady’s has given many of us
gathered here tonight roots and wings.
And so, we can cry out with Mary: “My being proclaims the greatness of
the Lord; my Spirit finds joy in God my Savior.”
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Raymond
Yates & Fr. Eckert with
church cake |
Charlotte Bogard, |
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Charlotte
Bogard prepares cake with Richard Watkins in honor of Archbishop Thomas Kelly’s 12
years as bishop, 1977–89 |
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150th
Anniversary Quilt |
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Quilt |
Parish seal |
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Mary |
Priest on horseback 1840s |
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Designers |
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Center square |
150th Anniversary Program –
August 8, 1989 |
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Program
for August 15, 1989 |
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150th Anniversary Photo –August
15, 1989 |
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