A NEW LOOK Bishop Serratelli was main celebrant and homilist of a Mass on Oct. 2 at St. Cecilia Parish, Rockaway to dedicate renovations to the interior and exterior of its church. Above, the Bishop blesses a new statue of St. Patrick that sits below an existing statue of St. Joseph with the Christ Child, highlighted by a full body halo that was recently painted as part of the renovation work.
ROCKAWAY Bishop Serratelli visited St. Cecilia Parish here Oct. 2 to dedicate and bless the new renovations to the interior and exterior of its church — a summer-long project that brightened up the worship space with the painting of the walls, cleaning the floors and ceiling, refurbishing the choir loft and adding interesting spiritual design details, such as new statues of St. Patrick and St. Mother Teresa, that are designed to enrich the experience of churchgoers.
Bishop Serratelli served as main celebrant and homilist of 4:30 p.m. Mass Oct. 1, where he blessed the renovations, costing $200,000, that were made possible by the generosity of St. Cecilia’s parishioners. Concelebrating the Mass were Father Sigmund Peplowski, pastor of both St. Cecilia and Sacred Heart parishes in Rockaway; Father Marcin Michalowski and Father Mateusz Jasniewicz, parochial vicars of both parishes; Father Joseph Khai Vu from the Newark Archdiocese, who celebrates St. Cecilia’s Vietnamese Mass; and Father Philip Michael Tangorra, chaplain of Catholic Campus Ministry at William Paterson University, Wayne. Parishioners, who filled the church for the Mass were delighted to return to the church’s main worship space, after attending Mass in the summer in Hayes Hall in the basement of the building, during the undertaking of the extensive project.
“The last renovation in St. Cecilia was about 15 years ago. The interior was looking very tired. It needed a make over,” said Father Peplowski, who wrote in last week’s bulletin, “We are finally back in our church. We come into the presence of the Lord in the holy house that was erected 60 years ago so that the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries could take place and the sacraments celebrated for the People of God. We come before the Lord today with thanksgiving for the generosity of so many parishioners who supported the renovation of our church. Faith and generosity are the principal characteristics of you, the parishioners of Saint Cecilia’s.”
The renovations included Victor Zucchi & Son of Bogota painting the interior from a battleship grey to shades of brown and tan, Father Peplowski showed The Beacon during a visit to St. Cecilia’s church — three days before Bishop Serratelli’s visit.
Also inside, Evergreen Architectural Art Corporation in Manhattan painted full body halos on the walls around the existing statues of St. Joseph and Mary on either side of the altar and a colorful border around the existing Stations of the Cross, which highlights their beauty and importance. The company also painted sacred verses over the front entrance, the two confessionals on either side of the worship space and a stained glass window up in the choir loft. The verse above the front entrance reads, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise” (Ps. 100:4). The verse above the choir loft reads: “Sing a new song to the Lord for he has done marvelous deeds” (Ps. 12:5). They added the Greek symbols of alpha and omega [the beginning and the end], re-guilded the cross that hangs above the altar and added Christian symbols, including a harp for St. Cecilia, the patron of the parish and of music, Father Peplowski said.
The day of The Beacon’s visit, Father Peplowski accepted delivery of the two new statues — one of St. Patrick in honor of the former St. Patrick Parish in Hibernia, which closed in 1928, and St. Mother Teresa, “canonized in this Year of Mercy, when we finished the renovations.” The statues were placed next to the statues of the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph on either side of the altar. Renovations also included installing a new tabernacle and holy water fonts at the doors, removing of 60 years of dust and dirt from the ceiling and lights and cleaning the tile floors. Also, some exterior brick was repainted, because moisture had seeped in and was disintegrating the walls of the choir loft, the pastor said.
The initial funding for the project came from a bequeath by the late Mary Reynolds, a parishioner in whose name restoration of the sanctuary has been dedicated. After having consulted with the parish finance committee, Father Peplowski started raising additional funds during spring and summer from “generous and enthusiastic parishioners,” who gave gifts that ranged from $50 to $25,000. The choir loft restoration was dedicated in memory of Helen Lucas, a choir member, by her family, the pastor said.
During renovations, St. Cecilia’s held baptisms and funerals in nearby Sacred Heart Church. After Mass in Hayes Hall, parishioners were allowed to walk upstairs to see the progress of the work. In fact, Bishop Serratelli viewed the progress, during pastoral visits to St. Cecilia’s on Aug. 14 and Sept. 20. The church renovation took place during a busy summer at St. Cecilia’s, which included the creation of Divine Mercy Academy — opened on Sept. 7 — which merges the former St. Cecilia and Sacred Heart schools. The building of the former St. Cecilia School on Halsey Avenue was refurbished to house Divine Mercy Academy, which both St. Cecilia and Sacred Heart parishes support financially.
“I am grateful for the support of so many parishioners and the generosity which was shown to begin the project of up keeping the dignity of the House of the Lord,” Father Peplowski wrote in last week’s bulletin.