‘Holy Days and Holidays’

BEACON PHOTO | MICHAEL WOJCIK

LITURGY TALKS  Suzanne Guerin Herold gave a talk about “Holy Days and Holidays” Nov. 30 at Holy Family Parish, Florham Park, as part of her ongoing “Liturgy Talks” series. Standing next to Herold is Father Thomas Rekiel, Holy Family’s admin­istrator, who has been helping develop the “Liturgy Talks” series.

FLORHAM PARK  Suzanne Guerin Herold, Ph.D., helped an enthusiastic audience of faithful at Holy Family Parish here prepare their hearts for the birth of the Christ Child with lively presentation that unwrapped some of the spiritual significance of the Church’s gift of this Season of Hope. She called Advent a time for penance that gets us ready for Christmas, but more importantly gets us ready for eternal life with Jesus.

A group of 40 Holy Family parishioners learned more about Advent and Christmas in Herold’s 45-minute talk, “Holy Days and Holidays” — the latest offering as part of her own gift to her beloved Morris County community: an ongoing series of presentations about Catholic liturgy and tradition, called “Liturgy Talks.” Since September, they have been gathering the basement of the parish center once each month to hear Herold share her knowledge of the faith, after having completed a doctorate in liturgical studies and sacramental theology from The Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C. in May.

“With the ‘Liturgy Talks,’ I want to make faith come alive for people and make their experience at Mass more meaningful. I think that people like me, who have studied the faith, have a role in the Church: to share that faith with others,” said Herold, a lifelong parishioner of Holy Family, where she received all her Sacraments and served as an altar server and as a catechist for religious education and Confirmation preparation. “Giving the ‘Liturgy Talks’ has been a fantastic experience. I will continue to give them as long as people want to hear them,” she said.

Herold kicked off the series on Sept. 28 with “Constantinople, Chaucer and Com­postela: Pilgrimage in the Christian World.” She examined the evolution of pilgrimages in the Christian tradition, delved into the motivations of pilgrims throughout history, explored pilgrimage destinations and offered insight into the value of pilgrimage in contemporary Christian life. Herold returned on Oct. 12 with “Call Me, Maybe: Communi­cating with God and the Sanctifi­cation of Time.” She examined the Liturgy of the Hours, various types of prayer and how prayer can influence one’s understanding of time.

On Nov. 30, Herold gave Holy Family parishioners a tour of the Church’s liturgical year, including its liturgical calendar, colors, holidays and feast days. No matter the time of year, all of these celebrations celebrate the Paschal Mystery of Christ.

“Advent gives us hope. There is an important penitential character to the season. We are preparing ourselves for the coming of Christ now and at the end of time,” said Herold who added the Advent prepares us for Christmas. Historians have long debated the date of the original Christmas celebration, but today, the season starts on Dec. 25 and ends in January. “That’s reminds us that we are supposed to continue the Christmas spirit into the New Year.”

A Holy Family parishioner for 35 years, Diane Miranda has attended all three of Herold’s “Liturgy Talks.”

“Dr. Herold knows her facts and information and presents them well. She does not talk over our heads,” Miranda said.

Herold cultivated a love for liturgy as a young person at Holy Family, while serving at Mass during the Easter Vigil with Msgr. Raymond Kupke, the parish’s former pastor and currently pastor of St. Anthony Parish, Hawthorne. As a high-school student, she worked for Msgr. Kupke, who also serves as diocesan archivist, in the Diocesan archives, where she “learned to love the history of Church, especially our Diocese,” she said.

Herold earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration from LaSalle University in Philadelphia, where she also worked in the archives and enjoyed decorating the worship space of the campus ministry center for Masses. That experience planted in her heart a love for liturgical architecture that led her to write her honors thesis about how various design trends and liturgical changes throughout the years influenced the building of churches in the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

Herold earned a master’s degree in liturgical studies from CUA, where she also worked in the archives of the American Catholic Research Center. While there, she taught an undergraduate course, which helped develop her love of teaching. Herold also worked in the archives of the Wash­ington Archdiocese.

Herold’s love for liturgy led her to return to CUA to enter its doctorate program for liturgical studies and sacramental theology. Earlier this year, she defended her dissertation, which chronicles the history of “how relics are used in the rite of dedication of a church and an altar.” In her talks, Herold keeps the material fresh by interjecting references to notable Catholic figures, events in Church history, world history and pop culture. She subtitled the section about Advent in her “Holy Days and Holidays” talk, “A New Hope and the Force Awakens” — a reference to the Star Wars movie. In the presentation, Herold spoke about the colors of the various liturgical seasons showing the audience the colors of the jerseys of sports teams. Herold also referred to many religious sites in Italy and other European countries that she and other parishioners had seen on “faith vacation” pilgrimages with Msgr. Kupke.

“I want to engage people with the material and make it relatable to them,” said Herold, who plans to continue the “Liturgy Talks” series in the spring with a presentation about the books of the liturgy, including the Sacramentary and Lectionary. She is married Dallas, a financial adviser and former seminarian.

Father Thomas Rekiel, administrator of Holy Family, called Herold’s faith-filled presentations “wonderful.”

“The parishioners at Holy Family need something extra to learn more about their faith,” Father Rekiel said. “The people like Dr. Herold. She has a Ph.D., which is great. She is very sharp and her talks are short and to the point. I’m very with happy them,” he said.