Rededication of Passaic church

PASSAIC  On Holy Thursday, April 13, 2017, just hours before Easter Triduum celebrations were to begin, a large portion of ceiling in St. Anthony of Padua Church here collapsed. The damage was extensive but thankfully, no one was inside the building at the time of the collapse. For the next three and a half years, the church building was closed. Masses took place across the street in the parish hall.

After years of reconstruction plans by the church committee, fundraisers and donations from parishioners and benefactors and the rebuilding by contractors and work crews, the church building of St. Anthony reopened its doors to a joyous multi-lingual celebration on Oct. 4.

Bishop Kevin Sweeney presided at the Mass for the rededication of the building and consecration of the new altar. This was the Bishop’s first time consecrating an altar since becoming Bishop of the Paterson Diocese on July 1. He led the ceremonial ribbon cutting outside the steps of the church beginning the celebration. The Mass was limited in attendance due to the coronavirus pandemic and the parish hall simulcast the Mass for parishioners. In addition, parishioners at home were able to watch the livestreamed Mass, which celebrated the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

To the congregation in both English and Spanish, the Bishop said, “This day has come that so many looked forward to. That so many worked so hard for. The reopening of the church.”

In his homily, he said, “You represent those generations, those one hundred years of all the parishioners that have come to this parish and constructed this beautiful temple. It is a reflection of who we are as the Church. The one Body of Christ, the Mystical Body of Christ. Those living stones that St. Peter calls us from the moment of our baptism.”

Father Hernan Cely, pastor, led the restoration project with a team of parishioners and construction experts. Father Cely became pastor in the fall of 2017 when the church building had already been closed.

At the Mass, Father Cely said, “Three years ago, as your new and inexperienced pastor, I stood in this broken building and thought how will this be done. I looked at the missing ceiling and the surrounding walls. It was so sad. There is nothing more empty than a church without a tabernacle.”

The reconstruction of St. Anthony’s Church was inspired by the original design of the building 101 years ago based on historic photographs, noted Father Cely. He thanked everyone who made the reopening of the church possible.

Currently 1,500 families are registered at St. Anthony’s, which serves a mostly Central and South American immigrant population. In addition, families also come from the Philippines and Trinidad. Its founding parishioners hailed from Italy and the parish still has parishioners who come from those founding families. On the day of the reopening, several Masses were held to accommodate the parishioners, including an Italian Mass celebrated by Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli, who as a priest in the Newark Archdio­cese, often came to St. Anthony’s to celebrate Mass on weekends.

Parishioners Gabriela Rodriguez and Alfredo Grados shared some brief history before the Mass. Speaking in both English and Spanish, respectively, they said, “Every organization and every ethnic group has participated in a unique effort to rebuild our church. Our parish family will continue to solidify the vision of unity and fraternity that shares faith and that seeks to hear and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.”

The rite of the dedication of the church included the prayer of dedication, anointing of the altar, anointing of the walls, incensing of the building and lighting of the candles.

Father Cely said, “The visible leads us to the invisible whether it is a temple in the plain of Jerusalem or a church in the corner of Oak Street and Myrtle Avenue in Passaic. We need loveliness in our lives. We need daily beauty. That is the way God made us. God allows us that we can create beauty and then he makes it possible. We are his people who meet and engage with God the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And together as a family, we restore this building for him to fill with golden glory.”