Bishop leads OLQP parishioners as they celebrate church’s 70th anniversary

HEWITT  Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in the Hewitt section of West Milford struck several joyous notes Aug. 29, when Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney visited for a special Mass to celebrate the feast day of its patron — the Blessed Mother — and the 70th anniversary of its refurbished country church, and also to bless and dedicate its new organ. Made in Italy, the state-of-the art instrument replaces the aging former organ and adds a variety of new sounds to the songs of praise at the parish — music to churchgoers’ ears and hearts.

The Queen of Peace community filled church and annex for the 11 a.m. Mass, led by Bishop Sweeney and concelebrated by several priests including Father Kamil Stachowiak, its pastor, since 2018. A reception followed in the former parish school. The night before, Father Daniel Murphy, a retired diocesan priest, celebrated a 5 p.m. vigil Mass and led vespers for Our Lady’s feast day and the church’s anniversary. Each year, the parish celebrates the feast day of Our Lady Queen of Peace, which has no official date on the Church calendar, on the last Sunday of August, the pastor said.

The latest renovations to Queen of Peace Church feature a new organ that boasts three levels of keyboards and 50 “stops” that enable the organist to produce a variety of different sounds and tones. During the Mass, Alan Morales, the parish’s music director, played the new instrument. At the end of last Sunday’s liturgy, Bishop Sweeney sprinkled the organ in the choir loft with holy water, after he recited a prayer to dedicate it.

“We thank God for this beautiful day,” Bishop Sweeney said after the blessing. In his homily, he told the congregation, “This new organ will help the people raise their voices in praise and prayer. When the organist touches the keys, they — beautiful music and words — will reach all of us in our heads and our hearts” to help strengthen “our love of God and our neighbor.”

In addition to the new organ, improvements to the choir loft included a new railing and coat of paint. From 2017 to 2018, other renovations included building and installing a new marble-and-stone altar, dedicated by Bishop Emeritus Serratelli, installation of wood flooring, and refurbishment of the supporting pillars and alcove shrines to several saints, Father Stachowiak said.

Under the pastorate of Father Stachowiak, Queen of Peace parishioners have been generous in funding capital renovations to the church and parish grounds, which have been led by many members of the faith community’s Polish Mission, who have donated their skills in various trades. In the church, they built a shrine to Poland’s beloved son, St. Pope John Paul II, which contains a relic in the form of a sample of St. Pope John Paul II’s blood in a locked brass reliquary, Father Stachowiak said.

Last year, Bishop Sweeney blessed a small outdoor chapel to give the parish a permanent structure where it can hold Mass outdoors — a direct response to restrictions on social-distancing and church capacity during the coronavirus pandemic. The chapel faces the faithful who sit in their cars or on folding chairs in the parking lot, Father Stachowiak said.

“With all the renovations, the church is an absolutely gorgeous place to worship. Many people come back to the church and see how beautiful it has become,” said Father Stachowiak, who first arrived at Queen of Peace in 2017 as a parochial vicar. At the Mass, he thanked Bishop Sweeney and parishioners “for their support and prayers.”

After the Aug. 29 Mass, Patricia Golczewski, Queen of Peace’s business administrator and a parishioner since 1984, called the improvements to the church and parish campus “wonderful.” At the liturgy, Father Stachowiak presented her with a certificate of appreciation for her work for the parish along with Bonnie Stopka and Brian Long, also parishioners.

“Queen of Peace parishioners are generous and giving. There is so much going on here,” said Golczewski, widowed with a grown daughter.

The 70th anniversary of Queen of Peace’s church comes on the heels of the 75th anniversary last year of the upper Passaic County’s faith community’s elevation to parish status in 1945. It was first named St. Catherine of Siena, a mission church run by Franciscan Friars, who welcomed the Catholic community near Greenwood Lake, a popular vacation spot. In 1945, Bishop Thomas McLaughlin formally established the mission of St. Catherine as a parish. In 1950, the parish was renamed Our Lady Queen of Peace to mark the Marian year that year and to end confusing it with nearby St. Catherine of Bologna Parish in Ringwood, then also administered by the Franciscans, according to the history of Queen of Peace.

During the next year, 1951, Queen of Peace’s church was completed on Union Valley Road to accommodate the growing faith community. For more than 80 years, the Franciscans Friars of Holy Name Province served the parish. Facing a staffing shortage, the Franciscans turned administration of the parish over to the Diocese. A school, which was completed in 1959, closed in 2011 due to declining enrollment, the parish history states.

Queen of Peace embraces the many cultures among its parishioners. Now 13 years old, the parish’s Polish Mission has grown to more than 100 families, who include people born in Poland and the U.S., and who participate in Polish and other devotions and religious formation. Many of them have gotten involved in the parish’s ministries and leading the major physical improvements to the church and the parish grounds. The Polish Mission will start its first-ever Polish School on Saturday, Sept. 11, said Father Stachowiak, a native of Poland.

“Queen of Peace is a wonderful parish community. The people, many with young families, are involved,” said Father Stachowiak. He noted many of the parish’s ministries, including bereavement, religious education, a food pantry, Bible study, Eucharistic Adoration, Women’s Cornerstone, Knights of Columbus, and Anchor youth ministry, which has its first vocation: Kevin Goodsir, who is attending Seton Hall University in South Orange. “During the pandemic, parishioners discovered how important the Church is in their lives and are coming back,” the pastor said.