Pastor installed at Dover parish

DOVER  After looking back at its rich legacy made of faith, stone, and heart that predates the Civil War for its 175th anniversary last year, St. Mary Parish here began 2021 looking toward its next era.

It began with two events on Jan. 16: the installation Mass for Father Lemmuel Camacho as its pastor and the dedication of a shrine to St. Joseph and Blessed Carlo Acutis, the first millennial to be beatified in the Church.

Last Saturday evening, Bishop Kevin Sweeney made a pastoral visit to St. Mary to install Father Camacho as pastor during the 5:30 p.m. vigil Mass in the striking landmark Gothic Revival stone church. The Bishop also blessed the new shrine to St. Joseph and Blessed Carlo Acutis, which features his portrait with flowers and votive candles to one side of the altar.

On Oct. 10, Pope Francis beatified the English-born Italian Catholic young man, known for using is computer skills to publicize Eucharistic miracles around the world. In addition, on the Feast of the Immaculate Concep­tion, Dec. 8, the pontiff issued a decree that the Universal Church celebrate a Year of St. Joseph (from Dec. 8, 2020 to Dec. 8, 2021).

St. Mary’s commemorated its 175th anniversary on Dec. 8 with a Mass celebrated by Father Camacho with other clergy concelebrating — similar to the installation Mass. Everybody wore face masks and social distanced in the limited capacity church to follow COVID-19 protocols. Other people watched at home on a livestream on St. Mary’s website. The pandemic prevented the parish from holding other in-person events but it did publish a series of columns on the history in the parish bulletin by Brian Regan, St. Mary’s historian and a trustee.

Father Camacho arrived at the parish last May as the administrator of what he called a “very active — and generous — parish.” The Jan. 16 Mass marked his official installation as pastor of St. Mary’s, to which he was named in June.

“This is a very warm, supportive community. They also have a strong balance between spiritual activities and an active social life,” said Father Camacho, noting that parishioners are involved in liturgy, adult formation and praying the rosary. They also are committed to social justice with St. Mary’s food pantry, Thanksgiving food baskets for the poor and the Christmas giving tree. “They are self-motivated to find ways to help others. This comes from their love for Jesus, the Blessed Mother and the Church,” he said.

The new shrine to Blessed Carlo Acutis was created to inspire the young people at St. Mary’s to be bold in living out their faith. A computer gamer and programmer in Italy, the teen devoted the last years of his life to the Church promoting Eucharistic miracles until his death from leukemia in 2006, Father Camacho said.

“Kids can relate to Blessed Carlo. He is an example for the youth of love for the Eucharist, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the life of Christ,” said Father Camacho, who mentions him in his homilies. The parish religious education program has been incorporating lessons from his life into its curriculum. “As a millennial, Blessed Carlo could become the first saint depicted wearing jeans and sneakers — with a halo,” the pastor said.

The gemstone of St. Mary’s campus has been its Gothic Revival church, one of the most architecturally significant sites in the area, completed in 1873. It is noted for its bold walls built of stone brought by early parishioners from local mines, superb stained-glass windows all dating to 1873, and a timber roof whose dramatic trusses are visible in the interior. The building is listed on the N.J. Register of Historic Places and was a recipient of a matching grant from the N.J. Historic Trust, Regan said.

St. Mary’s history started when priests from Manhattan and, later, from Madison, served the few Catholics, originally mostly from Germany and Ireland, who worked in the local mines and related businesses and lived in the then-remote area of Dover, Mine Hill, and Port Oram (Wharton). In 1845–46, the growing faith community erected a simple, single-story church, Regan writes in St. Mary’s history on its website.

In 1870, St. Mary welcomed as pastor Father Pierce McCarthy, who hired Jeremiah O’Rourke, architect of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, to design the current church, which was dedicated on Nov. 1, 1872.

“The building stone came from mines near the church, which parishioners helped cart to the site. The stones are a special symbol: it is as if the earth itself, with the help of St. Mary’s people, brought forth their church,” Regan writes.

St. Mary also built a frame schoolhouse in 1868, a convent in 1881, a brick school in 1889, the current rectory in 1899, the current convent in 1915 and the most recent school in 1954 before it closed in 2008.

One parishioner, Mark Alpaugh, has belonged to St. Mary’s since 1979; he is a trustee, lector, and Eucharistic minister and has served on the parish’s finance committee. His wife, Phyllis, and three grown children are graduates of the former school, he said.

“St. Mary’s feels like home. You get to know everybody. We are here for each other,” Alpaugh said. “Father Lem is dynamic, thoughtful and always asks, ‘What do you think?’ He wants people to ‘buy in’ to the parish,” he said.

Another longtime parishioner, Pat Rechsteiner, has belonged for 45 years and has served almost all the ministries in St. Mary’s, most recently co-coordinating the food pantry. Her four children and two of her four grandchildren have been altar servers. Her husband, Dave, helps with the pantry, she said.

“The parish is outstanding,” said Rechsteiner, who recounted parishioners’ generosity with the Thanksgiving food baskets and the Christmas giving tree. She also acknowledged the faithful service of the Knights of Columbus. “It’s a tight-knit community that comes through with whatever you need,” she said.

St. Mary’s campus has long delighted with many landscape features such as The Grove, which became the site of Sunday Masses for 200 socially distanced parishioners in the midst of COVID-19. A temporary altar was set up on the banks of the Spring Brook.

“Once more, The Grove played a significant role in the life of the parish, this time contributing both a sacramental and a social purpose,” Regan wrote in the parish history.

He told The Beacon, “This is a vital parish acutely aware of its history and proud of it. With a new pastor, St. Mary’s story evolves.”