Bishop Deeley blesses new altar and statue at St. Gregory the Great Church in Gray
GRAY---Praying that it will become “the center of our praise and thanksgiving” and “the table where we break the Bread of Life and drink the cup of unity,” Bishop Robert Deeley blessed a new altar at St. Gregory Church in Gray on Sunday, September 10.
“The altar is the center of our church, but it is not always the thing that first catches our eye or our attention,” the bishop said. “Today gives us an opportunity to think about why it is here and how blessed we are that it is here.”
The bishop said the blessing of an altar serves as a reminder not only of the table’s sacredness but of what Catholics do when they gather around it.
“We give thanks to God for the gift of salvation. Jesus the Christ, by his death and resurrection, which we remember in this Mass and make present on this altar, frees us from sin and opens for us life and eternal life,” the bishop said.
The new altar was originally in the faculty chapel of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Father Steven Cartwright, pastor of the Parish of the Holy Eucharist, which includes St. Gregory the Great Church, had spent time in formation at the seminary and received word that it was selling some items because it was moving. Father Cartwright said he had been looking for a new altar for St. Gregory for some time because the one in use was not a permanent one and did not match the church’s knotty pine and oak features. So, he did some online browsing and said he found just what he was looking for.
“The second I saw it, I said, ‘That’s it. That is the altar.’ It would match well with the woodwork that is already there, and it would be really beautiful,” Father Cartwright said.
Joe Moreshead, the parish’s faith formation director, drove to Pennsylvania to pick up the altar, and once it arrived, Chip Carney, an experienced woodworker, as well as the church’s choir director, did a little work on it, including refinishing the mensa or top of the altar. That is what the bishop blessed during the Sunday Mass. The altar itself had been previously consecrated.
After blessing the new altar and sprinkling it with holy water, the bishop incensed it. Parishioners then covered it with an altar cloth, and the candles were placed on it and lit in preparation for the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Along with the new altar, the parish also installed hardwood flooring in the sanctuary, and it added a statue of St. Gregory the Great, the church's patron. The statue, which was purchased from Italy, was blessed by the bishop at the conclusion of the Mass.
“He was pope at an early point in the life of the Church – the 6th century, not long after the fall of Rome and the beginning of the spread of Christianity through the world," the bishop told parishioners. "He set a direction for the life of the Church in his writings on the pastoral service to be given by the leaders of the Church. He also was involved in helping to make the eucharistic liturgy more beautiful. He is responsible for the early ordering of the way in which Mass would be celebrated. He determined, for example, the point in the Mass at which the Our Father would be recited, and that continues even to today. To honor him on this day when we bless this new altar is certainly appropriate."
Father Cartwright said it was exciting to see the additions to the church and how they all came together for the Mass with the bishop. He said with the Church's celebration of the National Eucharistic Revival, it was the perfect time to make improvements to the already beautiful sanctuary of Saint Gregory the Great Church.
“I think the Eucharistic Revival extends to everything. It’s not only about the Eucharist but about all elements of the holy sacrifice of the Mass — from the beauty of the vestments and vessels and sacred music to the sanctuary,” Father Cartwright said. “I am very excited.”
