Our Lady of Wisdom Church Reopens at the University of Maine
ORONO - The sun shone brightly off the freshly painted walls of Our Lady of Wisdom Chruch as students, parishioners, alumni and community members gathered for the Mass of Dedication at the newly rebuilt church.
The Mass of Dedication included several rites that are not included in ordinary Masses. Bishop Ruggieri blessed the new building with holy water at the beginning of the Mass. After the Liturgy of the Word, He anointed the new altar by carefully pressing Chrism into the entire top surface of the altar. He also anointed the walls of the church with Chrism.
The special mass marked the beginning of a new life for the Catholic community in Orono. Our Lady of Wisdom Church, also known as The Newman Center, sits right across the street from The University of Maine.
Father Brad Morin is the Pastor of The Parish of the Resurrection of the Lord, which includes the new church.
"We have built this Chruch on the very footprint of the old Newman Center chapel," Said Fr. Morin, in his opening address. "That building was beloved by generations of students who found there a place to encounter Christ and one another. Today, on that same ground, rises a new and lasting edifice."
Fr. Morin was the third pastor to oversee the renovation. Fr. Bill Labbe began the fundraising process as pastor in 2018 and passed the project to Fr. Kyle Doustou when he became pastor in 2019.
According to Fr. Labbe, "I was the dreamer, Fr. Kyle was the doer."
Fr. Labbe was thrilled to see the dream become a reality. "It's a gift not only to this area, but a gift to the diocese, a gift to the church, and it will for years to come be a place of faith, growth, and vocation."
Fr. Doustou thanked Fr. Morin and Fr. Erin Donlon for seeing the project to completion during his homily. "I left at probably the worst possible time in this project. But very clearly, gentlemen, it was left in very good hands. And your work over these months to bring us to this day cannot go unnoticed."
Though the Newman Center's previous iteration still lives fresh in the memory of alumni, the new church marks a significant new beginning for the current students. Cameron Dalton, a Senior at UMaine and President of Black Bear Catholic, has not had access to a church on campus the entire time he's been at UMaine.
"We've just been living out of the Bangor Room for our Sunday Masses and doing events on campus," said Dalton. "This has been a long time coming, a lot of prayer and waiting for this to come. Now it's just incredible to have a place that we can have a home; like a home base for us to retreat to and come and just be with our friends, to share community, and share life with each other."
Emerson Morris, a Sophomore and Black Bear Catholic's Secretary, added, "Yeah, they did a good job making the Bangor Room the best they could for it just being a room in the Union, but it's really amazing to have an actual church and just feel the presence here instead of in a building."
The Newman Center now features a large multi-use hall adjacent to the main church. When asked how he hopes to use the new space, Fr. Morin said, "Whatever God wants! We've already got a busy month. The Sisters For Life are coming up, they're going to do a gathering with some of our students. We've got a Respect Life event with Bishop Ruggieri at the other month. We've got a brunch scheduled after the alumni weekend. So now we can actually use the space for its intended purpose."
