(Landmark Catholic Church Celebrates 135th Anniversary)
As a reporter for the Mayefield Messenger, Thomas Carroll captured the soul of his hometown by writing about “real people,” not just those considered newsworthy. His feature stories were well regarded and occasionally came to the attention of the metropolitan daily, the Beacon Light, which published Thomas’ stories under the heading “Dispatch from Mayefield.” The following is one of these Dispatches, published in 1974.
Landmark Catholic Church Celebrates 135th Anniversary
By Thomas Carroll
Mayefield Messenger
On Sunday, January 23, 1843, Father James Ridell, president of Georgetown College (now Georgetown University), celebrated a Mass in the small rural town known as “Maye Mills.”
That Mass marked the origin of Mayefield’s St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic parish. The small chapel where the first Mass was celebrated is the site of the present church on Main Street.
The history of St. Francis’ parish is closely aligned with the history of Mayefield. Like the Mayefield area, the parish has experienced tremendous growth, and has, as one of its former priests said, “kept the faith alive and enduring in Mayefield through the years.”
The parishioners of St. Francis’ will celebrate the church’s 135th anniversary this weekend. For the 1,200 families the parish now serves, this is a time to reflect on the nearly century and a half of hard work, determination and devotion that has marked St. Francis’ history.
Attending the anniversary celebration this coming Sunday will be Bishop Thomas Lyons as well as current and former priests who have served the parish. Bishop Lyons will bless the 132-year-old bell in memory of two beloved members of the St. Francis’ community –now deceased—Rev. Seamus O’Brien and Howard Krasinski.
Father O’Brien, who died in his native Ireland in last June, was pastor at St. Francis for 24 years, beginning in 1943. He is remembered as a man of many facets and talents. An astute businessman, he brought the parish out of debt soon after his arrival and initiated an extensive building program. His pride –a new school—was constructed in 1953. The church was enlarged with a $300,000 addition in 1959, and a new rectory was built in 1965.
An avid sportsman and animal lover, he was a popular visitor at the race track, and he spent many a relaxing hour fishing in local waterways. His impressive Irish Setter dogs romped freely on the church grounds.
To hear Father O’Brien speak at the pulpit, teaching school children, or in conversation was an entertaining experience, filled with quotes from the great poets (especially Shakespeare) and always with the resonance of his delightful brogue.
Father O’Brien retired in 1967 and spent his remaining years with his family in Ireland.
The bell at St. Francis’ will also be blessed in memory of Howard Krasinski, better known throughout the community as “Hank.” He was the church general custodian for nearly 20 years, but he was much more than that: he served as a protector of the buildings and grounds, and was always a loyal friend of St. Francis’, the priests and parishioners.
Blessing the bell in honor of Hank, who died suddenly in September, the same year as his mentor Father O’Brien, is especially significant. Ringing the bell to announce the beginning of every Mass was one of his duties at St. Francis’, and as one parishioner said recently, “the bell just hasn’t sounded as good since Hank died.”
To show how irreplaceable Hank is, the bell at St. Francis is now run electronically.
Historical Highlights
In 1835, a young Catholic doctor, Theodore Hawkins was married to Julia May, daughter of the owner of the Maye Mill. Dr. Hawkins and his wife inherited the historic Maye Mansion (in south Mayefield), and Mass may have been held there on Sundays, or at the “Assembly Rooms” building where St. Francis Hall now stands. Dr. Hawkins completed his chapel at the site of the present church in 1843, and the Catholic mill workers had an official place to worship. Segments of the original chapel that remain today are lengths of the side walls, measuring about 27 feet behind the bell tower.
St. Francis’ was originally a Jesuit mission, with priests travelling to Mayefield from Georgetown College. The parish didn’t have a resident pastor until 1887.
The man who may have had the most impact on St. Francis’, Rev. Joseph Lansky, became pastor in 1911. Father Lansky spent the rest of his life in Mayefield, serving the parish for 32 years. During his tenure, many improvements were made to the church property, including construction of a new rectory (which he built himself), a convent for the Sisters of Mercy on the land to the north of the church where the school sits today, the transformation of an old Maye family mansion across the street from the church into a convent and day school for girls (now the co-ed St. Louise de Marillac High School) and the landscaping of the cemetery.
Father Lansky was active in the community. He helped to organize and equip the town’s first baseball team and was chaplain of the Mayefield Volunteer Fire Department.
Upon his death, Father Lansky was replaced as pastor by Father O’Brien. The parish has had only two other pastors between Father O’Brien and Father William Charles, who serves today.
These are just a few of the notable moments in the saga of St. Francis of Assisi parish. Much has been omitted for space considerations. There is the origin of the church bell, which once tolled at the May Cotton Mill. There is the symbol of the parish’s strength and endurance, a 142-year-old magnolia tree which shades much of the cemetery and the fascinating stories that can be revealed by the cemetery tombstones themselves.
St. Francis of Assisi parish: Mayefield’s past, present and future.
(Robert J. Marton)