{"id":166,"date":"2015-08-29T17:32:32","date_gmt":"2015-08-29T17:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertmarton.com\/?p=166"},"modified":"2015-08-29T17:35:06","modified_gmt":"2015-08-29T17:35:06","slug":"dispatch-from-mayefield-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.robertmarton.com\/?p=166","title":{"rendered":"Dispatch from Mayefield (10)"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Landmark Catholic Church Celebrates 135th<\/sup> Anniversary)<\/b><\/p>\n

As a reporter for the Mayefield Messenger, Thomas Carroll captured the soul of his hometown by writing about \u201creal people,\u201d not just those considered newsworthy.\u00a0 His feature stories were well regarded and occasionally came to the attention of the metropolitan daily, the Beacon Light, which published Thomas\u2019 stories under the heading \u201cDispatch from Mayefield.\u201d\u00a0 The following is one of these Dispatches, published in 1974.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0Landmark Catholic Church Celebrates 135th<\/sup>\u00a0Anniversary<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b>By Thomas Carroll<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b>Mayefield Messenger<\/b><\/p>\n

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 \u201cMaye Mills.\u201d<\/p>\n

That Mass marked the origin of Mayefield\u2019s St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic parish.\u00a0 The small chapel where the first Mass was celebrated is the site of the present church on Main Street.<\/p>\n

The history of St. Francis\u2019 parish is closely aligned with the history of Mayefield.\u00a0 Like the Mayefield area, the parish has experienced tremendous growth, and has, as one of its former priests said, \u201ckept the faith alive and enduring in Mayefield through the years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The parishioners of St. Francis\u2019 will celebrate the church\u2019s 135th<\/sup> anniversary this weekend.\u00a0 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\u2019 history.<\/p>\n

Attending the anniversary celebration this coming Sunday will be Bishop Thomas Lyons as well as current and former priests who have served the parish.\u00a0 Bishop Lyons will bless the 132-year-old bell in memory of two beloved members of the St. Francis\u2019 community \u2013now deceased\u2014Rev. Seamus O\u2019Brien and Howard Krasinski.<\/p>\n

Father O\u2019Brien, who died in his native Ireland in last June, was pastor at St. Francis for 24 years, beginning in 1943.\u00a0 He is remembered as a man of many facets and talents.\u00a0 An astute businessman, he brought the parish out of debt soon after his arrival and initiated an extensive building program.\u00a0 His pride \u2013a new school\u2014was constructed in 1953.\u00a0 The church was enlarged with a $300,000 addition in 1959, and a new rectory was built in 1965.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

To hear Father O\u2019Brien 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.<\/p>\n

Father O\u2019Brien retired in 1967 and spent his remaining years with his family in Ireland.<\/p>\n

The bell at St. Francis\u2019 will also be blessed in memory of Howard Krasinski, better known throughout the community as \u201cHank.\u201d\u00a0 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\u2019, the priests and parishioners.<\/p>\n

Blessing the bell in honor of Hank, who died suddenly in September, the same year as his mentor Father O\u2019Brien, is especially significant.\u00a0 Ringing the bell to announce the beginning of every Mass was one of his duties at St. Francis\u2019, and as one parishioner said recently, \u201cthe bell just hasn\u2019t sounded as good since Hank died.\u201d<\/p>\n

To show how irreplaceable Hank is, the bell at St. Francis is now run electronically.<\/p>\n

Historical Highlights<\/b><\/p>\n

In 1835, a young Catholic doctor, Theodore Hawkins was married to Julia May, daughter of the owner of the Maye Mill.\u00a0 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 \u201cAssembly Rooms\u201d building where St. Francis Hall now stands.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Segments of the original chapel that remain today are lengths of the side walls, measuring about 27 feet behind the bell tower.<\/p>\n

St. Francis\u2019 was originally a Jesuit mission, with priests travelling to Mayefield from Georgetown College.\u00a0 The parish didn\u2019t have a resident pastor until 1887.<\/p>\n

The man who may have had the most impact on St. Francis\u2019, Rev. Joseph Lansky, became pastor in 1911.\u00a0 Father Lansky spent the rest of his life in Mayefield, serving the parish for 32 years.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Father Lansky was active in the community.\u00a0 He helped to organize and equip the town\u2019s first baseball team and was chaplain of the Mayefield Volunteer Fire Department.<\/p>\n

Upon his death, Father Lansky was replaced as pastor by Father O\u2019Brien.\u00a0 The parish has had only two other pastors between Father O\u2019Brien and Father William Charles, who serves today.<\/p>\n

These are just a few of the notable moments in the saga of St. Francis of Assisi parish.\u00a0 Much has been omitted for space considerations.\u00a0 There is the origin of the church bell, which once tolled at the May Cotton Mill.\u00a0 There is the symbol of the parish\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

St. Francis of Assisi parish: Mayefield\u2019s past, present and future.<\/p>\n

(Robert J. Marton)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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