dancerjodi (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dancerjodi) wrote2004-05-25 04:06 pm
dancerjodi) wrote2004-05-25 04:06 pm
Church closings
http://www.boston.com/news/specials/parishes/closings/
My grandmother's church is safe, phew! They are closing St. Joseph's i.e. the French church. This is going to be a huge blow to the large Haitian community in Waltham . . . I'm not sure where they'll go for masses in French. What I'd consider my "home" church (where I went to school for 5 years, made my confirmation, and was married) is safe. I figured that St. Patrick's in Watertown would make it through (the other Catholic one in Watertown, Sacred Heart, will be closed).
On another note, the church I was baptized at and made my first communion at, St. James the Great on Rt 9 in Wellesley will be closing. That was our parish until we moved (I was 9) and we were pretty active, going to mass each week, joining the congregation for breakfast in the lower church after mass, participating in fund raisers, and attending many a holiday craft fair. Its these craft fairs that make me so sentimental for church fairs come holiday-time, and make me want to go to them. Damn. I guess its a good thing they were still open 5+ years ago when we got married . . . I had to get my baptismal record from them to get married (and even *with* the church open, it took forever to get it). My brother and sister were baptized there too - I wonder where the records will go after closing?
I'm sure they have been having problems for a while - they leased out a large part of their parking lot to a nearby car dealer for storage. I spent a lot of time of my youth riding my bike in that parking lot.
My grandmother's church is safe, phew! They are closing St. Joseph's i.e. the French church. This is going to be a huge blow to the large Haitian community in Waltham . . . I'm not sure where they'll go for masses in French. What I'd consider my "home" church (where I went to school for 5 years, made my confirmation, and was married) is safe. I figured that St. Patrick's in Watertown would make it through (the other Catholic one in Watertown, Sacred Heart, will be closed).
On another note, the church I was baptized at and made my first communion at, St. James the Great on Rt 9 in Wellesley will be closing. That was our parish until we moved (I was 9) and we were pretty active, going to mass each week, joining the congregation for breakfast in the lower church after mass, participating in fund raisers, and attending many a holiday craft fair. Its these craft fairs that make me so sentimental for church fairs come holiday-time, and make me want to go to them. Damn. I guess its a good thing they were still open 5+ years ago when we got married . . . I had to get my baptismal record from them to get married (and even *with* the church open, it took forever to get it). My brother and sister were baptized there too - I wonder where the records will go after closing?
I'm sure they have been having problems for a while - they leased out a large part of their parking lot to a nearby car dealer for storage. I spent a lot of time of my youth riding my bike in that parking lot.
Heh,
Heh, parish? Waltham's got 5 of them (well, 4 after St. Joseph's closes).
Time will tell. The Archdiocese spelled out what would happen in other communites where French churches were closing but didn't do so for St. Joseph's. I'm wondering if they are going to just leave people on their own (perhaps in the grand scheme of Catholics in the city the Haitian population isn't large enough to worry about).
Ah well - I'm sure the residents will speak up about it, either way.