At five years, Our Lady of the Angels celebrates family milestones
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, has traditionally been defined as a day of celebration on which the austerity of the season is briefly lessened.
That’s the day, which this year was March 14, the parish community of Our Lady of the Angels, Trenton, chose to celebrate several milestones that centered around the fifth anniversary of the founding of the parish.
Our Lady of the Angels was created in 2005 as a result of the merger between St. Joachim and Immaculate Conception Parishes, both located in the city’s Chambersburg section.
The highlights of the day culminated with a Mass celebrated by Bishop John M. Smith in Immaculate Conception Church and incorporated historical, cultural and contemporary aspects that were reflective of both worship sites as well as that of the newly-restructured parish.
“Milestones are an important part of the collective history of any family, organization or community,” said Father Jeffrey Lee, pastor.
“Clearly, we have much to be grateful for as we reflect on the past five years. The restructuring of a parish community such as ours is not an easy accomplishment. It requires a real commitment to the basic ideals of our faith: to make Jesus Christ known through the Sacraments, stewardship, community building and service,” said Father Lee.
The first milestone was paying tribute to Franciscan Father Pietro Jachetti, who was the founding pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in 1875. In the late 1880s, Father Jachetti oversaw the construction of the neo-Gothic style church which continues today to stand as a monument in the City of Trenton.
“Father Jachetti’s name did not exist anywhere in the church building at all,” said Father Lee, so the parish honored his memory with a plaque.
The plaque was blessed by Bishop Smith.
Giving some background on Father Jachetti, Father Lee said he was a native of Monteleone di Spoleto, and was instrumental in ministering to the immigrants coming from the Valnerina of Umbria to Trenton in order to make a better life for themselves and to provide more adequately for the future of their families.
The German, Irish and Slavic communities that were already well established in Chambersburg recognized the sizable numbers of immigrants entering in their community. Challenges arose with overcrowding issues in the neighborhoods and there was general unease between the national groups as well as within the community.
To minister to the new Italian arrivals, St. Joachim Parish was established in 1901 as a personal (national) parish and was charged to receive the immigrants primarily from Naples, Calabria, San Fele as well as those from the Valnerina of Umbria. This mission was accomplished well with the presence and ministry of the Maestre Pie Filippini (Religious Teachers Filippini) who, in 1910, were sent to live in the parish and teach the children of the burgeoning Italian community.
The second milestone the parish observed March 14 was welcoming a delegation from Monteleone di Spoleto, and a group of tourists from the Valnerina. Among the entourage of guests was Benedictine Father Cassian Folsom, founding prior of the Monastero di San Benedetto (Monastery of St. Benedict), Norcia, in the Umbria section of Italy and a former seminary professor of Father Lee.
The delegation brought with them the Flame of Peace of St. Benedict, which is a torch that is symbolic of St. Benedict, patron of Europe.
Father Lee explained how the light of the torch represents St. Benedict of Norcia’s message of solidarity and fraternity, which was spread by his followers as a way to sow seeds of faith and culture first throughout Europe and with the succeeding centuries throughout the world. The light from which the torch is lit burns continually at the birthplace of St. Benedict in the crypt of the Basilica of San Benedetto in Norcia.
It became the custom for a delegation from Norcia to go on pilgrimage each year with the Benedictine torch, in preparation for the feast of St. Benedict which is observed on March 21.
“In this pilgrimage, Church and state collaborate closely to accomplish a double mission of proposing to the world the fruits of faith and culture,” said Father Lee.
“For this reason, the delegation accompanying the Benedictine Torch pays a visit to the highest civil and ecclesiastical authorities of the host country. The civil authorities may include presidents of Parliament, upper-level state authorities and other persons of special importance. The ecclesiastical authorities may include the apostolic delegate, the local ordinary and abbots of monasteries in the area.”
Father Lee told of how the visit by the delegation from Norcia to Trenton was part of an ongoing initiative called the “Valnerina in the U.S.A.,” which is a project developed in 2006 by the Committee of St. Benedict (Comitato San Benedetto). The project has as its goal to strengthen relations with Italian-Americans living in Mercer County, namely in Trenton and Hamilton Township.
The initiative was launched after Father Cassian visited Trenton and met with representatives whose families had come from the various communities that make up the Valnerina.
During their meetings, the representatives emphasized their interest in re-establishing and strengthening relations with their towns of origin. In doing so, the committee also invited institutions, organizations and associations of the Valnerina to become involved in a cooperative project to re-establish these contacts and foster Italian-American cultural heritage.
To date, delegations comprised of Church and civic officials from both the Valnerina and Mercer County make periodic transatlantic visits to both countries where they foster their relationship through the exchange of ideas and projects.
One such example would be the Schools and Languages Exchange Program which promotes the study of the Italian language and culture both in schools and communities. Two Mercer County schools that are involved in the project are Nottingham and Steinert High Schools, which are both in Hamilton Township and offer courses in Italian.
Father Lee made a comparison between the Chambersburg immigration wave of the 1870s to the immigration wave of today as that area of the city experiences an influx of folks from Central and South American countries, and the impact it has had on the present day parish.
“We are becoming a community that is grounded in our past: German, Irish, Slovak, Italian, Franciscan, Maestre Pie Filippini, while welcoming immigrants from Central and South America, the Caribbean and beyond,” said Father Lee.
“We strive for ways to honor our traditions and ways to build new bridges of understanding and communication with those communities from which many of our ancestors emigrated,” said Father Lee.
“Chambersburg, being the largest residential neighborhood within the City of Trenton, continues to witness a slow but steady shift and, with that, the emergence of a new Catholic community, one that is not to replace those who have gone before us, but rather to continue to build upon our rich and celebrated past in order to be Church in our day.”
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Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, has traditionally been defined as a day of celebration on which the austerity of the season is briefly lessened.
That’s the day, which this year was March 14, the parish community of Our Lady of the Angels, Trenton, chose to celebrate several milestones that centered around the fifth anniversary of the founding of the parish.
Our Lady of the Angels was created in 2005 as a result of the merger between St. Joachim and Immaculate Conception Parishes, both located in the city’s Chambersburg section.
The highlights of the day culminated with a Mass celebrated by Bishop John M. Smith in Immaculate Conception Church and incorporated historical, cultural and contemporary aspects that were reflective of both worship sites as well as that of the newly-restructured parish.
“Milestones are an important part of the collective history of any family, organization or community,” said Father Jeffrey Lee, pastor.
“Clearly, we have much to be grateful for as we reflect on the past five years. The restructuring of a parish community such as ours is not an easy accomplishment. It requires a real commitment to the basic ideals of our faith: to make Jesus Christ known through the Sacraments, stewardship, community building and service,” said Father Lee.
The first milestone was paying tribute to Franciscan Father Pietro Jachetti, who was the founding pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in 1875. In the late 1880s, Father Jachetti oversaw the construction of the neo-Gothic style church which continues today to stand as a monument in the City of Trenton.
“Father Jachetti’s name did not exist anywhere in the church building at all,” said Father Lee, so the parish honored his memory with a plaque.
The plaque was blessed by Bishop Smith.
Giving some background on Father Jachetti, Father Lee said he was a native of Monteleone di Spoleto, and was instrumental in ministering to the immigrants coming from the Valnerina of Umbria to Trenton in order to make a better life for themselves and to provide more adequately for the future of their families.
The German, Irish and Slavic communities that were already well established in Chambersburg recognized the sizable numbers of immigrants entering in their community. Challenges arose with overcrowding issues in the neighborhoods and there was general unease between the national groups as well as within the community.
To minister to the new Italian arrivals, St. Joachim Parish was established in 1901 as a personal (national) parish and was charged to receive the immigrants primarily from Naples, Calabria, San Fele as well as those from the Valnerina of Umbria. This mission was accomplished well with the presence and ministry of the Maestre Pie Filippini (Religious Teachers Filippini) who, in 1910, were sent to live in the parish and teach the children of the burgeoning Italian community.
The second milestone the parish observed March 14 was welcoming a delegation from Monteleone di Spoleto, and a group of tourists from the Valnerina. Among the entourage of guests was Benedictine Father Cassian Folsom, founding prior of the Monastero di San Benedetto (Monastery of St. Benedict), Norcia, in the Umbria section of Italy and a former seminary professor of Father Lee.
The delegation brought with them the Flame of Peace of St. Benedict, which is a torch that is symbolic of St. Benedict, patron of Europe.
Father Lee explained how the light of the torch represents St. Benedict of Norcia’s message of solidarity and fraternity, which was spread by his followers as a way to sow seeds of faith and culture first throughout Europe and with the succeeding centuries throughout the world. The light from which the torch is lit burns continually at the birthplace of St. Benedict in the crypt of the Basilica of San Benedetto in Norcia.
It became the custom for a delegation from Norcia to go on pilgrimage each year with the Benedictine torch, in preparation for the feast of St. Benedict which is observed on March 21.
“In this pilgrimage, Church and state collaborate closely to accomplish a double mission of proposing to the world the fruits of faith and culture,” said Father Lee.
“For this reason, the delegation accompanying the Benedictine Torch pays a visit to the highest civil and ecclesiastical authorities of the host country. The civil authorities may include presidents of Parliament, upper-level state authorities and other persons of special importance. The ecclesiastical authorities may include the apostolic delegate, the local ordinary and abbots of monasteries in the area.”
Father Lee told of how the visit by the delegation from Norcia to Trenton was part of an ongoing initiative called the “Valnerina in the U.S.A.,” which is a project developed in 2006 by the Committee of St. Benedict (Comitato San Benedetto). The project has as its goal to strengthen relations with Italian-Americans living in Mercer County, namely in Trenton and Hamilton Township.
The initiative was launched after Father Cassian visited Trenton and met with representatives whose families had come from the various communities that make up the Valnerina.
During their meetings, the representatives emphasized their interest in re-establishing and strengthening relations with their towns of origin. In doing so, the committee also invited institutions, organizations and associations of the Valnerina to become involved in a cooperative project to re-establish these contacts and foster Italian-American cultural heritage.
To date, delegations comprised of Church and civic officials from both the Valnerina and Mercer County make periodic transatlantic visits to both countries where they foster their relationship through the exchange of ideas and projects.
One such example would be the Schools and Languages Exchange Program which promotes the study of the Italian language and culture both in schools and communities. Two Mercer County schools that are involved in the project are Nottingham and Steinert High Schools, which are both in Hamilton Township and offer courses in Italian.
Father Lee made a comparison between the Chambersburg immigration wave of the 1870s to the immigration wave of today as that area of the city experiences an influx of folks from Central and South American countries, and the impact it has had on the present day parish.
“We are becoming a community that is grounded in our past: German, Irish, Slovak, Italian, Franciscan, Maestre Pie Filippini, while welcoming immigrants from Central and South America, the Caribbean and beyond,” said Father Lee.
“We strive for ways to honor our traditions and ways to build new bridges of understanding and communication with those communities from which many of our ancestors emigrated,” said Father Lee.
“Chambersburg, being the largest residential neighborhood within the City of Trenton, continues to witness a slow but steady shift and, with that, the emergence of a new Catholic community, one that is not to replace those who have gone before us, but rather to continue to build upon our rich and celebrated past in order to be Church in our day.”