By Lois Rogers | Correspondent

With solemnity and celebration, hundreds of parishioners of St. Veronica Parish, Howell, welcomed a new, hand carved mahogany altar and ambo Oct. 5 during Mass celebrated by Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M.

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More than half a century had passed since Bishop George W. Ahr dedicated St. Veronica Church and its then new altar in 1962. Many after the Mass, including Kathy Madeira and Veronica Wittstruck, said this was the first time they had ever experienced such a liturgy.

Both Madeira and Wittstruck shared how moving the dedication was and Wittstruck noted how deighted she was after Mass to “hear a little boy ask his mother hopefully, 'is Mass going to be like this all the time?'”

That sense of jubilation was palpable from the moment the Mass began with clergy, choristers and musicians leading the congregation in praise and adoration.

“Let Us Go to the Altar,” by renowned liturgical composer Dan Schutte, was the clarion call of the processional hymn with its refrain calling everyone to “go to the altar of God, the God of our gladness and joy!” at the Mass concelebrated by Father Vincent Euk, pastor, and Father Vicente Magdaraog, parochial vicar.

In brief opening remarks, “A day of rejoicing,” is how Bishop O'Connell described the liturgical celebration just before blessing the water he would use to sprinkle the altar and those who will draw spiritual sustenance in the decades to come.

“As we come to the dedication of this new altar,” the Bishop said, “we draw nearer to Christ, the living stone,” the stone on which the Church rests.

In his homily the Bishop spoke of how the altar connects the faithful to that solid, stone foundation. “For 2,000 years, we have been connected to Jesus – we have never severed that connection,” he said, “maintaining it through the year around the altar.”

“Sunday after Sunday,” he said, the faithful will receive the Lord at this altar, bring their sorrows, joys, needs and prayers to the altar and indeed, “take Christ out the front door with us into the world to work in our lives and the lives of others.”

“It is our belief and our faith which leads us to the Eucharist. … Our faith brings us to the Lord Jesus … '

The rites of dedication and anointing followed. Beginning with the chanting of the Litany of Saints and as he would do throughout the ritual, at every step – anointing, incensing, covering and lighting the altar – the Bishop explained the meaning of each.

These ancient rites visibly express aspects of the “great mysteries of our faith that are accomplished” around the altar, the Bishop said. In a brief and meaningful tutorial, he shared how Abraham, Noah and Moses had all been called to the altar of sacrifice with Jesus – “The Anointed One” offering on the altar of his own Body, the sacrifice of his life for the salvation of all.

“Bless the altar in the house of the Church,” he said, “may it stand forever as the Lord's table, the table of joy … a place of peace … a source of unity and friendship, a center of our praise and thanksgiving.”

The altar, made of carved mahogany and topped with Italian marble, was prepared by altar servers as a table of the sacrificial banquet and adorned, according to liturgical rubrics “as for a feast” signifying that it is the Lord's table around which, God's people joyously gather to be refreshed with divine food.

As the altar was lit in the final moments of preparation, the Bishop explained that the candles symbolize Jesus as the Light of the World.

When the Liturgy of the Eucharist began, the new altar was a luminous sight as its creator, Vincenzo Scotto and his wife, Luisa presented the gifts to the Bishop who thanked them in their native Italian. Scotto, 83, and a restaurateur, has worked in wood as an avocation all his life. He is considered a master carpenter.

Over the decades, he has created numerous art works and liturgical pieces not only for St. Veronica Church, but for the Church of St. Mary of the Assumption in the Sky in Monte di Procida, a jewel box of a town over looking the Gulf of Naples where he grew up.

For that church, he designed and created wall units and the church doors. In St. Veronica, over the years, he has designed, created and donated a new offertory table, a credence table, a kneeler for the Divine Mercy devotion, and a platform for Our Lady of Judah, the new statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary also donated by a parishioner, which graces the sanctuary.

He is not one to seek the spotlight but others, including Deacon Gino Esposito, sings Scotto's praises as a man of faith and an artist. “He's very generous and very humble,” said Deacon Esposito. “If you ask him why he makes these (sacred) objects, he says, “Per il bene Dio e la Santa Chiesa” (for the love of God and the Holy Church).