By:Carrie James
St. Raphael's convenes Mass at site of proposed house of worship
Saturday evening, when many others enjoyed the warm summer weather, more than 300 people came to the lot behind St. Raphael's Roman Catholic Church for a special Mass at the site of a proposed new church.
Everything was in place for the evening, except for one thing - the building, which church officials hope to break ground on soon.
"It's our first celebration of the sacred ground before we unearth it for the new church building," said Diane Lawlor, chairperson of the parish's Companions in Prayer, which helped organize the special Mass. "By doing this, it shows the church is the people, not the building. The people make the church."
Lawlor's words proved true even before the service started, when volunteers had to bring out more chairs to accommodate the larger-than-anticipated crowd of parishioners.
Young or old, new or veteran, members said they wanted to celebrate the next step in their parish's long history. Shirley Pathos, a 47-year member, was just one of many who said she couldn't wait to see the planned church.
"I think it's wonderful," she said. "It's one of the best things they have done since they built the original church. And this is one of the most wonderful things, having a Mass on the holy ground before the new church is built."
St. Raphael's Building Committee members outlined the church's dimensions with white spray paint to give parishioners a better idea of the building's structure when complete, said Victor Costa, a member of the Pastoral Council.
"We did it as similar as possible to what it will be like to actually go to the church," he said.
A makeshift arch guided people to the main entrance of the proposed church, while a baptism font and altar gave parishioners a more tangible view of what the church would eventually look like. Chairs were put where pews would later be, and the choir sat where they would be located in the new building, said Arlene Vosilla, who helped organize the event.
The Mass began just after 7 p.m. with a processional into the open-air sanctuary. St. Raphael's Rev. Tom Haggerty welcomed the parishioners to the special celebration and reminded them through the night's readings that their hospitality and willingness to work together made the night and proposed new church possible.
"The wonderful thing for us is that we have tried to listen to each other," Haggerty said. "We've tried to listen to the desires of our parishioners, of our neighbors and the community. This is all about hospitality, how to work with each other and put aside individual wishes. We're all very excited. It's been a long time coming."
The Town of Hempstead Board recently accepted an environmental report on the proposed church that said it was OK to develop on the land in question. Now, St. Raphael's is waiting for the board to schedule a final discussion and vote on the proposed building plans before they can go ahead with construction.
"Right now, we are just waiting for the building plans to be approved," Costa said. "We're hoping the town board will look favorably on these plans for the benefit of the children. We want to get it under way, so as not to interfere with the children coming back to school."
After the Mass, Vosilla said, parishioners held a fellowship meeting that gave them a look at St. Raphael's history and its future. Members also got a tour of the spray-painted church outline to give them an idea of what would go where in the new building.
