Friday, September 29, 2017

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: PARISH HISTORY: 1930s: THE LOCAL MOTIVE

In the summer of 1936, a mysterious letter was sent out to 300 representative parishioners asking them to come to a meeting in the school assembly room (now the library and computer room). The letter gave no reason for the meetings but stated that it would be explained once they were there.

The meeting was described in a parish newspaper called, “The Local Motive” and featured a charging steam engine on its masthead charging toward the reader.  The people gathered before a speakers table at which sat Father Zwisler and “his able assistant” Fr. Murphy.  The whole audience was “agog with curiosity” waiting for Father to say what the mysterious meeting was about.

The talk began with a review of the remarkable first eight years of the parish, the construction of the beautiful, all-purpose building and the creation of beautiful grounds making St. Sebastian, “the greatest parish in the diocese.”

“‘I did not bring you here just to tell you these things because you already know them yourselves,’ the eloquent speaker stated, ‘but to submit for your consideration two very pressing needs with which we are at present confronted.’”  On top of the list was a need for a rectory.  The current house afforded little privacy for those who were visiting “on sensitive matters,” and was too small.  “The sleeping accommodations are so limited that an extra priest, helping out over weekends, must be lodged in the restroom of the school.”  It was also at good distance from the church, “however, the priests are not complaining.”  He also hoped to have a larger house in order to make it possible for another parochial vicar to be assigned to the parish whose services were sorely needed for the growing community.

Shortly after this time the priests had to move from the house on Roslyn.  The owners of the house wanted to sell the it so a different one was rented at 100 Elmdale.  It was time for the parish to have its own rectory. 

The estimated cost of the rectory would be $30,000.  A second $30,000 was also requested for debt reduction.  Parish debt still stood at a staggering $230,000.  A reduction of $30,000 would cut the yearly interest rate by $1,500.  

The Local Motive declared that the subscription campaign would begin Tuesday, September 8th, 1936 and that it would be “a dignified style of fund-raising sure to please.”  “Give it right away” the paper prompted, “Will you tackle this duty that comes your way with a resolute soul and cheerful - Or hide yourself from the light of day with a shrinking soul and fearful?”

A number of advertisers that bought space in the paper are still with us today: Hummel and Billows Funeral Homes, Grismer’s Catholic Store, and Reiter Dairy.  Other past business supporters are the things of memory such as Ahern’s Florist and Isaly’s Dairy products.

The second issue of the Local Motive reports that the 200 parishioners that Tuesday night had, within one hour, raised $9,710.  A “FLASH!!” appeared as an insert in the paper.  “Will O’Neil and Lon G. Tighe, staunch members of the congregation, unable to attend the meeting last Tuesday night, phoned their regrets to Father Zwisler the following day and authorized him to publish their names for respectively $1,500 and $300, a boost to the 1st week’s total.  Thanks a lot, Bill and Lon, and we hope to see you in the Assembly Room next Tuesday night when we sure will sing the ‘Three Cheers’ song in your honor.”

The help of important investors such as these provided the foundation for a successful campaign which the pastor desperately wanted to succeed.  The Local Motive reported, “Virtually every parish in the diocese and numerous non-Catholic interests of the city, have heard of the crusade’s launching and admiring the courage and common sense of our people, have their eyes focused on the campaign and eagerly await the results of our efforts.  The wonderful reputation established in the past eight years during which “failure” has been an odious word to every parishioner, is at stake in this enterprise and the exceptional pastor in charge of the congregation, with his own record of outstanding achievements, must be supported by every worthwhile member of the congregation.”

It should be noted that Father Zwisler himself is recorded as having given among the third highest level of donation at $500, an amount in today’s money that would still be appreciated as generous.

The third issue of The Local Motive had a “Roll of Honor” that included family names still associated and very much involved in the parish.  Those listed contributed around $250 apiece to bring the total of the first week of the crusade to $14,615.  

One particular gift received special attention in the paper.  It was a pledge for $25 with a $5 down payment made in cash.  The reporter wrote, “Mr. Salvatore Ferrise greeted the director with a smile as he handed over his pledge.  The roar of applause that followed the announcement was significant and greater in volume than that accorded many larger offerings.”  The reason for the cheering was two fold.  The first is that $1 in 1936 was worth about $17 in 2016 dollars.  That means his donation today would be about $425, not an insignificant sum.  But over and above that, it was noted that the Ferrise family had twelve children!  This was truly a sacrifice.

It was announced that at the next meeting, the pastor, “to whom honor is due,” would be so honored.  Donations to the campaign that night would be a tribute to Father’s great work in the parish.  The paper wrote, “Good friends are rare and precious blessings in this world, and once found are not lightly to be ignored.  They are God-given.  Like opportunities, they come seldom, and if not appreciated, disappear among the great things that might have been.

“Father Zwisler is a friend that St. Sebastian’s parish can reckon as genuine and sincere, indeed, beyond the price of pearls.  Knowing him for what he is as a man, and recognizing him as high priest of the Master, no one can help but realize it is a signal honor to share his friendship.”

And they did turn out.  A picture on the front page of the Local Motive showed a standing room only crowd.  The headline screamed, “PARISH SMASHES WAY TO $20,000 MARK AT PASTOR’S MEETING.”  One of the largest gifts came from the school children whose combined gift totaled $1,000. 

It was announced that the next meeting would honor The Rev. John Murphy, the parochial vicar.  On this night he was afforded an opportunity to talk.  He began by saying, “I am reminded of a puritanical Irishman in a crusade like this who objects to the pastor who received contributions without considering their source.  ‘Why Father,’ he said, ‘that $1,000 you just received came from a bootlegger.  It’s tainted money!’  ‘Well,’ the pastor sighed, ‘taint yours and taint mine so why worry?’”

He went on to say, “Father Zwisler is a man determined to make St. Sebastian the finest parish in the diocese, if not the entire state of Ohio.  Already we have the best building viewed from an ornamental and utilitarian standpoint that you can find anywhere.  This is not my opinion alone but that of the numerous critical visitors who come here, sometimes from great distances to inspect it. . . It is one of the finest ecclesial properties in the country. . . We owe (Father Zwisler) much and now, with his call to the parish, to continue this work by a substantial reduction of our debt and the erection of a necessary priest’s house  Everyone should converge to his support.”

The final Local Motive in the parish archives proclaims, “CURATE’S NIGHT SENDS CRUSADE SCORE AMOST TO $26,000.”  Seventy five parishioners added about $6,000 to the crusade in honor to the parochial vicar.  

The meetings themselves seemed to have something of a pep rally atmosphere with humorous stories, rally cries and cheering, and singing.  The reports often mention the pianist who would lead the crusade hymns.  “Promptly at 8 o’clock, Tommy McGovern took his place at the piano and rattled off the tuneful crusade melodies while the seven floor men passed out printed forms and song cards . . . The Notre Dame ditty [caught] the fancy of the audience by its measures  which swelled in a diapason that would have tickled the green-shirted warriors from South Bend.”


By all accounts, the meeting was a success having honored the curate with pledges that would total almost $102,000 in today’s money.  The next meeting, for which we do not have an account, would honor the sisters in the school as well as St. Therese Little Flower.  There was also a talk advertised on the life of the Little Flower with an exhibition of “two remarkable rose petals.”  “NON-CATHOLICS WELCOME.”

Thursday, September 28, 2017

WELL, HEY, LET'S TALK MORE ABOUT ME

Lots of great things have been happening at St. Sebastian Parish.  Well - things that I find extremely fascinating and that I am excited about and want to talk about, but there is a limited audience with whom one can share that kind of excitement.

It is possible to share your success stories with your priest friends - especially your classmates and your close associates.  But there is a limit.  There is no doubt that they are happy for you and wish you the best, but as one gentlemen spoke of last week (not clergy) there is that moment when you can see the switch flip behind the eyes of your friends and instead of interest they are now on auto pilot waiting for you to finish or at least taking a breath long enough for them to say, “So what else is happening?”

And really - that is understandable.  I admit to being the same way.  We may be brother priests, and it may be that we are all supposed to pull together to make this Church thing work, but we were unwittingly trained (things are changing now) to make OUR parish and OUR school for which we are responsible as healthy as they can be and unfortunately that inspires a bit of competition.  I think of my classmate down in New Franklin who has seminarians coming out of his ears, who runs some wonderful spiritual programs that perhaps every parish should have, and who is so darn thoughtful that I want to beat him with a stick.  So hearing of his many and varied successes, I start thinking, “Hey you big oaf, why don’t YOU get on the stick and accomplish more like your classmate here?”  That’s when the switch flips behind my eyes, I wait for a break, and then ask, “So what else is going on?” maybe to stop feeling guilty that I am not accomplishing more.

*sigh* 


That is where a good dad comes in.  A guy in the parish and I were lamenting the deaths of our fathers.  A good father as a male role model can be The Guy that cheers you on.  There is no competition with Dad.  When you were younger he was already better at everything than you (or at least seemed to be) and when you were older, he’s already moved on to other things and you are not the competition.  Hopefully he sees something of himself in you and so can be proud of your accomplishments and instead of the switch flipping behind the eyes, he can say, “Tell me more.  Then what happened?  That is awesome!”

To those dads who can do this - your sons thank you.  In this way you exemplify The Father and the way He loves His sons and daughters.  We need more male role models like you.  You are more important and awesome than you know - more vital to the mission of Christ than you can realize.


Thanks both dads and those who love us like a dad.

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CCCCV

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND:  "The simple phrase, 'For God so loved the world . . .' would have puzzled an educated pagan.  And the notion that the gods care about how we treat one another would have been dismissed at patently absurd."  from Frank Stark's, "The Rise of Christianity"

IN OTHER NEWS:

Just pictures this week:


Bishop Gries OSB celebrating the first Mass at the Julie Billiart School of St. Sebastian last Friday.
Bishop Perez having Mass at St. Sebastian on Saturday.  Talk about being blessed with two awesome bishops!
As part of receiving permission to reserve the Blessed Sacrament at JBSS, the ordinary needs to visit the space.  So after dinner on Saturday, Bishop Perez made a visit to the new chapel.
Sunday was Octoberfest at St. Paul in Akron.  Here is something I thought I would never, ever see:  Fr. Pfeiffer cutting a rug on the dance floor!  Didn't know you had the moves brother!
Fr. Trenta left yesterday to return to studies in Rome.  He wanted Swensons for his farewell meal.  We took this picture and sent it to seminarian David Stavarz, sometimes resident in the St. Sebastian rectory, to encourage him on his soup and salad diet.
Even Sebastian got in on the fun.
Adam sent this two hour video in:

Monday, September 25, 2017

MONDAY DIARY: ALMOST EXCRUCIATINGLY TRUE STORIES: . . . AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.

This is not an exaggeration.

At 2:55PM on Tuesday I made the casual remark that, although we have a lot to do, and Bishop Gries  OSB is coming on Friday to have Mass at the Julie Billiart School at St. Sebastian, there are no major events at the parish this weekend so it should be a relatively relaxing weekend for a change.

At 3:00PM I received a phone call.  "Bishop Perez wants to have Mass at St. Sebastian this weekend. Can that be arranged?"

Can it?  Ha!  I was terribly excited to welcome our brand new bishop down to the southern part of his diocese!  How ultimately awesome!  And an honor!

Then the doubts set in.  "Is he coming down because we did something right or because we did something wrong?"  (As it turns out he is going to be visiting every parish as he can and we just happened to have an early pull from the parish jar - but I didn't know that then.)

The rest of the week was a blur of getting ready.  A friend said, "Do you realize that you turn in to your Mother whenever a bishop is coming to St. Sebastian?"  With dread comprehension I knew it to be true.  Cecil B. Demille would have been proud of my pre-production preparations.  One of the best lasting effects have been that now it is Monday morning and things that I have been wanting to have fixed/cleaned in the rectory and church were taken care of for the Bishop's visit and today we enjoy it.

But there are so many things over which one just doesn't have control.  When does the battery in the air conditioner unit in the rectory decide to die?  While the Bishop is here.  When does every "empty" or "full" alarm go off in the rectory?  When the Bishop is here.  Of course.

It was a beautiful things seeing the church packed however.  The only thing that made me nervous was that my cousin Steven, a bit of a prankster, was sitting in the front pew.  And guess what, Bishop Perez likes to walk around when he gives a homily.  Guess where he stood the majority of the time.  In front of Steven who looked at me with his mischievous grin and wiggled his eyebrows.
By and large it was a great pastoral visit by our new shepherd.  The next visit, now that we know how to care and feed the shepherd will be much less stressful.  

Speaking of shepherds, Bishop Roger Gries OSB had the very first Mass at the Julie Billiard School at St. Sebastian, Akron on Friday.  That was much less stressful for the three priests here at St. Sebastian, Fr. Simone, Fr. Trenta and me.  It was more of a challenge for him.  From my years in children's theater I have learned that children are brutally honest.  And the can be like water, flowing in unpredictable places.

Bishop Gries had a wonderful Mass and during part of his homily he went down to speak to the K-2nd grade students.
You know, the best laughs in the world are ones where you are trying your darnedest not to laugh.



Friday, September 22, 2017

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: PARISH HISTORY: 1930s: A GRAVE EMERGENCY!

In a letter dated May 1st, 1933, Father Zwisler wrote to his parishioners:
“A grave emergency has arisen.  Your parish faces a serious crises, which you alone can, and, I have every confidence, will avert.  This Emergency occasions an Urgent Appeal . . . the success of the Appeal will save your parish with its efficient Church, School, and convent.”
The letter went on to describe what is later known as the Great Depression.  The parish built quickly and accumulated substantial debt during a very prosperous time in our nation.  It was thought that the fledgling community could easily handle the debt given enough time.  But before the new building was even occupied, the financial crash hit and its wake leaving four years of economic depression and high unemployment.  

The parish budget was slashed.  The pastor no longer took his pay.  About 60% of the parish was fortunate enough to be able to continue to support the parish, and money was carefully set aside to pay parish debt.  

The heaviest obligation was coming due on June 1st, $8,000, a tremendous amount of money in 1930’s dollars.  The parish had carefully saved the money and placed it in the bank.  But then the bank crashed and the money was lost.

“We must meet this obligation,” wrote the pastor.  “This cannot wait.  Parish Solvency and Credit are at stake.  You have maintained your Parish credit until now.  You cannot default.  Failure to meet this obligation (would be) disastrous.  You will not fail.  You will be generous in relieving a tense situation created by the Bank, not by you.”
The appeal was asking “each solvent adult” to give $10, the more fortunate being asked to make up for what the less fortunate were not able to give.  The money had to be raised in just three weeks time.  So he asked, “Please to bring, send or mail to the Rectory or place on Collection Plate on any of the next three Sundays.”
At the end of the letter he added, “With your very generous response, you may also make it possible for your Pastor to draw on some of his long past due allowance, and thus enable him to continue to maintain his Ford in the better interest of the parish.”
According to the St. Sebastian Silver Jubilee booklet, during this time “the pastor was driving a faithful 5 year old Model T Ford in those days to try and keep up with his many appointments.  One day he was heading for an important engagement when the “flivver” finally stopped running and he left it in its tracks.”
The campaign was not entirely successful in meeting all of the parish debts.
Every parish in the Diocese of Cleveland pays an assessment to the diocese.  This helps maintain offices and programs that serve the entire diocese.  As the dioceses offices do not generate their own funding, they rely on an assessment or tax, which is a portion of the Sunday collection, to fund them.  In September of 1934, Father Zwisler wrote to Bishop Schrembs asking for relief from having to pay the assessment due to economic hardship.

“This concerns our diocesan (assessment).  In spite of our heavy parish debt, we have never failed to meet all our diocesan obligations even during these depression years.  This includes not only the (assessment), but every diocesan campaign or collection as well.  With the help of God, we are doing so this year in spite of the fact that the parish is debt poor.  We cannot, however, meet the (assessment) until the end of this year.”
The letter goes on to explain the bank failure and the extra costs involved with meeting the extra debt incurred because of late payments.  He also explains other parish financial responsibilities:
$13,000 in salaries
$2,400 in taxes
$1,500 Diocesan tax
$600 rectory rental
$800 office expenses
$500 building repairs and renovations
$500 sacristy and sanctuary expenses
$150 telephone
$300 janitor and supplies
These amounts when added to the parish debt meant that $44,500.00 was needed to operate the parish for that year.  As a side note, it was estimated that it cost the parish about $8,000.00 a day to operate in the year 2010.

For his part, the bishop wrote back:
“I have your letter of September 20th, and I fully appreciate your financial difficulties.  Try, by all means to keep up the spirit and the morale of your people.  Surely the present depression cannot keep on forever.  Let us hope and pray for better days.
“With kindness and personal good wishes,
“Very cordially in Christ,
Bishop Schrembs, 

Bishop of Cleveland.

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

BISHOP PEREZ COMING TO AKRON THIS SATURDAY

HELP GET THE NEWS OUT that Bishop Nelson Perez is coming to St. Sebastian Parish for 4:30 Mass this coming Saturday, September 23rd!

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CCCCIV

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND:  "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."  Voltaire

QUOTE II:  ". . . the Church is the only thing defending whatever is at the moment stupidly despised."  G. K. Chesterton

IN OTHER NEWS:

A couple people sent THIS article in about "How Do We Fund Sacred Art in the Church?"
Speaking of the Beautiful, Eucharistic Devotions continues at St. Sebastian Parish with closing ceremonies tonight at 7PM.  Come say hello to Him sometime today!
This little guy is at One of a Kind Pets.  I am in the market for a pal for Sebastian, but I don't have what it takes at the moment to care for a guy this small.  But that face . . .  
This past Saturday was the Open House and Dedication of the Julie Billiart School at St. Sebastian, Akron.  It was a great turn out!  Below is the painting by Eric Armusik that was unveiled that day.

One of our parishioners is studying at the Franciscan University of Steubenville and had recently won a Magic contest.  Here is his video  (12mins):


Sunday, September 17, 2017

EUCHARISTIC DEVOTIONS THIS SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY




MONDAY DIARY: ALMOST EXCRUCIATINGLY TRUE STORIES: IF BEARS WERE ORDAINED

It is a blessing to have more than one priest at a parish.  Not every priest is for (the taste of) every person.  So it's a wonderful thing to have someone who preaches differently, celebrates differently and offers the Sacrament of Confession differently.

Over the summer we most often had three priests hearing confessions at St. Sebastian and we are very different.  As one person put it, our way of celebrating is like different ways of getting food at various restaurants.  I am like fast food - a Taco Bell confession . . .
Fr. Simone is more like an upper end steak restaurant - maybe like Flemmings . . . 
Then there is the person who thought we were more like the Three Bears.
Which led Fr. Simone to opine . . .

Friday, September 15, 2017

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: PARISH HISTORY: 1930: COMPETITIVE MARKET

Much of the first two paragraphs were taken from the Our Lady of the Elms website.

OUR LADY OF THE ELMS

Our Lady of the Elms was founded by the Akron Dominicans in 1923, five years before the founding of St. Sebastian Parish, having their first day of school on October 15, 1923. To get to this momentous day, a score of Sisters of St. Dominic from the Dominican Province of Caldwell, New Jersey, led by Mother General Avelline Quinn, OP, purchased Elm Court, the beautiful mansion, grounds and buildings on West Market Street.

They saw beyond its beauty as a piece of property. They envisioned it as their center of operations in Akron, Ohio. Here there would be a Dominican Novitiate to form young women into Sisters of St. Dominic who would join their ranks and share in their work. They also opened a new school for young women where the Dominican vocation of teaching the young could be accomplished through the particular charism of Dominican education. A little band of Sisters of St. Dominic led by Mother Beda, newly-appointed leader of the new Cleveland Diocese Dominican Motherhouse, in just a few months in 1923, transformed Elm Court into Our Lady of the Elms, a convent and a day school. Classes for the first thirteen students were held in the convent building. 

The school clearly proceeded the opening of the St. Sebastian Primary school and as such competed for students.  From the outset, there was tension between the two institutions.  Numerous letter were written back and forth to the bishop asking him to intervene between them.    In a letter to the Right Reverend Monsignor McFadden dated March 14, 1931, Mother Beda O. P. writes, in obvious response to accusations made by Father Zwisler:

“He insists that Sister Jeanette, the principal, has frequently proclaimed the priority rights that would seem to indicate that he had no right to establish a parish school.

“In November, having heard rumors of Father’s public attacks on private select schools, Sister Jeannette and I went over to his rectory to visit him.  When we asked him what was the trouble, he answered that there was no trouble but we had believed women’s gossip, etc.  However, during the course of the conversation, Father maintained that private grade schools should not exist anywhere in the country where the nation is dotted with parochial schools.

“We answered that this property had been purchased, with the permission of the Rt. Rev. Bishop, to open a novitiate to supply teachers for this diocese.  In order to support this novitiate, since we are only a teaching community, we had to open a school.  Then Sister Jeannette, turning, remarked, so we have priority of existence.  Evidently Father Zwisler has interpolated her remark, as Sister neither insinuated nor said that ‘he had no right to establish a parish school.’”

But that is not to say that the relationship was entirely competitive.  According to the same letter, when Father Zwisler first came to Akron the children of the Elms put on a program for him to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Armistice Day.  Father and especially his parochial vicar said Masses, instructed children, heard confessions, and even had entire classes spend a week at St. Sebastian School when preparing for First Communion, a forerunner of our current “Jesus Day.”

Thursday, September 14, 2017

AND THE SECRET INGREDIENT IS . . .

I killed a great and successful program.

I feel extremely guilty about it.

I could offer ALL KINDS of excuses but when it comes right down to it, I could have handled it in a more constructive manner.

Let me just say it was drawing a lot of desperate people from near and far; men, women, old(er), young(er), Catholic, non-Catholic, to come together a pray, study, and (toward the end) have a good time together once a month.

Unfortunately, it was in the rectory, I am at the old(er) end of the scale, it was always on a work night, and I was always having to kick people out so I could get to bed.  “No, seriously, you people have to leave now.”

The reason I bring this up is that I was having a discussion with a newly ordained recently and we were debating what works and what does not work when it comes to forming community and getting people involved at the parish.  Clearly, our model of programs, initiatives and posters no longer work well.  Something new is needed as we rebuild Catholic culture in the United States.  

Here is something that doesn’t work (that surprised me) and something that did work (that surprised me.)

WHAT DIDN’T WORK:

Meetings on the parish grounds that featured Bible studies or theological talks.  We peppered them up, gave them snappy titles, made great posters and turned it into a social/coffee house to try to up the attendance.  The same 30 people turned out for all of them.  Great people.  But why were we failing to attract more?

WHAT WORKED:

Theology on Tap has been a wonderful success thus far.  Hundreds of people have been through the door over the past year.  (We are coming up on our 1 year anniversary.)  Theology on the Rocks has almost been too much of a success.  We have had angry people because the venues have been so crowded.  At each of these there has been a solid theological talk, questions and answers, and, of course, food, drink and community.

The group with which I opened this article was a study of the writing of a turn of the last century Catholic writer.  Who would come to such a thing besides a few nerds like me?  But they did.


So . . . what is the THING and how can it be applied to other programs that are withering on the vine?  What are the ingredients?  Do we need to have PSR classes at Taco Bell?  What would make you come out for a Bible study?

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

TUESDAY QUOTE OF THE WEEK CCCCIII

FINDING TRUTH WHEREVER IT MAY BE FOUND:  "No man consciously chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for the happiness he seeks."  Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

QUOTE II:  "The young man who rings the bell at the brothel is unconsciously looking for God."  Bruce Marshal

IN OTHER NEWS:

K. S. sent this picture in from the St. Sebastian cutting garden with the caption, "Did you every wonder where bees take their naps?"
R. G. sent in an article about the release of Chesterton's, "The Flying Inn."  Read more HERE.

Eric Armusik is selling copies of his painting of Chesterton HERE.

This picture came from Fr. K showing us old folk why Pokemon is so interesting.

Speaking of the ever entertaining Fr. K - first here is a picture of Sebastian I caught one day:


Here it is re-created by Fr. K:

Babylon Bee is a biting, satyrical sight that occasionally hits a point better than most.  HERE is, "'Racism Is Bad,' Says White Woman Who Oversees Systematic Annihilation of Minorities."  Thanks A. K. 

I had Mass at St. Augustine in Barberton a couple of week ago.  I loved the statue in the sacristy of St. Anthony with an itty bitty St. Francis peeking out behind his foot.  (Congratulations guys on your new pipe organ.)


If you want to watch Bishop Perez's installation HERE is all three hours of it.