NORFOLK, Va. (CNS) — The first Catholics of Virginia 200 years ago were “a few shining stars” that eventually burst forth “into greater constellations of communities” bringing the light of Christ to all whom they encountered, said Bishop Barry C. Knestout in opening the Diocese of Richmond’s bicentennial celebration.
Along with 600 people at Sacred
Heart Parish in Norfolk for a Mass Jan. 18 marking the start of the yearlong
observance, Bishop Knestout and 42 concelebrating priests commemorated the 1820
arrival in Virginia of Bishop Patrick Kelly, the diocese’s first bishop.
Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond, Va., delivers the homily during the opening Mass of the diocese’s bicentennial year Jan. 18 at Sacred Heart Church in Norfolk. The Mass commemorated the arrival of the first Catholic bishop in Virginia, Bishop Patrick Kelly. (Michael Mickle/CNS, via The Catholic Virginian)
The bishop said the
“manifestation of faith” was accompanied by awe, wonder and acts of charity.
“Given the smallness of the
Catholic community in Virginia, how few Catholics there were and still are in
comparison to the rest of the population,” he said, “I have seen how ‘holding
fast to the word’ results in a devotion and generous engagement of the faithful
in parish life, where works of charity and justice grow and thrive.”
Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, a German Redemptorist who worked as a missionary in the United States frontier, including the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia and the Archdiocese of New Orleans, is pictured in this photo from circa 1855. (Public Domain)
Linking the present to the past,
Bishop Knestout, the 13th bishop of the diocese, used the crosier that belonged
to Bishop Walter F. Sullivan, who served as bishop of Richmond from 1974 to
2003, and the chalice that belonged to Bishop Augustine van de Vyer, who led
the diocese from 1889 to 1911.
Also on display was a first-class relic of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, a Redemptorist priest from Germany who briefly ministered in the diocese. During the Civil War, he was one of several priests who cared for ailing Union soldiers and who celebrated Mass and heard confessions at St. Mary Star of the Sea Church in Fort Monroe.
Bel Jaring, a member of the
Fil-Am Ministry Choir at St. Gregory the Great, said she was thankful the
parish’s choir was able to participate, noting she has seen the diocese
increasingly embrace diversity over the years.
Members of the Fil-Am Choir from St. Gregory the Great Parish, Virginia Beach, Va., sing the offertory hymn during the opening Mass for the Diocese of Richmond’s bicentennial celebration Jan. 18 at Sacred Heart Church in Norfolk. (Vy Barto/CNS, via The Catholic Virginian)
Anticipating that a yearlong
celebration can be rejuvenating, Fr. Mike Joly, pastor at St. Joan of Arc
Parish in Yorktown, said: “It’s important to unfold such a momentous milestone
over time with a variety of opportunities for spirituality.”
He said looking at the last 200
years of the diocese “gives us the opportunity to see the big picture.” The
priest likened God’s relationship with people to marriage vows in which God
pledges to be faithful to believers in good times and bad.
Sue Kassel, a parishioner at St. Mark Church in Virginia Beach, called the bicentennial celebration “an outward sign that the Catholic Church is alive and welcoming.”
She told The Catholic Virginian, Richmond’s diocesan newspaper, she hoped the yearlong celebration would bring back Catholics who have fallen away from the Church and attract others to the faith as they see the Church’s “unity and perseverance over the years.”
The celebration concluded with
the singing of the diocese’s bicentennial hymn, “We Shine Like Stars in the World.”
The inauguration of the
bicentennial was evident throughout the diocese the weekend of Jan. 18-19 as
parishes celebrated the Mass for the Particular Church, proclaiming the same
Scripture readings that were used during the Mass in Norfolk.
