Some of the original parishioners from when St. Rose of Lima Parish in Gaithersburg was established a half-century ago, and some of its newest members born in recent weeks played central roles as Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory celebrated a June 4 Mass commemorating the parish’s 50th anniversary since its founding in 1972.
The offertory procession at the Mass included gifts brought to the altar by the original parishioners, and gifts brought by parents carrying newborns who represented the parish’s future.
At the Mass commemorating St. Rose of Lima’s 50th jubilee celebration, Cardinal Gregory said he hoped the anniversary brought parishioners closer to one another.
“It is my hope that your love for one another will also be renewed and strengthened, and I assure you that my love for all of you has already been doubled,” the cardinal said, adding, “You’re 50 years old, and you look marvelous!”
Just before the Mass, the cardinal blessed a “Tree of Gratitude” on the wall of a breezeway in the church building, an artistic display with leaves of a tree bearing the names of parishioners who over the years contributed donations for the building of its new church and gathering space.
According to a parish history posted on St. Rose’s website and information in the program for the anniversary Mass, the first church building on the property was built in 1835 on land donated by Francis Cassatt Clopper, who with his Catholic wife Ann Jayne Byrne Clopper had a mansion called the Woodlands nearby that hosted Masses in its ballroom. St. Rose of Lima’s parish grounds are located alongside Clopper Road, which is named for Francis Clopper who operated a mill on Great Seneca Creek.
Over the years, St. Rose served as a mission church for St. Mary’s Parish in Rockville, St. Mary’s in Barnesville and then St. Martin’s in Gaithersburg before it was canonically established as its own parish in 1972.
The original brick St. Rose Church was destroyed by a fire in 1883, and it was replaced by a white wooden church built that year that is now known as the Historic Chapel and is still in use. St. Rose’s Parish Centre, built in the mid-1970s, was the parish’s main church for the next three decades, and now serves as a large meeting space called the Woodlands Room, named after Francis Clopper’s home. St. Rose of Lima’s present church was dedicated in 2006, and its gathering space was dedicated in 2019.
During the opening procession for the 50th anniversary Mass at St. Rose of Lima, parishioners carried streamers and encircled the altar as the combined choir of the parish’s English, Spanish and teen choirs sang the gathering song, “We are the Body of Christ,” in English and in Spanish, “Somos el Cuerpo de Cristo.” More than 700 people reflecting the diversity of cultures and ages in the parish packed the church. Like the songs, readings and prayers at the Mass were read and recited in English and Spanish.
Two years after he had blessed a prayer room and stained glass windows of the four evangelists and of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas, at St. Rose of Lima, Cardinal Gregory noted that he was happy to return to that “wonderful community of faith.”
Father Agustín Mateo Ayala, St. Rose of Lima’s pastor since 2014, concelebrated the Mass, along with Father Emanuel Lucero, the parochial vicar there, and Father Blake Evans, a parochial vicar from St. Andrew Apostle Parish in Silver Spring who serves that parish’s Mision San Andres for Spanish-speaking members of that community.
“Many miracles keep happening in the lives of St. Rose parishioners,” said Father Mateo, who said their generosity to the parish and their service to those in need offer a living testimony to their faith.
St. Rose’s pastor noted that since its founding as a parish, there have been 5,700 Baptisms, 4,500 First Communions, 4,000 Confirmations, 1,400 marriages and 1,100 funerals there.
The Mass was celebrated on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, and in his homily, Cardinal Gregory noted, “A true friend is someone who knows all about us and still loves us. The feast of God’s inner life, the Most Holy Trinity, is a celebration of how much God wants to be friends with us.”
Speaking about the Holy Trinity, the cardinal later said, “You and I are invited to enter that great circle of love, and we do so by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The Father creates, the Son redeems, and the Holy Spirit unites us to God’s very self.”
The items in the offertory procession that were carried by original and other current parishioners and by couples with newborns, reflected the parish’s spirituality and history. The offertory gifts included the bread and wine, altar candles, food for the poor, a basket with the donations given at that Mass, flowers, the decree establishing the parish, images of Francis and Ann Clopper, a St. Rose icon, the parish’s pastoral plans over the years, a copy of the parish history and parish pictorial directories.
The program for the jubilee Mass also included other statistics about St. Rose of Lima’s parish family, including that there are 1,607 registered households in the parish, 455 religious education students including youth with special needs in its adaptive program, and 712 adult faith formation participants.
During Communion, one of the songs, “Unidos,” included lyrics about people being united in Christ.
Father Mateo led people in offering a special prayer for Cardinal Gregory as he marks the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood this year, and the parish bulletin also offered congratulations to Washington’s archbishop with the words, “We pray that God continues to bless the work of your heart and hands.”
The parish bulletin also listed the names of 63 youth from St. Rose of Lima who had been among those receiving the sacrament of Confirmation from the cardinal one day earlier at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
As the Mass for St. Rose of Lima Parish’s anniversary was ending, Cardinal Gregory said, “I am delighted to be with you as we both celebrate 50 years.” Then he added jokingly, “You look better than I do!”
The Mass concluded as the combined choirs sang, “Canto de Salida: Go Out in the World” with lyrics encouraging people to go out and share the Good News of Jesus.
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