Cardinal Wilton Gregory closed the yearlong centennial celebration of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Southeast Washington by celebrating a Dec. 1 Mass at the Pennsylvania Avenue church. He had ushered in the start of the parish’s 100th anniversary observances the previous December.
The subject of time loomed large in the cardinal’s homily during the Mass.
“We are a people who must live in three distinct times,” he said. “We belong to today, but we are strengthened because of the events of yesterday, even as we await for the fulfillment of tomorrow.”
Cardinal Gregory added, “Thus it is appropriate for St. Francis Xavier Catholic Parish in Washington to recall and to rejoice at the closure of your centennial jubilee of the establishment of this family of Catholic faith. Parishes – no matter how venerable and possibly significant they might be – should not quietly observe such important anniversaries. You are folks with memories and with dreams.”
The parish’s first church was of simple wood construction, before the present edifice came into being in the 1930s.
The cardinal, remarking on the “wondrous history” of the parish, said “the people who first gave life to this community saw themselves as the living stones of the church.”
On the occasion of the centenary-closing Mass, “I come to honor the living stones of this church, both those here assembled and those who have gone before,” Cardinal Gregory said. “Indeed, it is your faith that we celebrate most importantly today.”
He added, “I publicly thank all of those here present and those who have preceded you in this community. Part of your history has been a history of struggle and difficulty. Even now you continue to celebrate your Catholic presence in a community that has seen many challenges. I applaud the fact that you are still filled with hope and with love.”
In his homily, Cardinal Gregory noted that during Advent – the Mass was celebrated on the First Sunday of Advent – “we are invited to grow hopeful for the future in large measure because of our happy reminiscence of the past. These four weeks are filled with such contradictory emotions and feelings. In purple we wait for the coming of the Messiah at the end of time, the same Messiah who was born in poverty in Bethlehem.”
Cardinal Gregory was the Mass’s principal celebrant, and he had eight concelebrants, including Father Tony D’Souza, St. Francis Xavier’s pastor, and Father Fidele Bimenyimana, its parochial vicar. Also among the concelebrants was Father Michael Bryant, who grew up in St. Francis Xavier and who served for many years as chaplain at D.C. Jail.
In his homily, Cardinal Gregory referred to Father Bryant as “a son of the parish,” and noted that “this parish produces vocations, and we would like a couple dozen more just like him,”
Father Bryant, ordained in 1969, is age 84 – “and a half,” he added – and has reached senior priest status in the archdiocese. “I was baptized by the first pastor here,” he said after Mass, and went through grades one through eight at the parish grade school, now known as St. Francis Xavier Academy.
He said St. Francis Xavier Parish was spun off from St. Teresa of Avila Parish, also in Southeast Washington, but itself grew so large that neighboring Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish had to be established to accommodate the area’s growing Catholic population.
“My grandparents helped build this church along with my mom and dad,” Father Bryant said. He walked over to a commemorative plaque at the St. Francis Xavier Church building’s main entrance to seek out the names of Mr. and Mrs. John Schnopp, his mother’s parents.
Another priest assigned to St. Francis Xavier, then-Father Harry Echle, provided the spark that led a young Michael Bryant to hear the call to a priestly vocation. “He really was a big highlight in my life,” Father Bryant said.
Father Echle – who was later named a monsignor – died in 2006 at the age of 89.
As was the case last year with the kickoff Mass to start the centennial celebration, parishioners prepared and served a luncheon in the church basement after the closing Mass. There, a display noting select events in parish life and history had been assembled for viewing.
The display included a light blue Sodality sash, an off-white glee club robe from the 1960s and vintage and more current photos of altar servers and parishioners.
Donna Perkins, a librarian in the Prince George’s County Public Schools system, used her professional skills to track down decades-old parish news saved on microfilm from the pages of the Washington Post and the now-defunct Washington Herald and the Washington Evening Star. Those last two publications didn’t make it to the end of the 20th century, but St. Francis Xavier is still going strong.
With 21 years as a parishioner, “it feels like home,” Perkins said. “No matter what changes come, it’s still home.”
