Parishioners gathered for a morning Mass on Aug. 6 at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Waldorf, Maryland, to remember Father Narcisse Martin, a French Sulpician priest who died 100 years ago and served Catholics in the Waldorf area in the early 1900s. The Mass was celebrated on the day of the 100th anniversary of his death. 

In explaining the reason for the Mass on the parish website, Father Alain Colliou, the pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians, emphasized that “the Mass will celebrate the top priority given by Father Martin to the Eucharist as the center of worshipping God as a community in communion with one another. An entire community, made up of different cultures being One in the Eucharist, all becoming one in Christ.”

Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr. celebrated the Mass with concelebrants: Father Jacques Tangombe, visiting from France, Father Larry Terrien, the former Superior General of Sulpicians, Father Pierre-Henri Montagne, the pastor at St. Louis de France in Washington, DC, and Father Bill Parent, now the pastor of St. Elizabeth Parish in Rockville, Maryland who formerly served as the pastor of St. Peter Parish in Waldorf. 

During his homily, Bishop Campbell discussed the reading on Jesus’ transfiguration, a milestone in Jesus’ life. He went up a mountain with Peter, James, and John. At the top of the mountain, Jesus transformed and shined like the sun, according to the reading. This event is said to be when the apostles saw Jesus in a state of glory. 

“The transfiguration is strength, courage, and determination to the apostles. However, it will take the gift of the Holy Spirit to bring that strength, courage, and determination alive and what they will feel in their hearts, speak from their mouths, and do in their acts of complete faith in Jesus and in his promise of salvation,” Bishop Campbell said. 

The bishop went on to discuss the legacy of Father Narcisse Martin. 

Father Martin was a professor and theologian who taught at seminaries in France and Canada until landing in Maryland. He was the pastor at St. Peter’s Church in Waldorf, Maryland, for almost 30 years and impacted the small parish’s community. Father Martin was known for his efforts at encouraging diversity and inclusivity, and his impressive background as a theologian and scholar set him apart in the small community. He died in 1923 at 77 years old. 

According to the Father Martin Society website, the group was created in August 2010 to keep alive the legacy of Father Narcisse Martin, especially in three areas of Eucharist, Priesthood, and Intercultural Unity, saying, "First, the Society promotes Devotion to the Eucharist, including Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Father Martin, while a seminarian professor, wrote a Treatise on the Eucharist following the approach of St Thomas Aquinas. Second, the Society promotes vocations to the Priesthood and prayer/support to ordained priests. Father Martin devoted a significant part of his life to the teaching and formation of seminarians. If we did not have priests, we could not have the Eucharist. Third, the Society promotes intercultural unity, especially unity in Christ, through welcoming everyone in our churches and becoming one in the Eucharist."

During his time as part of St. Peter’s parish during the late 1800s, Father Martin increased Catholic enrollment, took part in 2,372 baptisms, 371 weddings, and cared for parishioners in need, including orphans and those inflicted with typhoid, as well as restored and refurbished the church, and built a rectory still used today, 111 years later.

Pilgrims from France were special guests at the Mass. Msgr. Parent explained the relationship between two parishes more than four thousand miles apart. It started with a letter in 2007.

“This Madame Agnes Maillard-Delbende had written a letter [almost] 20 years earlier…she was looking for more information about this priest, Father Narcisse Martin, that we did not know much about. I said, [to Father Alain] ‘She speaks French, why don’t you call her? There’s a phone number,’” Father Parent said. 

Maillard-Delbende answered – she had been looking into local history in Aire-sur-la-Lys (where Father Martin was born). That began a partnership with the Collégiale Saint-Pierre d’Aire-sur-la-Lys, the Collegiate Church of Saint Pierre.

Pilgrims Marie Noelle Trein and Emma Bourdon spoke with the Catholic Standard. Bourdon translated on behalf of Trein, whose first pilgrimage to St. Peter’s was in 2011. 

“It’s been a wonderful welcoming. We can feel the unity all around Father Martin’s parish. A wonderful group was created by the French and Americans [coming] together,” Trein said. “Since Father Martin was born in France, it’s important to keep the link between where he was born and where he lived and made a lot of things.” 

In an interview with the Catholic Standard, Father Colliou noted he was a seminarian at St. Peter’s and was part of the founding of the Father Martin Society.

“He was an inspiration. And since that time, we have had many activities – a pilgrimage to France, a pilgrimage from France to here. In that process, we started to initiate the canonization process for Father Martin,” Father Alain said. “I always thought this 100th anniversary of his death would be an event that could help people to know more about Father Martin. To show that 100 years after his death, people still remember him, care about him, care about his legacy, and how can this be applied to our world today?”

Following the Mass, attendees gathered in the parish hall for a reception.