COCKEYSVILLE – Pressing a flat hand against the shining top of a new white altar at St. Joseph Church in Cockeysville March 21, Archbishop William E. Lori solemnly anointed every corner of the marble structure with sacred chrism.
Using the same perfumed oil as at baptisms and confirmations, two priests then marked the walls inside the church with the Sign of the Cross.
The consecration of the new altar and the anointing of the walls were among the highlights of a joyful liturgy celebrating the reconsecration and rededication of the historic church following a 10-month renovation effort.
The new white pews were packed with hundreds of faithful of all ages, from young children to individuals who had been parishioners present in 1967 for the last rededication Mass, when the church was first expanded to fit a growing and vibrant community.
The latest renovation effort includes a new arch in the church sanctuary made from large stones taken from the same local quarry that provided the stones used in a doorway arch when the building was first erected in the 19th century.
As part of the $6.5 million renovation, the church ceiling was raised and an interior dome was constructed that features new icons of the four evangelists painted by the iconographer Dionysios Bouloubassis and a stained-glass window of the Holy Spirit relocated from another part of the building.
The corners of the building’s transepts were opened to improve sightlines to the altar and allow extra seating, and liturgical art was imported from Oberammergau, Germany.
A 45-rank, three-manual pipe organ, constructed by the Peragallo Organ Company in New Jersey to replace the church’s aging electronic organ, will be installed in the coming months.
In his homily, Archbishop Lori reminded those present that just as St. Joseph took care of Jesus and Mary, he now takes care of the Cockeysville congregation in a similar way.
“Just as Jesus was prepared in the home at Nazareth to accomplish the saving mission for which the heavenly Father sent him, so too, in this place we are formed to continue and expand the mission that Jesus began and handed on to his Apostles,” Archbishop Lori said, noting that the shared mission is to show the face of the Father and to show the face of mercy.
At the end of the rededication Mass, Monsignor Richard Hilgartner, pastor, choked up as he reflected on witnessing how joyfully and enthusiastically the congregation participated in the liturgy.
“The sound of our singing and our prayer tonight is just inspirational,” Monsignor Hilgartner said. “Let it continue!”
The pastor told the Catholic Review he hopes the renovated church becomes a “place of consolation” and “a place of inspiration.”
“Despite the difficulties we face, people can find Christ here,” he said. “The notion that sacred space helps us to do that – that space matters – that’s what we’ve been trying to do here.”
The pastor said he was grateful that the project came in “on time and on budget.” That was no small feat, nor was it the work of just one person or a small group of people.
“You don’t make architecture without a big team,” said architect John Srygley, who headed the project. “It doesn’t take 10, it takes a couple hundred people to do something like this, and everybody has to work together.”
Syrgley added that this is one of the most significant projects he has worked on in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, one that involved study and creativity to overcome structural challenges – such as the creation of the new dome.
Parishioner Johan Vigil Serrano, a teen who will be a peer leader for the parish’s youth service immersion program, Camp Smile, said the new space gave him a feeling of comfort and calm, and the process of the renovation has inspired him to be even more active in the parish community.
“I want to be more a part of it, to help more – and hopefully, forever in my life, to always have a good family to go back to, or come to, at church,” he said.
As part of the rededication liturgy, Archbishop Lori sprinkled the entire church with holy water and blessed it with incense. He also inaugurated the new tabernacle. Joining him at the celebration were his predecessor, Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien, and Auxiliary Bishops Adam J. Parker and Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R.
“Looking around us, let us see in the harmony and brightness of this space as a reflection of the glory of the new and heavenly Jerusalem where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, and where the saints and angels rejoice in the eternal liturgy,” Archbishop Lori said.
Watch a recorded livestream of the rededication Mass here.
Also see:
Rock-solid plans: Cockeysville church set to begin $6.5 million restoration
To view more photos from the rededication, click through the slideshow below:
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