At Sacred Heart in Glyndon, the run-up to its 150th anniversary was a kind of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” situation.
First, its pastor of 32 years, Monsignor Lloyd Aiken, retired in June 2019 then died less than a year later. Not long after, Sister of St. Joseph Jude Cianfrogna, the RCIA leader and Monsignor Aiken’s right-hand person, became ill and left the parish. A new pastor, Father Jerry Francik, arrived but before long so did the COVID-19 lockdowns, leaving the vibrant, 3,000-family parish – as with so many places – temporarily a bit of a shell of its former self.
Peggy Dryden, a longtime parishioner and pastoral associate since November 2020, laughs about it now, but she recalls a meeting as the pandemic was waning where it suddenly dawned on everyone “our 150th anniversary is in 2023! What are we going to do?”
One thing was for certain: there was going to be a big party, just as there was when the cornerstone for the first church – now the centerpiece of a bustling campus that includes a larger, modern sanctuary and parish school – was laid on Nov. 23, 1873. According to contemporary accounts, 2,000 people from the surrounding area showed up on a cold, rainy day for the ceremony.
Two big parties bracket this year’s celebrations. On Jan. 8, a special liturgy was celebrated during the 11:30 a.m. Mass, followed by brunch for the entire parish. Then, on Dec. 30, a gala will be held in the school gym following the 4 p.m. Mass. Easy accessibility to all parishioners is an unspoken theme of all anniversary activities, which echoes the reason the parish was founded.
When the Dyer and Smith families, related by marriage, moved to the area, attending Sunday Mass meant a two-day trip walking roughly 10 miles each way to St. John in Westminster or St. Charles Borromeo in Pikesville. The pastor of the latter, Father Edmund Waldron, was looking to create a mission church near Glyndon and worked with the two families to found the new church.
A video detailing that rich history – from early struggles to sustain the parish to the post-war boom that saw the parish become independent (1946), build a school with a kindergarten led by Agatha von Trapp of singing family fame (1956) and build a larger church (1993) – is in the works as part of the celebration. Not surprisingly, the number 150 figures prominently, from 150 hours of adoration that ended Wednesday of Holy Week to 150 Points of Service that aims to have parish volunteers support at least that many local organizations.
For all its growth in recent decades, Dryden says the church community retains a small-town feel while growing ever more diverse. Jeanne Cossentino, a former teacher and principal of the school whose father was baptized in the historic “Little Church” 100 years ago, loves its many ministries. Lou Santoni, president of Santoni’s Marketplace and Catering, whose family, like Cossentinos, joined the parish in the 1980s, is energized by opportunities for small group prayer gatherings.
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