If you go into the sanctuary (the altar area) & look straight up at the ceiling at it’s highest point, do you know what you would see? A hole. A very big hole. I first saw it when Fr. Russ Lowe was showing me around in November of 2013. He told me that there is a leak in the area directly above that hole which is where our bell tower is located. He had made several attempts to find out exactly where the water was getting through, but had no success. So when I arrived here, I inherited the problem & I too struggled to discover where exactly the water was coming in but it was so challenging because of course it would only leak when we had a very bad rain storm. We made several attempts at repairing it, thinking that we finally discovered the cause, but then we’d find a puddle of water on the floor directly below it. If the hole were just two more feet to the left, you’d see water pouring down on me if I stood at the chair during a bad rainstorm. Maybe some would enjoy that. But finally we felt we were able to find where the rain was finding it’s way in during a storm. We could not repair the hole however until it rained several more times so that we could be sure the leak was taken care of lest we repair the hole in the ceiling only to have it open up again. Before they begin to repair our heating system, we need to patch up that hole since we are losing a lot of heat through it (which naturally rises to the ceiling). There are a few more smaller holes in the arches in the back of the church and in the vestibule ceiling which will also be repaired at the same time.
Another important project this summer is to repair the arches around the church that have cracked as water has seeped in, frozen and expanded, causing the cracks. This is especially true on the west side of the church (the rectory office side). Please exercise caution when walking under them. I am waiting for an estimate on the repairs this week. At least you could say we have a very holy church!
This Tuesday, August 15th, is the feast of the Assumption of Mary, when we celebrate our belief that Mary was taken body and soul into heaven. Since it is a holy day of obligation, Mass will be celebrated at 8:30am and at 7pm.
We have begun to watch the next series of videos by Bishop Robert Barron called the “Pivotal Players,” in which he speaks about the lives of certain saintly people who have played a pivotal role in the Church. Next Sunday the video will be on St. Thomas Aquinas. We will watch the one hour video in the Parish Center at 9am. Feel free to join us.