SAINT CLAIR - Onlookers stood on the sidewalk and sat in chairs Sunday to witness the dedication of the grotto at St. Clare of Assisi on the former site of Saint Clair Catholic Elementary School.
About 150 people watched as the Most Rev. John O. Barres, bishop of Allentown, blessed the grotto on the fifth anniversary of St. Clare of Assisi Church's formation. The church formed when five Catholic churches in the borough merged into one as part of a restructuring plan in the district in 2008. The congregations that merged came from St. Peter and Paul, Immaculate Conception, St. Boniface, St. Casimir and St. Mary's parishes.
"It's hard to believe that five years have passed," former Congressman Tim Holden said.
Barres appreciated the invitation to speak for this important milestone. He turned his attention to the grotto.
"Our Lady (speaking of Mary) right in the midst of these seismic changes in the world appears at Fatima and gives us hope, gives us strength and that apparition at Fatima has always been a reference point for our church," Barres said. "And now it is a reference point here for St. Clare parish, for Saint Clair, for Schuylkill County and the entire universal church. Let's go to our lady. We have experienced a lot of transition here in Schuylkill County, haven't we? A lot of transition that at times has been very painful. May the dedication of this shrine to you our lady of Fatima bring us the peace we so desperately need."
Monsignor William F. Glosser, pastor of St. Clare of Assisi, also attended the dedication. Glosser spoke of the histories from all five former churches that were built into the grotto.
"When we began this idea of the grotto, there had been a lot of different ideas and we wanted to try and involve all five parishes as a place of remembrance for the foundation, the bedrock of faith," Glosser said. "We must always be eternally grateful to the faith of our ancestors and our relatives. But just as we grow and we move out of the house to begin our new lives, we've done the same thing here as a parish in Saint Clair. And so contained within this grotto are some things that are familiar to you and some other little things that you don't know about. The wall in the back was actually one of the walls that stood when this was the school that was built in 1914, which many of you attended school after all the other schools in Saint Clair were closed and this became the main school. So that wall is a foundation of our Catholic education and what we need. The shrine of Fatima, which the Bishop so aptly put, why it came from St. Casimir's goes a lot further than that. "
Glosser said its purpose was to pray for peace. Buried within that center circle is a little remembrance of each of the five parishes.
"Bishop Barres had mentioned the Holy Water bucket was actually used back in 1914," Glosser said. "It's probably been the only time its been used since then. But it's been used for the blessing this grotto and for that we're very grateful."
He also said almost everything was donated by parishioners.
"Very little parish money was used and it all became a labor of love by so many people. We've really put our differences aside and we really have come together," Glosser said. "And unfortunately sometimes people only want to reflect on the negative. And that's one of the reasons why I wanted to celebrate this day so bad with our bishop because this is a positive thing and we never hear about positive things any more. We never hear about good things any more. It's always about oh they did this and they took that away from us. All of our parishioners have worked very hard for where we are today. And I could not be more prouder as a pastor. Pastor of this wonderful place and what everyone has given us."
During the service, after prayers were read, relics of St. Clare of Assisi were available for people to touch.
Darlene Miller, 61, of Saint Clair, kissed a relic. She said the bishop attending and the opportunity to touch the relic was important.
"It was very inspirational and spiritual and I just felt an overwhelming feeling of the Lord being with me as I sat here," she said after the approximate 55-minute service.
Approximately 1,800 people or 800 families attend St. Clare, Glosser said. He was impressed with the turnout.
Afterwards, the crowd walked to where the wall was and looked at inscribed bricks at the base of it. People bought the bricks for $100 then got to put names on them, some of which were in honor of loved ones.