Passing on spirit

Contents of closed Blessed Sacrament in Hughestown on their way to earthquake-ravaged church in Haiti

HUGHESTOWN – Bubble-wrapped saints and covered pews were loaded into a cargo shipment container Monday as the interior of Blessed Sacrament Church in Hughestown began the journey to Haiti.

Blessed Sacrament has consolidated with St. Mary Assumption and St. Mary, Help of Christians, both of Pittston, to form Our Lady of the Eucharist Parish at the St. Mary, Help of Christians Church site. The inaugural Mass for Our Lady of the Eucharist Parish was celebrated Sunday.

Consolidating of parishes is always a stressful process filled with emotion, and Blessed Sacrament is no exception. But the process has been soothed by the plan to dismantle the church’s interior, cover it all in bubble wrap and send it off to Haiti, where the January earthquake there destroyed buildings and lives.

The items are being sent to Cite Soleil, located in an impoverished section of Port-au-Prince, where the church was shattered by the earthquake.

“Sure, this is emotional,” said the Rev. Tom Maloney, pastor at Blessed Sacrament for the last 10 years. “But it’s also wonderful. All of these items won’t sit in storage somewhere. They will be put to use in Haiti.”

The 71-year-old priest sat in a dismantled pew and watched as volunteers readied the items for shipment.

The wooden altar was carefully wrapped, as were the church organ, the religious statues, Stations of the Cross, chandeliers, stained-glass windows and many other items.

Everything was placed in a large shipping container brought to the church via a tractor-trailer out of Edison, N.J.

The loaded container will be taken to Newark and placed on a cargo ship destined for Haiti. Members of the Salesian Mission helped load the cargo, and they will follow the items to their destination – even walking them through customs to ensure they get to the waiting chapel in Haiti.

Blessed Sacrament had a capacity of about 200, Maloney said. He said he expects his church items to arrive in Haiti just before Christmas.

“They’ve invited all of us to a special Mass of thanks once the church is set up and operational,” he said. “It would be nice to go and see it.”

Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Mary Ann Cody, administrative assistant at Our Lady of the Eucharist Parish here, heard about the project from a cousin who is a Salesian priest.

She and Maloney, along with members of the parish, agreed that donating the religious items and furnishings from the closed building would be a wonderful way to help the people in Haiti.

“This is a good thing,” said member Tom Tigue, a former state representative who was baptized in the church. “The people of Haiti will put it to good use, I’m sure. They have suffered enough. They need all the help they can get.”

Tigue spoke for most people helping out Monday. They would rather the church items be sent off to Haiti than to have them sit in storage collecting dust.

First project of its type

Jessica O’Connor, property and logistics officer for the Salesian Missions, New Rochelle, N.Y., said this was the first project of its type that she was aware of, and Maloney agreed.

“This is a wonderful project,” she said. “It will make this church stronger as well. It’s a rallying point.”

O’Connor said the chapel in Haiti has been conducting services with a wooden plank altar and folding chairs for seats.

“This is a blessing for those people,” she said. O’Connor said the people in Cite Soleil are anxiously awaiting arrival of the items and they will help assemble it.

“I’m sure it has been very hard for the people here to take everything apart,” she said. “But at some point you realize that this church will live on. You come to the realization that there are much greater needs than those here in Pittston.”

Several organizations helped with the project: the Knights of Columbus, Medico Industries, Falzone Trucking and others, she said.

Ken Pribanic helps the Diocese of Scranton store items from closed churches. He purchased the former St. Vincent’s Church in Plymouth to store the items.

“This is a great project to see that all of these items will be re-used immediately,” he said. “That’s what the diocese wants – to get these items back into a church setting as soon as possible.”

The old pulpit was moved from its perch to await bubble wrapping. Candles and holders lay on the floor.

Chandeliers were lined up next to song books and collection baskets. A painting of Pope John Paul II hung on a wall overlooking the entire process.

Youths get involved

Four Pittston Area seventh-graders – all preparing for Confirmation in April – were at their church to help out. Kate Musto, Alexandra Hart, Dana Zalewski and Samantha Mayers were doing what they termed “a good deed.”

They stood near statues of St. Mary, St. Joseph and St. Ann. They helped place bubble wrap around a statue of Jesus.

“This is good for the people of Haiti,” Hart said. “They don’t have a lot right now.”

In his homily at the closing Mass for Blessed Sacrament on Nov. 14, Maloney pointed out this gift was a way for the faith and heritage of the church to continue. He noted the altar – the table of the Eucharist – is the center of a parish’s life, regardless of where it is located.

“Now, we are called to enter into a new relationship as the parish of Our Lady of the Eucharist,” he said.

“The table of the Eucharist is our table. The physical table may be different, but the table of the Eucharist is the same no matter where we are – Hughestown, Pittston or Cit� Soleil, Haiti.”