Final Mass said at St. Edward's Mission in Florida

Florida - Purple ribbons placed on the doors to the Church of St. Edward in the Village of Florida now signify that what had been a mission of the Parish of St. Stephen, the First Martyr, in Warwick, since 1889, is officially closed. At the Saturday evening Mass held at St. Stephen’s, Father Michael McLoughlin, pastor, spoke about the closing of St. Edward’s and the final Mass that would be celebrated in Florida, the following day. “I would much rather give a homily on St. John the Baptist in today’s gospel,” he began. “But tomorrow, we will close St. Edward’s” During his homily, McLoughlin agreed that from a practical viewpoint the closing made perfect sense but he also understood why the parishioners of St. Edward’s would experience emotions ranging from denial to anger to acceptance in similar fashion to the stages of dying people developed by Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross in her book “On Death and Dying”. On Sunday, June 24, McLoughlin, Monsignor Bernard Corrigan, pastor emeritus, and Father Patrick Buckley, parochial vicar, concelebrated a Mass of Farewell at St. Edward’s. It was described by many who attended as a bittersweet moment, celebrating a rich history and wonderful memories combined with the sadness of its closing. Last January, McLoughlin broke the sad news to his parishioners that the St. Edward’s Mission Chapel in the Village of Florida, had been selected to be one of the churches that would close as part of the Archdiocese of New York’s realignment program. From the viewpoint of the Archdiocese, closing some of its Churches was a practical necessity. Demographics change. Some Churches in Manhattan, for example, that once served large Catholic immigrant populations, discovered their congregations had long since moved, the apartment buildings where they lived had been demolished and the under utilized facilities were now surrounded by skyscrapers. In more rural areas, Churches, hours apart in the days of the horse and buggy, were now only minutes away by automobile. “Changes are clearly needed so as to serve all of our people as well as we can,” stated Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York. “Where there is growth, our parishes, schools and charitable institutions will have to grow as well; and where there is decline in the number of faithful to be cared for, parishes, schools and charitable institutions will have to be brought into line.” As anticipated, many of the adjustments, including the closing of St. Edward’s, were not well received. Because of emotional attachments, family history and other valid reasons, organized attempts by parishioners, directly impacted by the closings, were made in the hope of reversing course. Although carefully evaluated, few succeeded. The decision to close St. Edward’s had much to do with the fact that the Polish National Church of St. Joseph’s, established in 1865, was only a few blocks away. St. Joseph’s was about to change from a “National Church,” a designation that had positioned it outside the parishes of the Archdiocese, to a “Territorial” parish within the Archdiocese. Although no easy consolation, it was reasoned that the relatively small number of parishioners at St. Edward’s could be served without difficulty by St. Joseph’s, St. Stephen’s or any other Catholic Church in this area. Nevertheless, many of the families that had attended Mass at St. Edward’s for generations were upset. In a letter sent to the parishioners and published in the Church bulletin, Father Peter Madori, a past longtime parochial vicar of St. Stephen’s - St. Edward’s, urged the St. Edward’s congregation to accept the decision of the Archdiocese. “Now you are being asked to lay down the joyful burden of making St. Edward’s Mission,” he wrote. “Your last act as a church community, is to allow yourself to be grafted, like branches of a vine, into another community.” Finally, he suggested, “You can grieve your loss in dignity and find the comforting presence of Christ wherever the Eucharist is present.” The closing rites of the Final Mass on Sunday included a procession of parishioners led by clergy and stopping to pray at significant locations including the Tabernacle, the Image of Mary, the Baptismal Font, the Twelfth Station of the Cross and the Confessional. Finally, everyone assembled outside while the purple ribbons were placed on the closed doors.