Much of 1988 was spent preparing for the 150^th anniversary of the founding of the parish.  Fr. Eckert had carefully saved the money for renovation during the ten years of his pastorate.  The church was rewired, new lights were installed, and the interior painted.

 

In early 1989 Fr. Eckert began to display souvenir items for the anniversary.  Each parishioner received a pin with the Church of Our Lady imprinted on it.  All were instructed to wear the pin during 1989.  There were also t-shirts, playing cards, mugs and glasses with Our Lady logo.  Many others contributed to the celebration:

 

·         Marian Eschman, a friend of the parish from Portland Presbyterian Church, created an embroidered cloth that hung from the pulpit.

·         In addition to hosting the reception, the Ladies Club made a huge blue and white quilt with 35 squares, each representing an historic event in the parish’s history.  During 1989, this quilt hung in the vestibule.

·         Fr. Lally donated the painting of the Virgin Mary that hangs in the vestibule.

·         Mona Yates created the altar cloth and wall banners.

 

Unlike the previous two anniversaries in 1989 and 1964, there were two Masses to mark the occasion:

 

August 8, 1989 - A Sesquicentennial Eucharistic Celebration

Along with Bishop Charles Maloney were about twenty-five visiting priests.  So many parishioners, former parishioners, and friends attended the 5pm evening Mass that he church overflowed, spilling out onto the sidewalk.  Afterward a reception was hosted in Lehmann Hall where refreshments were served and where many an old friendship was renewed.

 

Celebrant......... Most Rev. Charles G. Maloney, Auxiliary Bishop

Deacon............ Deacon Bob Steinmetz

Homily............. Rev. William Fichteman

Musicians......... Denny Nash (cantor), Larry Lowe (organist), Bob Loeffler & David Wise (guitar), Robin Loeffler (dulcimer)

 

August 15, 1989 - The Sesquicentennial Mass

The principal celebrant was Archbishop Kelly, and the celebration was for parishioners only.  After Mass, everyone enjoyed catered refreshments in Lehmann Hall, including a cake shaped like the church building.

 

Celebrant......... Most Rev. Thomas C. Kelly, Archbishop

Homily............. Rev. William Fichteman

Musicians......... Bob Jackson (cantor), Anthony Emrich (French horn), John French & Joseph Burzinski (trumpet), Larry Miller & Jim Talyor (trombones), Rick Knoop (organist)

 

150^th Anniversary Sermon

The following sermon was delivered by the Rev. William Fichteman:

 

I’d like to begin with a personal note by thanking Fr. Eckert for inviting me to preach the homily for this celebration.  It’s a privilege to preach at the anniversary celebration of the parish you grew up in.  In fact, I feel like I ought to be in a pew about one-third of the way back on this side, where we always sat.  Because my own faith roots are planted so deeply here, I have much to be grateful for when it comes to Our Lady’s.

 

 I.    INTRODUCTION

The Church of Our Lady. or simply Our Lady’s, as it is listed in the Catholic Directory.  When you tell people that you grew up in Our Lady’s, they usually say “Our Lady of Consolation? Our Lady Help of Christians? Our Lady of Lourdes? Our Lady of what?”  It always makes me a little angry!  While the parish was first established as Our Lady of the Port, for years it has been known as simply Our Lady’s.  I usually end up saying “The original Our Lady’s... simply Our Lady’s.”

 

II.    SIMPLISTIC BEGINNINGS

And you know, “simply Our Lady’s” is not so bad a response.  As we listen to Mary’s great song of praise, the Magnificat, we get the feeling somehow Mary was blessed precisely in her simplicity.  From what we can surmise, Mary was a girl of simple origins:

·         No great social position.

·         No important family background.

·         Very little money.

·         She and her cousin Elizabeth found simple joy in the fact they were both expecting their first child.

 

Quiet, simple hope in the basics of life is the feeling we get as we listen to Mary’s song of praise.

 

The parish of Our Lady’s too has always had a beautifully simple image.  In The Record article a few weeks ago, Mike Recktenwald was quoted as saying people used the call Our Lady’s the “poor little church on the river.”  But then Portland itself had rather humble beginnings.  It was described in 1819 as “a flourishing place… containing three warehouses, several stores and one good tavern.”  Pretty basic I’d say.

 

The beginnings of the parish in 1839 were rather basic too.  There was a Committee of Management (translated into modern terms a ‘parish council’) who offered Fr. Perche, the first pastor, a choice when it came to salary: He could have $300 a year and pay his own expenses or he could have $150 a year and the parish would supply him with lodging, table, fire, candle and would feed his horse.  Depending on the miles per gallon of oats his horse got, that could be important because Our Lady’s territory went along the river out Dixie Highway all the way to West Point.  St. Clare in Colesburg in Hardin County was also served by the priest at Our Lady’s.  Fr. Perche wisely chose the option whereby the parish took care of his horse.

 

The first church cost $3000 and the bricks were fired on the spot, lumber cut from trees felled on the property.  Some of the same bricks incidentally are said to be in this very building.  A rectory was built at a cost of $563!  Our Lady’s had simple beginnings to serve the French speaking immigrants to Portland.

 

III.    OUR STRUGGLES & THE LIFE OF MARY

From the simple beginnings however, some rather complicated struggles emerged.  Life always seems to start out simple enough, but we begin struggling with complications very early on.  So also it was with Mary our patron.  In the words of the Magnificat, “God looked upon Mary in her lowliness.”  In other words God took notice of her struggle that very quickly complicated her life:

·         Brought her son into the world without the security of a warm home.

·         At times during his ministry she couldn’t get near him because of the crowds.

·         She experienced terrible anguish at the foot of the cross.

·         She walked with the other disciples through the uncertain days of the early Church.

 

Time and again, God looked upon Mary in her struggles.  So also, Our Lady Parish for 150 years has experienced complicating struggles emerging from her simple beginnings.

·         In 1866 the church was rebuilt because the original simple church was too small.  But the new church only lasted six years because in 1872, the walls began bulging and it was considered unsafe.  The parish was burdened with building two churches within 10 years.

·         In 1883, the first of several floods hit Portland.  The Catholic Advocate reported the absolute destruction of cottages owned by persons with little else to lose… more than two-thirds of the congregation were driven from their homes.

·         1913: One half of the members’ homes were flooded, 6 inches in the church, which was nothing compared to 1937 when water reached window sills of the choir loft, side altars were wrecked and the floor was torn from its foundation.  That and parishioners were dealing with their own personal losses.

·         In 1962 came the complication of the Sherman Minton Bridge.  The church was spared, but 160 homes in the area were taken.

 

Like Mary, like all of us, life for Our Lady’s parish is a history of complicating struggles.  God looked upon Mary in her lowliness.  And God looked upon Our Lady’s Church in her complicated times of struggle to move on.

 

IV.    A RAISING UP

But God did more than merely look on Mary in her lowliness.  God, who is mighty, did great things for her.  God raised the lowly to high places.  Our Lady’s too time and time again was raised up out of their struggles to new life.  The bulging walls were rebuilt; the church was restored after the ‘37 flood at a cost of $18,000 if you can imagine that; and immediately afterwards Fr. Doherty was transferred to St. Paul on Jackson Street.  No Personnel Board in those days; when the bridge was built, many people re-located within the parish.

 

Another interesting event that caught my eye in the history of the parish was the fact that while I was in school here, in 1953, the basketball team was coached by Fr. Joe Miller, Sherill Sipes and Paul Hornung.  Now that’s quite a coaching staff.

 

But the real raising up has been in the lives of parishioners.  And here I can speak from personal experience:

·         I always remember the ‘family spirit’ that lifted one up at Our Lady’s.  People always stood around after Benediction on a warm Sunday evening for a half-hour of chatting with Fr. Lehmann.  It was ‘community’ before we knew what to call it.  The ‘family spirit’ still endures.  Fr. Eckert tells me that people chat a half-hour in the back of church after Mass every morning.

·         I remember the loyalty of parishioners working until the wee hours of the morning at the summer picnics.

·         I remember the countless individuals who rose above their struggles and the priests and sisters who helped us in all that.

·         Sister Mary Jane with a paddle tucked carefully up her ample sleeve.

·         Sister Mary Columba who nonchalantly transferred the snake a classmate had mischievously put in her desk drawer into her more than ample habit pocket.

·         Fr. Lally who very pastorally but firmly saw us through the changes of Vatican II.

·         Fr. Elder and Fr. Waldie who brought the parish through more changes and Fr. Eckert who has so revived a sense of pride and spirit.  Fr. Eckert has told the personnel board more than once: “You know you can just leave me here at Our Lady’s until I’m 70.”

 

V.    ROOTS & WINGS

Our Lady’s has a way of working its way into your bones, making itself a real part of you.  Someone has said that the most valuable gift parents can give their children are roots and wings: roots - our longing to stay planted firmly in the place we’re most comfortable, and wings - a longing to fly off on your own.  They come wrapped in the same package - us.  In fact, we find ourselves caught in a struggle between our roots and our wings.

 

For many of us gathered here, we cherish the strong and maybe even stubborn roots Our Lady’s has given us.  But we also cherish the wings, a gift that says: “Continue the journey.  Don’t stop now.  Keep dreaming of something beyond.”

 

When you love someone, you have to let them go - it’s the only way to keep them.  Mary experienced that and so do we.  Our Lady has had to let go of its past to move on.  Our Lady’s has given many of us gathered here tonight roots and wings.  And so, we can cry out with Mary: “My being proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my Spirit finds joy in God my Savior.”

 

 

Louisville Times Article

 

 

 

 

150^th Anniversary Photo – August 15, 1989

               

To Top