A SIGHT TO SEE

Pastor wants to see parishioners, so he’s taping photos to pews

Rev. Lawrence Zurek is hoping his parishioners of the Basilica of Saint Josaphat hear his call. Not just his call to be faithful; his request to send him photos. The reason?

“So that on Easter Sunday when I have Mass here in the basilica, alone, I at least could look out at the pictures of my parishioners and keep them in prayer,” Zurek said.

The historic south side Catholic church has been shuttered since Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki announced the cancelation of all public Holy Week and Easter Masses because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

After seeing a priest on the internet doing something similar, the Franciscan priest put out a similar call to his parishioners on the basilica website to send in their photos via email that he’d print out and tape to the pews.

For now, Zurek has been saying Mass in front of a congregation of zero in the much smaller friary off the main basilica. The Easter celebration will be the first of any kind in the basilica in nearly a month. Zurek has trouble remembering if the church, in it’s long history, has ever been void of Masses, weddings or activities for this long.

About 50 photos so far have been sent and taped to the first 10 rows of pews. With Easter Sunday less than two weeks on April 12, Zurek hopes to have many more faces to look at.

“Some had asked to have their pictures on the pew that they normally sit,” Zurek said with a chuckle. It’s a common joke in churches that parishioners sit in the same place week after week, to the point that they think of that spot as their own.

While memorizing a seating chart in a church that can fit 800 people isn’t likely, Zurek knows what matters. “The important thing is their picture is here and to know that they’re not forgotten.”

And for now, while parishioners stay at home for safety, that will have to do.

“I can only imagine the euphoria that will be when we finally come together once again to celebrate Mass,” he said.

The Rev. Lawrence Zurek, rector at the Basilica of Saint Josaphat, sits among photographs of parishioners. He has asked parishioners to send photos so he has them to look at on Easter Sunday when he celebrates Mass.

ABOVE: A view from the altar shows photographs of some of the Basilica of Saint Josaphat parishioners taped to the pews.

PHOTOS BY MIKE DE SISTI / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL LEFT: The Rev. Lawrence Zurek celebrates Mass by himself in the friary at the basilica.