The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Bishop celebrates school’s milestone
St. Mary School marks 160th anniversary
Teachers, staff, friends, worshipping Jesus and 160 years of history all make St. Mary School of Elyria a great place to learn, said Bishop Nelson J. Perez of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese.
The school and parish also have a new, old addition: a historic bell restored and dedicated to mark the anniversary.
Perez visited Elyria on Jan. 31 to celebrate 160 years of learning with students, faculty, staff, parents and parishioners at St. Mary School, 237 Fourth St., Elyria.
In his homily, Perez mentioned his new assignment.
On Feb. 18, Perez, 58, becoming the first Hispanic archbishop of the Philadelphia archdiocese, will succeed Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who was the first Native American archbishop in the United States. Chaput is retiring.
Perez said his term began and ended “with the ring of a phone,” telephone calls appointing him to Cleveland and then to Philadelphia.
“But I never really thought that I would leave Cleveland with the ring of a phone,” he said. “I thought that I was going to be here for a really long time.”
But, Perez said he accepted the post in a spirit of obedience to Pope Francis.
In a visit to another school last week, students asked him if he could say no, Perez said, prompting laughs.
“And I said, well, at the end, you don’t say no to the holy father,” he said.
The commitment of being a bishop is like being married, with promises meant to be repeated over and over again, Perez said.
“My time in Cleveland has been a great joy, and actually prepared me to now go back to where I never really thought I would go back to,” he said. “You guys taught me how to be a diocesan bishop, and I am so grateful to you.”
Around the country, parishes have celebrated Catholic School Week, Perez said.
When something is available all the time, it’s easy to take something for granted — until you don’t have it, he said.
“It’s always good to take a little step backwards as we do this week, and thank God for what he’s given Catholic schools all over the country, but in particular, in particular, St. Mary School, that’s been around how many years?”
Students answered, 160, and Perez said: “You guys are old. You guys are really old,” again prompting laughs.
The congregation chuckled when Perez teased the Rev. Charlie Diedrick and the Rev. Tom Hagedorn, both St. Mary alumni, that they never left.
Perez asked the students to name the good things about St. Mary and said church is what distinguishes it from every other school.
“You nurture the mind and nurture the intellect,
“My time in Cleveland has been a great joy, and actually prepared me to now go back to where I never really thought I would go back to. You guys taught me how to be a diocesan bishop, and I am so grateful to you. ”
— Bishop Nelson Perez
but also the heart,” he said. “And there’s only one thing that nurtures the heart, and that is the very presence of Christ in our midst.”
With the gathering on a Friday, Perez jokingly said the students could take the next two days off.
But he was serious in asking them to reread and ponder one of the day’s readings, St. Paul’s Letter to the Phillipians 4:4-9.
“Rejoice, rejoice always in the Lord. In all things, pray to God. Offer God your prayers. Have no anxiety at all,” the bishop said in summary.
It is inscribed on the silver shepherd’s staff Perez uses for the church’s sacrament of confirmation.
Blessing of the bell
“I want to you to leave here today with those words deep in your mind and deep in your heart,” Perez said.
After the Mass, the congregation moved to the hall for the blessing of the 1901 bell made for the parish’s Guardian Angel building.
Sometime in the 1940s, Monsignor William Newton gave it to a parishioner, Fred Minnich, and it remained in the family’s possession.
“We all remember ringing the bell on the farm,” said Lynne Keller Kroeger, a granddaughter of Fred Minnich.
But the family was pleased to return it to the church and school, Kroeger said.
The bell was refinished by Kevin O’Connor, maintenance director at St. Mary Parish.
It was mounted on a brick red cabinet with brown trim to match the floorboard of the belltower.
Elyria Mayor Frank Whitfield noted it contains a time capsule to be opened in 100 years.