Visit St. Joseph’s Monastery Church while you still can

It was with great sadness that I read Herb Cromwell’s letter to the editor regarding St. Joseph’s Monastery Church, which is slated to be shuttered by the Archdiocese of Baltimore (“Loss of historic churches certain to cause heartache,” April 17).

When Dorothy Day, one of the founders of the Catholic Worker Movement, was asked why so much money was going toward building a church near her she is said to have replied, “Because the poor have a right to beauty too.”

As children growing up in Irvington, we had very little by way of possessions. We sold chances on turkeys at Thanksgiving and chocolate bunnies at Easter for 10 cents each to help pay off the mortgage and beautify the interior of that magnificent house of worship. We felt it was “God’s house” and ours as well.

At a time when it was still safe to leave the church doors open all day, I often stopped in to “make a visit.” When I grew up, I was made pastor of St. Joseph’s. So very often visitors to our church, like Herb Cromwell, remarked to me that you could not enter the Monastery Church without feeling you were in the presence of God.

If your readers have never been to St. Joseph’s Monastery Church in Irvington I urge them to “make a visit” some Saturday evening or Sunday morning soon. It may be your last chance.