Saint Patrick Catholic Church

Your tour through Saint Patrick Catholic Church The clergy, Church staff, and the parishioners of Saint Patrick Catholic Church would like to welcome you on a guided tour of this wonderful new house of worship. As you move through the church we would ask that you kindly keep your voices low for the sake of those parishioners and visitors who may be here in prayer 2844 Village Drive, Fayetteville, NC 28304-3813 Telephone: 910-323-2410 Email: stpatnews@aol.com http://www.stpatnc.org/ (Tour begins at the replica of the historical marker to the left of the entrance to the Church – Station 1) We begin our tour of Saint Patrick Catholic Church here at this replica of the actual historical marker that is located at the corner of Owen and Village Drive. The marker recognizes Saint Patrick Catholic Church as the first parish in the state established on Aug 6, 1821 as recounted in Bishop England’s journal. Under the North Carolina (N.C.) Catholic Church Constitutional Convention held in Fayetteville the parish was placed under the protection of Saint Patrick on February 4, 1824, and became the first Catholic Church consecrated in North Carolina on March 17, 1829. The historical marker is significant as N.C. has only erected 1,400 historical markers since the designation process started in the 1930’s. Only 150 of the 1400 note religious people or institutions and just six reflect the birth and development of Catholicism. The marker was dedicated on March 17, 1997. Are there any questions at this time? If not, we will walk over to the Grand Plaza. (After questions tour members walk to the Grand Plaza oval – Stationj2) There are several key dates associated with the construction of our beautiful church. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Saint Patrick Catholic Church took place on March 6, 2011. Actual construction began in early 2012. The parish celebrated its last liturgy in the fourth Saint Patrick Catholic Church on January 6, 2013. Construction progressed throughout the summer of 2013 without delay. On September 11, 2013 the Celtic crosses for the Church and bell tower were blessed and placed on the building. 1 The dedication for the new Church was initially scheduled for February 8, 2014 but due to scheduling conflicts for Bishop Burbidge the dedication was changed to April 10, 2014. The temporary delay was a disappointment for our community as we could not celebrate Mass until Bishop Burbidge consecrated the Church. Please take a moment to look around the Grand Plaza and take in the beauty of the space. One program to help reduce the debt on the new church is through our memorial brick program. The bricks are a great way to honor friends and family members. Most importantly, they become part of the history of the church. The Grand Plaza and the Plaza Oval are important because this is where we begin our journey as Christians to reach salvation. During the Easter Vigil the Church is closed and dark, marking the death of Christ. This represents the darkness of a world without God. At the opening of the Easter Vigil the Easter fire or “new fire” is located in a very large steel bowl set in the middle of the plaza oval. Wood chips and split logs are set in the bowl and lit with a match that begins the celebration of the Easter Vigil. Worshipers all gather for the ceremony in the Plaza. The Paschal candle is the first candle to be lit with a flame from this sacred fire, representing the light of Christ coming into the world. This represents the risen Christ, as a symbol of light (life) dispelling darkness (death). The priest leads the procession of the faithful into the dark Church with the "Light of the World", each person carrying a lit candle into the Church. The Church remains dark except for the lit candles until the hymn Gloria begins and all the lights are turned on throughout the Church as the Resurrection is celebrated. The singing of the Gloria is significant because it is the most ancient of the Church’s liturgical hymns. It is a hymn of jubilation as well as praise. It is the Church’s poem to God. It expresses each of the four purposes of prayer: adoration, thanksgiving, supplication to the only-Begotten Son of God Jesus Christ, and reparation. The use of fire and light in worship goes back hundreds of years. Our patron Saint Patrick took the fires of the pagan worship in Ireland and made them part of the Easter celebration. Folk lore has it that on March 26, 433, the night before Easter Sunday, all the fires throughout the Druid kingdom would be extinguished until the Druids lit the New Year Fire. In defiance, Saint Patrick kindled and maintained the Pascal fire despite repeated attempts to extinguish the blessed fire. It is believed to be the first use of fire as symbolism for the light of Christ at Easter. Before moving inside the Church, it is important to understand the architectural considerations and the vision that resulted in the construction of this wonderful building. The New Church Building Committee and the architect, Gray Hudson of WKWW Architects worked together to develop a design that used a basic Celtic design along with a 6th to 12th century Romanesque architectural style. This presented a traditional church look and captured both the Roman and Irish Heritage of Saint Patrick Catholic Church. Romanesque is an architectural style of medieval Europe. Despite the many regional variations, many Romanesque buildings share the same characteristics: rounded arches for support and decoration; development of vaults - barrel vaults and groin (cross) vaults; massive doors inset within arches through massive walls; Gothic-type towers; small windows and; floor plans 2 designed around the Latin cross. We will discuss more about the architecture once we move inside. Moving through the entrance of the Church from the Grand Plaza to the narthex (or gathering space) you will begin to see many beautiful paintings and works of art that adorn the Church. Are there any questions at this time? If not, let’s walk inside the Church (After questions tour members walk inside Church and assemble in the narthex – Station 3) As stated outside Romanesque architecture influenced the design of Saint Patrick Catholic Church. The design of the Church also incorporates many of the features of Basilica designated churches. Basilica designated churches were built in the shape of the Latin cross. The people would enter the church through massive doors inset within arches into the narthex and then into the nave. They would then come to the area known as the crossing, which was under a groin (cross) vault, where the vaults of the nave and the transepts would intersect. As you look around the narthex, note the high rounded arches, the use of pillars, and the massive doors inset within arches. Several buildings in Fayetteville also share the same Romanesque style architecture. They include the Market House, the Transportation and Local History Museum, St. John’s Episcopal Church, the Hay Street Methodist Church, the First Baptist Church, and the second St. Patrick Catholic Church. Building on the symbolism of the Grand Plaza outside, we continue on our road to salvation as we move further into the Church. The area we are currently standing in is known as the narthex. The narthex is used to facilitate human interaction before and after worship. The narthex allows members to transition from individuals coming to church to a community prepared for worship. All entrances into the Church flow from the parking areas into the narthex to allow it to be a true place of gathering for one community in faith. As you turn and face the entrance to the Church you see the portrait of Bishop John England painted in 1842, by John Stephano Cogdell. John Cogdell was a U.S. painter and sculptor, who lived in Charleston, S.C. in the first half of the 19th century. He painted two portraits and made one bust of Bishop John England in 1842. The original portrait was sent to Rome in November 1842. The second portrait was presented as a gift to Saint Patrick Catholic Church on the dedication of the new church from the Bishop of Charleston Robert E. Guglielmone and presented by Father Michael Cassabon who served at St. Patrick from 2009 to 2011. 3 The bell you see to the left of Bishop England first hung in the second Saint Patrick wood frame church built in 1832 on Bow St. An inscription around the top of the bell reads ‘‘St. Patrick Fayetteville “, dated 1831. The bell maker is listed as Lewis Debozear of Philadelphia, PA. Today the bell is rung announcing the beginning of each liturgy. The beautiful stain glass window above the entrance to the church depicts Christ the King sitting on His thrown surrounded by angels. Here He reigns as King. It reminds all of us of the history of our salvation. The inscription beneath His feet reminds all of us that His kingdom is not of this world. There are thirteen stain glass windows, beautiful art forms that contribute both beauty and light inside the Church. Joep Nicolas (1897-1972) is the artist of eleven and is known as “the father of modern stain glass.” The eleven stain glass windows came from The Resurrection of Our Lord Roman Catholic Church founded in 1911 in Chester, Pennsylvania and closed in 1993. The stain glass windows provide classic art and compliment the Romanesque architecture of the new Church structure.

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