2020 Miscellany #12—snapshots around town

 St. Barbara Cleveland and electrical work

Terminal Tower seen through light stanchions of baseball park as seen from freeway

U.S.S. Cod is a WWII submarine that is now a museum ship in Cleveland.

 

For Cuyahoga County voters, a necessary and easy act of patriotism: accessible on E. 30th between Euclid and Chester; drop off ballot applications, and later completed ballots. Ohio's Secretary of State, Frank LaRose, will not allow more than one such box in a county. He is a Republican, and on a state level, Ohio has been a one party state.

Now it is time to dry your summer garden herbs for later use, basil pictured.

Keep your windows open when you leave hounds in your car.

swallows on Lake Erie

day lilies, Italian Cultural Garden

artificial brook, Croat Cultural Garden

nest at the feet and sword tip of St. Michael statue at St. Casimir's

Guest Submission VI: Homecoming at St. Barbara's

the doors are opened

On Sunday, July 22nd, three more Catholic churches in the Cleveland Diocese re-opened. The three churches were St. Barbara (Denison Ave.), St. Mary (Bedford), and St. Patrick (West Park). All three re-opened simultaneously with 11:00 am Masses on this bright sunny day as their parishioners and supporters returned to see the churches' doors unlocked and open once again.

These three churches were part of the eleven decreed to be restored in the historic March 1, 2012 decision by the Vatican's Congregation of the Clergy. Last week St. John the Baptist (Akron), and St. Casimir (Cleveland) were re-opened.

This past Sunday, media coverage was intensive at St. Barbara, a Polish founded parish. The scene was overwhelming and joyous as they celebrated in the typical Polish way with a large procession into the church that marked the occasion and showed their intense love and respect for their Catholic faith.

Several hundred people gathered outside the church from the front steps, and the sidewalks along Denison Avenue stretching for a city block. At the head of this procession was the newly appointed pastor, Rev. Father Joseph Hilinski, who started the ceremony by knocking a series of three knocks, three times on the closed doors and proclaimed these words, "Open the doors so that the people of God may worship the God of heaven and earth". He then repeated the invocation in Polish with the doors slowly opening, and then the bells began ringing. This was the first time the bells were rung in more than two years. Many of the people in the procession became emotional as tears of joy became visible. The pealing of the bells was the welcome home, and the signal token, that they could now return to their sacred place of worship.

The procession slowly ascended the steps into the church and completely filled the pews, the aisles and the choir loft. In the procession were St. Barbara's Veterans Group, the VFW, the American Legion, and two Polish Army Posts all carrying their colors, next were fraternals and members of the parish in native Polish Highlander dress. They were followed by bearers of gonfalones (religious banners) who held high the images of St. Barbara, Our Lady of Częstochowa, Divine Mercy of Jesus, John Paul II, and others.

On this day the first reading was from the Prophet Jeremiah where God rebukes bad shepherds who scattered the flocks, and God appoints new shepherds to gather and return the flocks to their homes. The Scripture reading for this Homecoming Mass could not have been more appropriate for those in the pews.

In his homily, Father Hilinski introduced himself as a Catholic, a Pole and a Christian neighbor who was baptised at St. Barbara. He gave a short history of the parish and then praised the parishioners and supporters that worked to have the parish re-opened. He said that they (parishioners) acted as shepherds.

Father Hilinski announced that Barbara's will have a Saturday evening Mass and two Sunday Masses, one being in Polish. He was warmly received as those in the pews twice broke out in applause. In attendance were reps from SS. Casimir, Emeric, Peter, and Wendelin for they too wanted to share in this Homecoming. Afterwards, a reception was held in the church hall, topped off with a very long Polish pastry table. It was a real Homecoming for the parishioners of St. Barbara. Donna Cuevas said, "It is a miracle and the inside looks the same as it was before".
Next week and thereafter those bells will ring again with a call for the flock to come home. They now have a shepherd.

--by Joseph Feckanin

Open the doors

queuing for entry

another view of the queue

knock, knock, knocking

Open the doors so that the people of God may worship the God of heaven and earth!
Otworzcie sie bramy aby wsedł Król chwaly!
(Open the doors of the gate to the King of glory!)

Before the Homecoming Mass began, a part of the congregation gathered for a procession with gonfalones and flags. Mass was last said in St. Barbara's on Mother's Day 2009. That was also the last day for Fr. Joseph Hilinski's former parish, Our Lady of Mercy. That May morning, Richard Lennon evicted both parishes; but Barbara's petitioned the Holy See.

Saint Barbara has been not available to the faithful since. So, as the formal reuse begins, it begins with the new pastor knocking in a series of three, three times for entry to the church; so much a beautiful, yet simple and earnest a ceremony; far unlike the Lennonist Evictions.

To-day, three parishes are having Homecoming Masses. The other two are: St. Mary in Bedford, and St. Patrick in West Park.
Folding chairs were added in the center aisle, as people stood about the perimeters and in the choir loft. Last week 12-13 hundred came to Casimir, here at Barbara's about half that tally, a good six hundred.

The First Scripture Reading 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Woe to the pastors, that destroy and tear the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel to the pastors that feed my people: You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold I will visit upon you for the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather together the remnant of my flock, out of all the lands into which I have cast them out: and I will make them return to their own fields, and they shall increase and be multiplied. And I will set up pastors over them, and they shall feed them: they shall fear no more, and they shall not be dismayed: and none shall be wanting of their number, saith the Lord.
Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch: and a king shall reign, and shall be wise, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In those days shall Juda be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently: and this is the name that they shall call him: the Lord our just one.
— Jeremias xxiii. 1-6. DRC

Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the LORD. Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, against the shepherds who shepherd my people: You have scattered my sheep and driven them away. You have not cared for them, but I will take care to punish your evil deeds. I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands to which I have driven them and bring them back to their meadow; there they shall increase and multiply. I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing, says the LORD.
Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security. This is the name they give him: "The LORD our justice."
— Jeremiah 23. 1-6. NAB
Father Joseph Hilinski did not comment on the apt, timely, and descriptive reading from the Prophet. The Bishop is out of town. Hilinski spoke of being a Catholic, a Pole, a Christian neighbor. He recounted a short history of the parish, which he was baptised in, and then spoke of his boyhood St. Patrick West Park (which was having the same Mass there). He spoke positively of the Barbara parishioners, and supporters that sought to have their parish and acting as shepherds by default. He gave the good news that a Polish language Liturgy would be said by Fr. Andrzej Knapik, from Immaculate Heart of Mary, Sundays at 11.30 a.m.. Twice rounds of applause broke out during Hilinski's maiden homily at Barbara's, again this is not common at a Mass.

one small lively family during Mass

the Knights of Columbus enjoy processions, they gather in the narthex during Communion

St. Barbara on Memorial Day

Decoration Day began after the War for the Union/War of Southern Secession. People decorated the graves of the war's dead. It sprang up naturally, and diffusely. In a few years it became an opportunity for politics. Generals became easy nominees for high office. The South would hold on to the Lost Cause.

Confederate Memorial Day is still celebrated by southern states on different days. A national uniform date became 30 May. In 1971 by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Memorial Day would be the final Monday in May.

Not until after WWII did the name 'Memorial Day' become popular. By that time it had become a part of the national civic religion. The current extreme form has recently been called 'American exceptionalism'*.

preparation

To-day is 30 May. Saint Barbara's Parish, Cleveland, Ohio has preserved the older date. For 57 years, Saint Barbara has maintained a continuous observance.
WWII memorial of the Parish's Military dead. The monument has remained intact on parish grounds, immediately before the church building. It was neither removed by the diocese, nor damaged [or destroyed] through neglect. The bluish line behind the monument is plastic down spout, the metal part was stolen, as was the flagpole by scrappers, after the eviction of the parishioners. The parish never officially closed, and is acknowledged to be officially opened. The parish has two parking lots, they remained chained and locked. Outside the church there is an ongoing road and bridge construction project; the 2nd District Police Commander came out to reroute traffic for the fifteen minute ceremony.

Taps
parishioners and 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, 4th Division

the old guard at the church's portal

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*the term is so new, that many spell check computer programmes will question the word

Guest Submission IV: St. Barbara

The feast day of St. Barbara was celebrated this past Sunday, December 4th on the steps and sidewalk of the locked St. Barbara's Church. Closed on Mother's Day (May 9th) 2010, by Bishop Richard Lennon, the church has stood silent awaiting the return of its parishioners. The parishioners of St. Barbara's had filed an appeal with the Vatican to override the bishop's actions, thus stopping the diocese from selling off the church and the rest of the patrimony.

In the interim, the exiled parishioners have anxiously awaited a decision from Rome; only to hear that their appeal has been given still another extension (March of 2012). Scattered from their Polish founded parish (1905), they have kept in touch with each other, and prayed for a miracle.

As the attendees arrived on this second Sunday in Advent for this St Barbara's Day celebration, they were greeted with a slight rain, which they jokingly said, as the umbrellas popped open, was a blessing from above for refusing to abandon their parish. As they decorated the fence adjacent to the church with a banner stating "We Trust In Jesus", and hung advent wreaths on the church, they noticed that certain thieves had paid a visit to their beloved church. The air conditioning units were stolen, and the aluminium flag pole was hacked off at its base! "How sad", one woman remarked, "even the scrappers were benefiting from all these church closings."

The assembled were all welcomed, and thanked for coming. They prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet for their dear St. Barbara's community, and the numerous Catholic Parishes that were wrongfully closed under the guise of the "Vibrant Parish Plan." Michael Minich, the grandson of founders of the parish and one of the organizers of the vigil stated, "Bishop Pilla started Vibrant Parish with the promise not to close any churches and Bishop Lennon ended it with betrayal and closings."

A straw poll counted in attendance representatives from ten parishes. A 'rep' came from Congressman Kucinich's office. Cars driving across the Harvard-Denison Bridge, and those exiting the I-76 freeway ramp slowed down, rolled down their windows, and expressed support for the gathering. As they sang, a TV cameraman showed up and captured the event to present on the late news. Bolstered by the fact that the outside world was interested in their plight, as displaced Catholics, they kept on singing until the rain stopped for a short period of time. At the conclusion, they left the steps of St Barbara hoping to return to open doors as it was meant to be.

The words on the back of a St. Barbara holy card given to all to commemorate the celebration expressed the sentiments and meaning of the day. It read as follows:

Always in our hearts and minds
The church, our home and mother

The keys to Peter chosen to build
This sacred place like no other

Built in faith and firm in hope
Our Rock, our Lord, our Brother

This was the renewal, the feast day of St. Barbara, celebrated on the steps of this, their closed, but not forgotten church.


—Joseph Feckanin

Saint Barbara, Cleveland

The neighborhood around St. Barbara, Cleveland is called by the Polish people 'Barbarowa'. To-day was their feast day.

To-day, Sunday at 3 o'clock outside Saint Barbara's closed church on 1505 Denison, in Cleveland, at the end of an exit ramp of Jennings' Freeway [I-176], there met some of Saint Barbara's Parish on their patronal Feast Day (4 December, Saint Barbara's Day). It rained before people fully assembled. It rained throughout the sidewalk service and celebration. They came, they stayed, they sang, they prayed [Chaplet of Divine Mercy], they were a parish engaging in communal life.
Some stories persist, even when they are suppressed. As many of you surely know, there has been an orchestrated, and largely successful campaign by the chancery of the Roman-rite Catholic Diocese in Cleveland of "get along, there is nothing to see here". We all know, this is the same lie police forces give to chase people away from assembling. Something is to be seen. All of the laity will not disperse by a lennonist ukase.
The ruthless, and ongoing consolidation of episcopal power and the reduction of the laity and parish life is not over. There are some who, often very timidly but still, resist. There is a handful of evicted parishes that still meet. They meet outside (of the campus they were evicted from). The whole world can see them. This is evidence that a few do publicly continue their communal religious identity.

These Catholics met as a Christian community for the world to see. Amongst other things, they prayed for the recovery and return of their church. Yes, for Rome to reverse Lennon's injustice towards them.

Some had not been to the site since eviction. Many had not sen each other since. They renewed their acquaintances. They noticed the air conditioning units were stolen, the aluminum flag pole was cut off at the base. Scrap salvagers are profiting from the parish's eviction too.

interviewing parishioners Christine Dziedzina and Michael Minich

Channel WJW-8 sent a cameraman. He came at 4 o'clock. The people continued to sing, another seven songs or so. They sang in English, they sang in Polish. Part of the repertoire was borrowed from the Casimiri, the exiled parishioners of another Polish parish, whom have met every week since their eviction (more than two years ago).

Representatives of some ten diocesan churches [opened and closed] came. A representative from Congressman Dennis Kucinich's staff came representing him and sending his support and feelings of solidarity. No one has ever openly came from the bishop's office to any such prayer event to share in the Christian commonweal.

Two different people had cards printed. Both used the same picture.

notice for Saint Barbara's

West 15th and Denison, next to I-176 (Jennings Freeway)

Saint Barbara's Parish in Cleveland, Ohio will join outside their closed church building on St. Barbara's Day, Sunday 4 December at 3 p.m. and meet as a parish community.

anticipation of the Resurrection

To-day is Holy Saturday. The troubling hours after the first day of the Crucifixion, and before the surprise of Resurrection. The first Christians, the personal comrades of Jesus were shaken and did not know the morrow's outcome. We in reliving the year in Liturgy and Sacred Calendar do.

It is a troubling time for the Faith and the Church [at home and abroad]. Many of us are dispirited and despairing. We have the promise of great joy to come.

Some people to-day and to-morrow visit and decorate the graves of loved ones. Spring bulbs are often in bloom. It is opportunity for remembrance and respect.

It is traditional amongst the several Slavonic nations, and their several churches to have a basket of food blessed at church. It has spread to other people by proximity and diffusion. It is a custom still permitted and observed in some American churches. It is so popular that in many parishes it is done several times during the day. People spread out with their children and baskets, and with people whom generally do not come to a Catholic church, and pews are filled.

Saint Barbara's is under appeal from suppression. It is another parish in Old Brooklyn, Cleveland near St. Leo's. The church, as every Polish church, was kept up. It did have a few leaky spots, perhaps the scaffold [to the left of the doors] is to patch the roof. Barbara's had healthy enough financial reserves when it was open to more than cover any repair cost, but while open each parish had to beg the bishop permission to repair anything above a certain nominal value. Lennon holds the purse and draws and tighten strings at will.
Now, Saint Leo had some financial shortcomings. It has bought, from the bishop, seven windows from the suppressed nearby Blessed Sacrament, which had money in the bank. It has also ransomed items from Old Brooklyn's Corpus Christi and Euclid's Saint Christine's. The Blessed Sacrament window, supra, replaces a severe and modernistic tabernacle that had been on the east transept wall. The ransomed items are visually more appealing and conducive for Christian worship than those they replaced.

Last day for Saint Barbara's

Window depicting Saint Barbara at Saint Barbara in Cleveland was paid for by the children of Saint Barbara's school.

Yesterday, was Mother's Day on the secular calendar. Lennon suppressed St. Barbara, and Our Lady of Mercy. He went from W. 14th and Denison to W. 11th and Kenilworth, with the connection of Jennings Freeway to I-90 and the W. 14th exit to Tremont and Lincoln Park at the door step of Saint Barbara's. It was a very convenient convoy.

On Saint Barbara's last day, Barbara's people were speaking about their last resident priest, their former pastor (listed as administrator), whom had just died. Lennon in his leaden, tone deaf manner mentioned it to the assembly. Father Michael S. Dyrcz had been there from 1997. Father Dyrcz was removed from the parish accounting for his perceived unsuitability, due in part to his progressively worsening nerve ailment, and for unpolitic remarks concerning the new bishop.* Four of the five parishes Fr. Dyrcz had served in have been extinguished by Lennon (St. Wenceslas, Corpus Christi, St. Stanislaus (Lorain), St. Barbara).
before Sunday vigil Mass Lent 2010
2 catholic poles demonstrate during St. Barbara's Mass of Eviction
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*this sentence was changed from a more undiplomatic earlier one