By MAUREEN McGUINNESS
Staff Writer
A celebration of both the Epiphany and the Catholic community in Schenectady will mark the first regional event celebrating the Sesquicentennial of the Albany Diocese.
Hosted by the Schenectady Deanery, the prayer service will be held Jan. 5, 2 p.m., at St. John the Baptist Church, the oldest Catholic church in Schenectady and one that predates the Diocese by 17 years.
"It will be a mix of traditional and contemporary music and rituals," said Mary Cahill, coordinator of the event. "It will be a celebration of the past and the future."
Celebration
The prayer service, centered around the feast of the Epiphany, will usher in the Sesquicentennial year for the 19 parishes in the Schenectady deanery. It is patterned after traditional vespers services and the Diocesan Sesquicentennial opening celebration, held Dec. 8 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany.
The event will include what Mrs. Cahill referred to as "spirituality before Vatican II" as well as modern rituals. Prior to the service there will be a traditional hymn sing. And since the Epiphany is the feast of the three kings who brought gifts to the Christ Child, free-will offerings for Sacred Heart/St. Columba parish's food pantry are being encouraged.
Following the prayer service, there will be a reception where pictures and historical information, as well as news of current activities from each of the parishes in the deanery, will be on display. The different ethnic backgrounds that make up the parishes will be represented in the foods served at the reception.
Coming together
The 25 members of the planning committee have found that in the past year of preparing for the event, they have come together as a community, which in turn enhances the clustering process.
"You have to sit down and eat with one another to get to know one another," said Mrs. Cahill. "This prayer service will give us the opportunity to celebrate together what we have here. This is 150 years of faithful living in Schenectady."
Margaret Doolin, president of the Altar Rosary Society at St. Paul the Apostle Church and a member of the planning committee, sees the Sesquicentennial year as having the potential to renew the faith of fellow Catholics.
"This can stimulate devotion, especially of young people," she said.
Showing faith
While she was assisting in planning the Schenectady event, Mrs. Doolin visited Our Lady of Knock Shrine in East Durham. She was impressed by the devotion of the Catholics who built the shrine; and while she is not a native of the Albany Diocese, she felt a connection with those Catholics.
"They were proud to put their names there," she said of the builders of the shrine. "It's nice to go visit and see places like that. The Sesquicentennial will encourage that in people, especially the young."
Both Mrs. Doolin and Mrs. Cahill hope the celebration at St. John the Baptist will help the Catholics of Schenectady see the role they play in the Albany Diocese.
"We hear, `What's a diocese anyway? It's so far away,'" said Mrs. Cahill. "It is the presence of the Church here in Schenectady. We want them to feel like they're all a part of it."
(The committee is making plans to broadcast the celebration for home-bound Catholics, as well as creating a web page that will include historical information on the Church in Schenectady. The event will be held Jan. 5 at 2 p.m. at St. John the Baptist Church on Franklin Street. All are welcome, but seating is limited. For more information, call 393-9624.)