September 3, 2020 was the Merger of St. Greg Church with St. Ita & St. Thom. Parishioners attended the final mass at St. Greg to mark the end of SGC as an stand alone parish. We could still attend weekend & holiday masses at SGC but the management & the Franciscan priests are based at St. Ita at the corner of Catalpa & Broadway. Sept. 3 was also the final mass of Fr. Paul Wachdorf, parish priest of SGC for 15 years. After the final mass that afternoon, Fr. Paul announced that selected artifacts of SGC would be brought to St. Ita Church by him & SGC parishioners as a symbolic gesture of the merger. The artifacts selected were the icon of St. Gregory, books on the history, architecture & the parishioners data & a sacred relic. After the procession from SGC to St. Ita, a welcome mass was celebrated at St. Ita. I was lucky enough to be at corner Ashland & Catalpa when the Procession started & I took a photo of the loss of my house of worship as a stand alone church. It provided a closure to my heartache & an inspiration to today's art work. I showed the SGC parishioners led by Fr.Paul carrying various artifacts walking in the late afternoon at Catalpa. To symbolize the church, I painted SGC tower, the icon of St. Greg, the trees sheltering the procession & the icon of St. Ita, the destination church. Truly, the year of 2020 is a test of endurance! Keep the Faith! Happy Painting all!
I like the choices you made of what to include and why. Nicely observed—especially the afternoon light and shadows. You can really get a sense of time and place here.
ReplyDeleteWait, does this mean St Gregory is closing that beautiful church?
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful painting, Susan. You've documented the event exquisitely.
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