Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Enola – once considered a mission outpost of the Catholic faith – observed its centennial in the highest form on Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, with an anniversary Mass celebrated by Bishop Timothy Senior.
The celebration united the parish’s past and present within the protective mantle of the Blessed Mother and in the presence of her son in the Holy Eucharist.
“Jesus Christ is always with us. Yes, in the Eucharist for sure, but also in his Word,” the bishop told the congregation during the Vigil Mass on September 5.
Current pastor, Father Matthew Smith, and former pastors Father Robert Yohe, Father Richard Mowery and Father Donald Bender concelebrated the Mass.
The Scripture readings for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time focused on the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself and to dissuade your brothers and sisters from sin and wickedness.
“Love is the basic tenet of Christianity. Love does not do evil to your neighbor, ever. It is important to remember that command from the Gospel,” the bishop said.
“Our interaction with each other really matters,” he said. “Jesus says, if your brother sins or does not make the effort to be a disciple of Christ, then tell him.”
“For 100 years, the faithful parishioners who have gone before and who are here now have been disciples of Christ,” Bishop Senior said.
It’s a faithful discipleship that began more than two decades before the establishment of the parish and two years before the official founding of the town of Enola.
Diocesan history books point to Catholicism in the eastern edge of Cumberland County in 1903, with the pastor of St. Anne Parish in Steelton – Father F. M. Negroni – visiting the area to care for the spiritual needs of Italian Catholics working the local yards of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
The industry resulted in the establishment of Enola in 1905. With its proximity to the western bank of the Susquehanna River, Enola’s Catholic population soon became a station of the Cathedral Parish of St. Patrick, across the river in Harrisburg.
On December 8, 1924, Bishop Philip McDevitt of Harrisburg authorized the purchase of a farmhouse in Enola as a place to offer education and support to the Catholic community.
In 1925, the Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary, a cloistered community, established their monastery at the farmhouse. The nuns remained there until 1955, when they moved to their current monastery in Lancaster.
The farmhouse chapel was the site of Masses celebrated by priests from the Cathedral and Bishop McDevitt established Our Lady of Lourdes Parish on April 28, 1926, with Father John Stanton as its first pastor. Father Harold Keller succeeded him within the first year and purchased land for the construction of a church, dedicated September 18, 1927. The church’s debt was paid during the Great Depression, a testament to the sacrifice and generosity of parishioners.
The parish grew in number over the next several decades, and from it came mission churches of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Marysville and St. Bernadette in Duncannon.
In 1977, Ovidio and Edith Acri donated 10 acres of their farmland to the parish for the construction of the current church on Salt Road. It was dedicated in March of 1980 by Bishop Joseph Daley.
The current church incorporates various elements from the first church, including the original sanctuary Crucifix, stained-glass windows and statues of Our Lady, St. Bernadette, the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Margaret Mary. The original belltower, which once topped the brick church on West Pine Street, now stands adjacent to the parish parking lot.
Our Lady of Lourdes Parish continued to see increased growth in the past 25 years and has constructed the Father John A. Acri Parish Center and enlarged the church proper to increase seating.
Father Matthew Smith, who became pastor in June of this year, said he is “very impressed by all the parish has built and accomplished. I am very grateful for the vision and dedication past pastors have given to Our Lady of Lourdes. I loved learning of the deep spiritual roots the parish has, starting out of the old Dominican convent which used to be in town. Although the nuns left decades ago, the practice of prayer at the parish here remains steady due to the zeal and fidelity of the parishioners.”
“I pray God will continue to pour out many blessings here and equip us to continue our mission of the salvation and sanctification of souls here in Enola,” he said.
The parish enjoys an active Knights of Columbus Council 12404, That Man is You group, Council of Catholic Women, prayer shawl group and Meals on Wheels, among other ministries. It’s also widely known for two large fundraising initiatives – Lenten fish dinners and chocolate Easter eggs – that attract patrons from the community and beyond.
“Since 1926, what abundant graces God has given this parish over the past 100 years,” Bishop Senior said. “I wish all the faithful parishioners here over all these years a happy anniversary.”
(Photos by Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness.)
By Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness
