La Salette Missionaries ministered at the parish from 1932 to 1994; parish history includes operating a school for 70 years
BERKLEY — Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron joined the congregation at Our Lady of La Salette Parish in Berkley to celebrate the parish community’s centennial and give thanks for the graces that have been present and born from the parish over the last 100 years.
“When I come to celebrate a parish's landmark anniversary, I usually begin by asking people to use their imaginations,” Archbishop Vigneron said in his homily Nov. 17. “Imagine, if you will, the sacramental highlights of the life of this parish not just 10 years ago, but 100 years ago and all the years in between — from the Roaring Twenties when this parish was founded to the time of the depression to the Korean War and everything until today.”
The Mass and celebration began with a procession into the church as clergy, laity and parish leaders joined with the archbishop in thanksgiving.
The parish's history dates back to 1921, when a small group of Berkley Catholics purchased land to build a church. They had a new parish, Our Lady of Refuge, within three years.
“The future looked promising,” the parish history reads, ”but then came the Great Depression and the parish lost what little money it had in the bank. Many of its parishioners lost their jobs, bringing progress to a standstill."
However, in 1932, the Archdiocese of Detroit invited the Missionaries of La Salette to come to Berkley and staff the then-barebones parish.
“During those years, when the people were out of work, they did what they could, by excavating a basement for the church and bricking it in. All the work was volunteered. The pride it brought and the unity it preserved saved the parish," the parish history reads. "The original name of the church was also changed. It became Our Lady of La Salette.’
In its 100 years, the parish moved locations, sold parts of its property, opened and closed a school and returned to the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Our Lady of La Salette School, which operated from 1943 until 2013, educated more than 1,000 students in its heyday. A new rectory was built in 1963, and the current church building was constructed in 1967. The La Salette Missionaries left the parish in 1994.
Over the years, the parish withstood many changes, but the faith practiced in Berkley remained steadfast.
Archbishop Vigneron invited parishioners to reflect on the countless sacraments that have taken place at the parish over the years: baptisms, confirmations and first Communions.
“How many domestic churches have begun here in this parish?” Archbishop Vigneron asked. “How many funerals?”
Besides the moments celebrated publicly in the community, Archbishop Vigneron also encouraged the parish to imagine the sacraments of penance and reconciliation that have taken place in the parish and the priests who have made this possible.
“How many hearts have been healed in a way that we will never know until the end of time?” Archbishop Vigneron added, explaining that the responsibility of acknowledging such a milestone holds more weight than your average celebration.
“If this were the Berkley public library, there would be a whole different duty in commemorating a 100th anniversary,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “We do not simply commemorate and remember — we have a particular responsibility to give God praise and thanks for these graces that we have been able to imagine and for all the many more that escape our imagination. This is what God has brought us here for today. The Holy Spirit brings us to join with Christ, who is always standing in front of the Father to give him praise for what He does for His people.”
Archbishop Vigneron explained that the celebration is a chance to give God thanks for the graces of 100 years of the community at Our Lady of La Salette Parish and to offer the entire parish back to Him.
“My principal responsibility in being here with you today is to lead you in this act of thanksgiving and to be the presider at this Holy Eucharist where the whole parish is offered back to God,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “Not just the parish alive today, but the parish for the last 100 years.”
For 100 years, the community of Our Lady of La Salette has been sustained in the hope of the life to come, Archbishop Vigneron added.
“Through 100 years, through the sacraments and the preaching and the common life of this community, you and your forebearers have been given the strength to preserve — to hold on and be ready for the day of Christ and his victory,” Archbishop Vigneron said. “What is special today is that … you are part of what is lifted up in front of the throne of God along with Christ today. Let us give all of our hearts and minds to this great thanksgiving gift — 100 years of grace.”
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