SHENANDOAH - Our Lady of Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church in Shenandoah will celebrate its 100th anniversary as an ethnic Italian parish this month, and the parishioners are pulling out all the stops to make it an anniversary to remember.
Any centennial milestone would be a reason to make the celebration a memorable one, but in this case, it is also bittersweet as it will mark the last anniversary. On July 27, the parish will hold the last Mass in the building due to the merger of all Roman Catholic churches in Shenandoah and Lost Creek into Divine Mercy Parish, in what is now Annunciation BVM Church.
Another Shenandoah church, St. Casimir Church, will remain open for worship services as part of Divine Mercy Parish.
In the 75th anniversary commemorative book, then pastor, the Rev. Robert J. Potts, wrote a letter that included the following that spoke of faith, strength and love of the parishioners:
"In so many ways you, the parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, have displayed a deep faith and a rich heritage. These virtues do not come about overnight. But like love, goodness unfolds in a slow, deliberate way. Certainly you reflect the goodness of the Lord as your parents and grandparents before you. You are to be commended and congratulated for your hard work, your sacrifice and your dedication. You will always be special to Jesus and special to me."
To celebrate the anniversary, the parish will hold its Italian Festival from July 18 to 20, which will include fireworks Sunday. In the morning of July 20, the Mass celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the parish's patroness, will be held at 9 a.m., followed by the procession of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel through the borough streets.
The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was instituted by the Carmelites between 1376 and 1386. The feast was assigned to July 16 because on that date in 1251, according to Carmelite traditions, the Brown Scapular - a sacramental made of two pieces of cloth, usually wool, attached by cords worn over the shoulders - was given by the Blessed Virgin to St. Simon Stock.
According to the church history, the parish began as a mission parish of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Mahanoy City. Prior to the building of the church, the Rev. Thomas Antenni, pastor of Sacred Heart Church, held services in Holy Family Roman Catholic Church, an ethnic German parish located about a block east of the current location of OLMC.
The Italian population increased so rapidly that it was necessary to erect a church of their own. After months of planning and raising funds, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church was dedicated Aug. 2, 1914. During the later years of Antenni's pastorate, the church was relocated due to a number of cave-ins from West Washington Street to its present site on North Diamond Street.
In 1925, land was purchased for the parish cemetery. In 1926, while the Rev. Salvadore Colonna was pastor, the church was damaged by fire. Remodeling began and was completed during the pastorate of the Rev. Joseph Megna.
In 1943, the Rev. Michael Romagno became pastor and served for 43 years before retiring in 1986. During his pastorate, organizations were formed, such as the Holy Name Society, Sacred Heart Society and Sons of Italy Society. The parish organized a choir that also sponsored many social activities for the youth, including CYO basketball and baseball.
Four months after Romagno retired, the Most Rev. Thomas J. Welsh, bishop of the Diocese of Allentown, appointed Potts on March 29, 1987, as the first non-Italian pastor and priest. After receiving requests to revitalize the OLMC feast and the return of the festival, Potts called a parish meeting and the decision by the parishioners was to bring back the festival in 1987.
After the festival, the church hall was renovated, which included removing the stage, installing carpeting and a new kitchen was installed for parish fundraisers, such as spaghetti dinners and Chinese auctions. In preparation for the 1988 festival, a kitchen was also built at the far end of the parking lot so food could be prepared on site.
In 1989, Potts received permission from the diocese for a renovation of the church, which was completed in time for the celebration of the parish's 75th anniversary.
Two of the parish's long-standing members are Theresa Matino and Frank Walto. Both live on the same block on West Coal Street in Shenandoah. Matino, 99, is a native of Frackville whose family moved to Shenandoah when she was about 7 years old. At that time, her family became OLMC parishioner. Walto, 83, was born in Shenandoah, was baptized in OLMC and is a lifelong member.
Both Matino and Walto have participated in the feast day procession, with Matino explaining that she had her own "cinta," which is a small, homemade shrine that is carried in the procession. Many cintas are family heirlooms and carried by families for decades.
"I made one of the cintas and had it for years," Matino said. "When you make a cinta, you make a vow to the Blessed Mother, which I did for my son, Nicholas. He was sick-like for awhile. You make a vow and you get results. I think I got good results. I don't have the cinta anymore. There are people who have had their cintas from the start."
Matino mentioned that the parish's only native son who became a priest was Monsignor Anthony Muntone, who grew up on the same block.
"My sister and I were born in Frackville, and my other brothers and sisters were born in Shenandoah," Matino said. "I received Holy Communion, was confirmed and was married in the parish church (OLMC)."
Matino's parents, Francesco and Rosina Disabella Tancredi, were immigrants from Italy.
"I've been a member all my life," Walto said. "I had a brother and a sister who weren't baptized in our church because they were born before the church was here."
Walto's father, Samuel, was born in America and his mother, Theresa, was born in Italy.
"In the first place, our name wasn't Walto," he said. "We went by Walto because other people couldn't pronounce our name. The name was Votta. There's no ''w' in the Italian language."
Walto remembers how priests would give a homily in Italian, then give the same one in English, to accommodate those who spoke only Italian. He remembered the names of many priests because he was an altar boy.
"We didn't speak English until we went to school," Matino said. "It wasn't like we didn't want to speak English, but it was just a tradition. People just didn't speak English at home. And when my grandmother came from Italy to live with us, that ended all the English at home."
When asked about the closing of the church only one week after the anniversary celebration, Matino said, "It's sad. It's a sad thing to think about."
"There are so many people baptized there, married there, were altar boys there," Walto said. "Our life is in there."
Last Sunday, the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was placed on its base to be carried in the procession. Parishioner Thomas Talerico, Shenandoah Heights, has been involved with the Mass and procession since he was a boy and has been involved in getting "Our Lady" ready since 1987.
"I was an altar boy here and was involved in the procession since then," Talerico, 66, said.
The tradition has been that when the feast day Mass is concluded, the statue is taken to the church porch at the top of the stairs for families, groups or individuals to bid on the honor to carry the statue in the process through the Shenandoah streets, and another round of bidding to carry the canopy above the statue. This final year will be different.
"There is no bidding this year," Talerico said as he sat in the church. "We had an idea. Over the years, a lot of the families didn't have the money to carry the statue. For the 100th year I proposed the idea to Monsignor (Ronald) Bocian to have the families who were never able to carry the statue and not have the bidding. He said it was a great idea and go with it. There are so many families on Penn Street who would want to carry the statue that we may have to go up and down the street four times. People have been calling the house and they want to carry on a block on Catherine Street or a block of Lloyd Street. The statue is going to change hands during the procession."
Talerico said, "We made the 100th anniversary, and we're going to go out with a bang."
Talerico did not know how much the statue weighs, but it is heavy for four people to carry. According to parishioner Sue Probition, the statue is more than 75 years, but is not the original one used in processions.