By MICHAEL WOJCIK
News Editor
CHATHAM - As part of their longtime connection, St. Patrick Parish here and Our Lady of Victories Parish (OLV), Paterson, deepened their already strong 12-year-old partnership further through a new joint liturgical celebration on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec. 12.
The two different faith communities - suburban St. Patrick's and inner city OLV - joined at the altar of St. Patrick's for a 5 p.m. bilingual Mass in English and Spanish for the Third Sunday of Advent lifted spiritually by hymns and intentions in both languages. During this lively and colorful liturgy, many Spanish-speaking faithful processed into the church with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and with the banners of their native countries. Many participating Spanish-speakers celebrated the feast day, beloved by Catholics in Hispanic cultures, by wearing native costumes.
No doubt, Father Edward Hinds, the late pastor of St. Patrick's, would have enjoyed the Our Lady of Guadalupe festivities. That's because in July, Father Hinds, who was murdered Oct. 22, devised the idea of bringing together the two parishes in the partnership for this beloved celebration of the Blessed Mother. The celebration fulfilled the priest's strong legacy of inclusion and discipleship, asserted faithful from both parishes, who helped plan the event.
"Father Ed would have loved the Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration. He would have had a Mexican hat on," said Walter Voytus, a parishioner of St. Patrick's - a faith community still in deep mourning over Father Hinds' murder - and member of the committee that guides the partnership between the parishes. "Father Ed was such a gentle man. He is missed."
Certainly Father Hinds was in the hearts of faithful from both parishes, who packed into St. Patrick's for the Mass, concelebrated by Msgr. Thomas Coletta, OLV's pastor and Jesuit Father Robert Reiser, president of St. Peter's Prep, Jersey City. The Mass featured Marian hymns, such as "Hail Mary" in Spanish. A booklet, printed in both English and Spanish, enabled all faithful to follow the Mass and contained a brief history of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Voytus said.
"This Mass exposed St. Patrick's parishioners to a different celebration of Our Lady as the patroness of the Americas and of how much she cares for us," said Voytus, who noted that people of Hispanic and Latino heritage celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe "with great enthusiasm."
After Mass, the faithful filed into St. Patrick's parish center for a festive celebration - a "pot luck" supper that featured traditional foods, such as Spanish rice pudding. Directed by Richard Barnett, St. Patrick's music minister, a group of combined choirs treated diners to song. Among those missing Father Hinds was Msgr. Coletta, who collaborated often with the late priest through the partnership.
"Father Ed was wonderful to work with," said Msgr. Coletta, who actually founded the partnership 12 years ago with longtime friend, Msgr. Ronald Amandolare, St. Patrick's pastor at that time. "Father Ed was very open. He listened to the people from both parishes and what the committee wanted to do. He loved the planning end of things and making things happen," he said.
Father Hinds' inclusive spirit fit well with the pre-existing partnership upon his arrival at St. Patrick's in 2003. In a true partnership of equals, St. Patrick's and OLV have shared their rich traditions.
Both parishes have gotten a flavor of each of their cultures through spiritual and cultural events over the 12 year relationship from talks about African-American and Hispanic culture and attending each other's picnics to sponsoring joint concerts and celebrating shared bilingual Masses, committee members asserted.
They have held joint retreats and ministry-training courses and youth group activities. Also, St. Patrick's has donated Thanksgiving food baskets and gifts of clothing and toys at Christmas to OLV, among other outreaches.
"The partnership helps St. Patrick's see beyond our parish to the larger church," Father Hinds told The Beacon in 2007 for the partnership's 10th anniversary. "It helps us see the richness of the ethnic spirituality of Our Lady of Victories. The partnership also reminds us that we are all linked to the Body of Christ by the Eucharist."
In late 1996, St. Patrick's and OLV established a committee to explore the "twinning" idea, which led to the writing in both English and Spanish of the covenant to guide the partnership, which was inked the next year. When Father Hinds arrived at St. Patrick's in 2003, he and Msgr. Coletta seemed to connect instantly.
"Father Hinds brings a new perspective to the partnership," Msgr. Coletta told The Beacon in 2007.
Looking to the future of the collaboration - and also up to the heavens, Msgr. Coletta noted that Father Hinds "will continue to watch over the partnership from a special place with the Lord. Father Ed was very present with us at this [Our Lady of Guadalupe] celebration."
