April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
PARISHES' HISTORY
Cohoes Catholics dedicate a year to heritage of faith
Hope to attract fallen-away faithful
When the Albany Diocese recently decided to consolidate parish leadership and appoint one pastor to oversee the remaining parishes of Holy Trinity and St. Michael's, parish leaders thought their parishioners could use something positive.
They just launched a "Year of Heritage" to celebrate the Catholic history of the city, which began in 1847 with the opening of St. Bernard's parish.
"Our main purpose is evangelization; not to bring up old feelings or hurt or pain," said Rev. James Ebert, pastor of Holy Trinity. "We have a lot of people in Cohoes who no longer attend church. We're remembering our ancestors who built the physical buildings. Now it's up to us to build the faith of the community."
It's unknown at this point if the Diocese will appoint one of the current pastors or a different priest to lead the two Cohoes parishes. Waiting "can be an emotional, uncomfortable process for people," Father Ebert said.
Looking back
The special events, which Father Ebert says will "celebrate our past [and] our present with a view of the future," follow a 2012 outdoor Mass at the Cohoes Falls as part of the city's Heritage Days. Another Mass, planned for this year, was rained out.
Father Ebert said his parishioners remind him on a weekly basis about customs that were lost when Cohoes parishes closed in 1998 and 2009.
"People still talk about with pride what they used to do," he said. "This is a way for them to pass on and to remember" those traditions.
Each month through next May, a different former or current parish will be honored with historical reviews and pictures in bulletins, special Masses with former pastors or women religious as guests, traditional social activities, prayers for deceased members and remembrances of the saints associated with the churches.
Former parish secretaries have been combing through old books and calling up old lay ministers and parishioners who haven't found a home at Holy Trinity or St. Michael's.
Month by month
Holy Trinity's month featured an ice cream social and fall games and exhibited pottery made using soil from the foundations of St. Marie's and St. Agnes/St. Patrick's, which merged to form Holy Trinity parish.
A potluck dinner and a youth-oriented Mass will celebrate St. Bernard's parish. Children will receive miraculous medals.
The Ladies of Ste. Anne, a popular women's group at St. Marie's that still bakes for Holy Trinity events, will hold a bake sale for St. Marie's month. There will also be French music at Masses, a traditional pork dinner and a celebration of the feast of Mater Misericordiae (Our Lady of Mercy). French heritage will also be celebrated at the St. Joseph's Mass, followed by a "breakfast with St. Nicholas" for Christmas.
St. Agnes' month falls during the Feast of the Epiphany, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and the Feast of St. Agnes. An Italian wedding dinner with music and dancing will be part of St. Rita's month. St. Patrick's celebration falls in March with a corned beef and cabbage dinner. Sacred Heart's celebration is still being planned.
St. Michael's will remember its history with a Mass during the city's heritage weekend in May and a Polish dinner.
Bring them home
Another outdoor Mass at the Cohoes Falls will finish the year. Parishioners are planning to collect soil from all the parish sites and blend them together at the event, said Barbara Hildreth, who was brought up in St. Marie's parish and attended its school.
She said the French traditions once popular in Cohoes have faded, so the events celebrating St. Marie's and St. Joseph's will be special: "This is bringing back everything."
After the last round of mergers, she said, many Catholics went to surrounding areas for Mass.
"They wanted no part of the Catholic Church in Cohoes," she said. "But they're always welcome to come back. I think above all, we want [the heritage year] to be healing."[[In-content Ad]]
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