Brownsburg Catholics celebrate new church

Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein celebrates the Mass of Dedication for the new St. Malachy Church in Brownsburg on Dec. 16 as Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, vicar general, center, and Father Daniel Staublin, pastor, right, assist as concelebrants. Deacon Daniel Collier stands at the left of the altar. Jason Kippenbrock, back left, and Scott Kelley were among the altar servers. Priests with connections to St. Malachy Parish and pastors of other Indianapolis West Deanery parishes also concelebrated the historic Mass. (Photo by Mary Ann Wyand)

By Mary Ann Wyand

BROWNSBURG—Longtime St. Malachy parishioners Marie Quinn Bersot and Pauline Danda of Brownsburg couldn’t contain their joy after the Dec. 16 dedication of the new St. Malachy Church on former farmland that had belonged to the Quinn family for three generations.

“My Grandfather Quinn came over here from Ireland,” Bersot explained after the Mass, then bought land to farm in Hendricks County.

When the parish membership outgrew the third St. Malachy Church at 326 N. Green St.—also built on land that had belonged to the Quinn family—Bersot donated 40 acres of farmland at 9833 E. County Road 750 North to the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. (See photos from the dedication of the new church)

“It’s wonderful,” she said about the beautiful and spacious church, which seats 1,200 people. “I feel pretty good. Tomorrow [Dec. 17] is my birthday. I’m 95 years old. I was born into the parish. It’s the best birthday present I could ever have.”

Parishioners crowded around Bersot to offer their heartfelt thanks for donating the land for the church as well as enough acreage to move the parish office and school to the rural site north of Brownsburg in the near future. Her late husband, George, farmed the land for 46 years.

“You’ve done us proud,” a parishioner told her. “Thanks a million for what you’ve done.”

Danda, her longtime friend, said she can’t wait for her grandson, Deacon Sean Danda, to return from his theology studies in Rome to see the new church.

The Quinn family farmhouse sits near the new church, and is now owned by St. Malachy parishioners Marty and Mary Feeney, who are Bersot’s relatives.

When she saw the lofty church interior for the first time, it took her breath away for a moment, Bersot said, and she is grateful to all the parishioners for their part in helping to build the larger worship space.

The contemporary crucifix and statue of a young Mary of the Annunciation were created by Polish sculptor Jerzy Kenar of Chicago. Mary sits on a bench in an alcove looking out at her son hanging on the cross, which has a circular Celtic knot pattern symbolizing both the crown of thorns and the halo behind the corpus.

A huge stained-glass window behind the altar and adjacent to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel symbolizes the Resurrection.

During his homily for the Mass of Dedication, Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein thanked St. Malachy Parish’s 2,500 households for their part in making the largest church in the archdiocese a reality. He also thanked Father Daniel Staublin, St. Malachy’s pastor for 12 years, for his pastoral leadership.

“Heartfelt congratulations for this splendid church,” Archbishop Buechlein said. “These walls of brick and mortar represent your coming together in faith. This magnificent church testifies to your vitality and hope. It is important to think of those ancestors of our faith who founded this parish” in 1869.

“Here, in prayer, especially in Eucharist, you are most visibly the local Church under the patronage of St. Malachy in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis,” he said. “… The beauty of this sanctuary is truly complete when it is filled with people of faith and love, and if we are truly who we say we are, Christians who genuinely try to love one another.”

St. Malachy parishioners “stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us in Hendricks County,” the archbishop said. “… Let’s remember that we are the shoulders for future generations. And always, always, remember [that] our foundation is Jesus Christ.”

Incense and oil mark this new church as God’s house, a holy and sacred place, he said. “We will consecrate this house to God. We will place the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle. Truly it is the sacramental presence of Jesus that hallows and consecrates this beautiful church forevermore.”

After the Mass, Father Staublin said he felt both happy and relieved to see the completion of the 18-month construction project for the $8.8 million church.

“It’s been so long in coming and we’ve worked so hard,” he said. “It’s an early Christmas present, … a blessing that the Lord has visited his people. Emmanuel, God is with us.”

He said Catherine Louden, St. Malachy’s music director, wrote the songs “Growing in Faith, Building in Hope” and “Made In Your Image” for the Mass.

Fundraising for Phase II of the parish relocation project may begin in late 2009 or early 2010, Father Staublin said. That phase will include a daily Mass chapel next to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel as well as moving the parish office and school to the new address.

Providence Sister Barbara Reder, pastoral associate, said after the Mass that the new church is “so warm and so welcoming” even though it is much larger.

“The generosity of the people is overwhelming,” she said. “This parish is so much in tune with justice ministries. One of our charisms is ‘love, justice and mercy,’ and I think our parish does that well.”

Sister Barbara said there are now four Masses instead of five liturgies every weekend. Masses are celebrated at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and at 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and noon on Sunday.

The Mass program included a letter to St. Malachy, which thanked the Irish saint for 140 years as the patron of their faith community. It read, in part, “Since 1869, when the first Irish immigrants formed our parish, your love of God, your dedication to serving others, and your prayers for us have supported us through many changes and helped us to grow into the thriving parish we are today.”

Since the church was dedicated, Father Staublin said on Jan. 4, 30 Catholic families have registered as parishioners and he expects many more registrations during 2009 as new residents continue to move into the Brownsburg area.

(For more photos from the dedication Mass, log on to www.CriterionOnline.com.) †