Blessed Sacrament, Norfolk, celebration includes 100 hours of eucharistic adoration
A journey of 100 years so often begins with a single leap of faith.
Blessed Sacrament, Norfolk, celebrated its centennial anniversary this year, beginning with a six-mile pilgrimage last May and concluding with 100 hours of eucharistic adoration followed by a celebratory Mass on Sunday, Feb. 20.
“The challenge for us has been the pandemic,” Deborah Alberti, chair of the centennial committee, said. “Finding things we could do safely and still be in community.”
“There were times when I thought we should put it off for a year,” she said. “But I’m glad that we went ahead. You could get lost in all that’s going on now. It’s been just what we needed — time to renew our faith, to rediscover our past. A truly joyous year.”
Rediscovered treasures
Pastoral associate Alfie Martinez-Coyle began the year by delving into the parish’s past, she said, asking parishioners to send in old photographs — of the parish school, which closed in 1988; of the current church, built in 1965; and of the original Blessed Sacrament, a small stone church on Colley Ave. that was built at the parish’s founding in 1921.
The call yielded a surprising result, she said, when parish staff noticed something familiar about the crucifix depicted in a mid-century wedding photograph that had been taken inside the old Blessed Sacrament.
“It’s the crucifix that we’ve had hanging in the confessional for years,” she said. “We didn’t have the slightest idea that it dated to the original church.”
The wooden crucifix was sent for restoration and now hangs on the wall of the sanctuary, once more a part of the Mass.
A search of the vestry revealed other pieces of the past, she said, including candlesticks from the old church and chalices engraved with the names of former pastors.
The artifacts, along with donated photographs and mementoes, were displayed in the parish hall during an after-Mass reception, creating a special place to reflect — and to search for photos of friends and family.
“It’s amazing, the history that we’ve uncovered,” Martinez-Coyle said, “the history that’s been right here, all around us, all along.”
A time to grow
Over the past year, the centennial committee has worked to find unique ways of helping parishioners grow in faith and service, with a particular eye toward activities that could be done outside or “together at home.”
“An integral part of Blessed Sacrament, when it started, was that we did a lot of great outreach to the poor,” Martinez-Coyle said, “and we wanted to get back to the roots of that.”
As part of these efforts, volunteers planted a Centennial Garden behind the church, she said, growing fresh vegetables for community food pantries.
The celebrations also included an art contest, allowing children and adults the chance to grow in creativity and to express their love for their parish home.
Parishioner George Koehl entered the contest with a composition made from two photographs photoshopped into one, setting a picture of the stained-glass windows of the church’s 2002 renovation inside the arched doorway of the original Blessed Sacrament.
“I’m not sure how I noticed how well the two shapes fit together,” he said with a laugh. “I suppose the Lord must have put the idea in my head.”
100 hours of adoration
“It’s been a transformative journey,” Deacon Derek Turrietta said. “We started the year with a prayer pilgrimage — a sort of exterior pilgrimage — and we concluded with an interior pilgrimage.”
As the capstone of its centennial celebrations, Blessed Sacrament hosted 100 hours of eucharistic adoration, beginning the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 16, and concluding prior to the beginning of Mass on Sunday.
“Canon law requires at least two people be present, and we’ve had full coverage for all 100 hours,” Deacon Turrietta said, with about 300 participants in all.
“We particularly wanted to encourage families with young children to attend,” Melissa Mark of the parish council said.
Children who attended were entered into a raffle for a gift basket, and the parish offered special family- friendly hours.
The organizers also understood, she said, that adoration can be daunting for adults who might not be familiar with the practice.
“We tried to tell people, ‘you can read a book, you can journal,’” she said. “It’s a time to fill your cup and to reflect.”
Giving the community a special time to be still, to sit before the Eucharist and to dwell with Christ was a particularly fitting way to end the year, Deacon Turrietta said.
“Adoration takes us back to where it all really begins, right back to our name,” he said. “Blessed Sacrament.”
Font of grace
“I hope that our celebrations have helped make us more aware of the gifts and the sacrifices of those who have gone before us,” said Father Eric Ayers, pastor of Blessed Sacrament, during the celebratory Mass, “and that our remembrances have inspired us to continue the good work that was begun 100 years ago.”
In the midst of difficult times, the Church stands as an oasis of faith, he said, a font of God’s grace.
Just as in the Book of Ezekiel the prophet sees water flowing out from the Temple of the Lord — a small trickle that grows ever deeper as it rolls along, watering the riverbank until it empties into the salt sea, making it fresh, so it is with God’s grace.
“The lesson is, it doesn’t matter how small it starts,” he said.
One baptism. Twelve disciples. One leap of faith. One parish in a city on the bay.
“If God’s grace is the source, it will grow,” Father Ayers said. “May this church continue to be a temple of God’s presence and grace for the community.”