AMY SZPARA

PHOTO: ASCENSION OF OUR LORD CATHOLIC CHURCH opens Sunday morning and will have its first service and a dedication ceremony. Planning and construction of the church took a little more than a year, but the new building has been a dream of parishioners for many years. (Staff Photo by Amy Szpara) Members of Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church will finally realize a long-time dream Sunday morning, as the doors to their new church swing open for their first worship service. At 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning, the new red brick church at 799 Fairway Drive, which sits directly across the street from the old church and Ascension of Our Lord School, will have its first service and a dedication. Following that service, masses will be held at 11:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. that day. The Rev. Benjamin Piovan has waited for what will take place Sunday morning for a long time. “All the other places we have been in were temporary,” said Piovan. The church started in July 1979 as a small group which met in the music room of St. Charles Catholic High School. In May 1982, the congregation moved into the Ascension school cafeteria. In 1989, they moved into the church they have been using for the past 12 years, a place that was supposed to be a temporary place of worship. “This is our first church,” said Piovan of the new building. The magnificent building has, and will have, many interesting features, starting with 16 sheets of stained glass taken from Holy Trinity Church in New Orleans which will soon be part of the building. Now being redone, after having been taken from the old, closed-down church, they are expected to be in place in a few months. “They are now taking them apart like a puzzle to refurbish them,” said Piovan. “They were available, and they are very valuable. It’s art, and we didn’t want to let it go to waste. It also fit perfectly with our design.” The Stations of the Cross were also taken from another church, and all of the marble at the head of the building came from Italy, including the altar and the baptismal. “That’s the best place where they carve marble. Our interior designer proposed getting it from Italy. It was decided that we would go with that,” said Piovan. Under the altar, a vial of soil from Jerusalem, the Holy Land, has been buried, and inside the altar, relics of the saints have been enclosed. Relics of St. Mark the Evangelist, St. Vincent DePaul, St. Rosalie, St. Catherine Laboure’, St. Francis Cabrini, St. John Vianney, St. Margaret Mary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the seven Blessed Martyrs of Thailand have been enclosed. The Tabernacle behind the pulpit and altar has the scene of the Last Supper on its golden doors. To its right and to the side, sits the huge, marble baptismal. On the front of the pulpit is a carved eagle, which represents St. John’s symbol and is there because the church is in St. John the Baptist Parish. The cross on the bell tower was made by a parishioner and was originally made for a papal visit in 1987. The Body of Christ, Corpus, will be received from Italy soon – a seven-foot carving of Jesus. Two wooden angels will also be on the stage, both from Italy as well. The building will accommodate 800 people, 300 more than where the congregation is now meeting. “The church is growing as the houses and schools grow,” said Piovan, adding there are 1,200 members total and the church could accommodate that number if chairs are added. “What we had before was sufficient 12 years ago, but we need a bigger place,” he said. “There is a place for everyone in this church. Just come.” Planning for the new church began in March 2000, and a little over a year later the final touches are being made on the building. The church cost $3.1 million, and money was raised by campaigns, which began six years ago. A total of $1.5 million was raised, and the rest is coming from the Archdiocese, it will be repaid in the years to come. “I’m very excited. Even the school children are excited,” said Piovan. The dedication ceremony, or consecration of the church, will be performed by the Rev. Bishop Dominic Carmon, D.D. and will include blessings of the people, walls, baptismal and other parts of the church. Chrism oil, or the anointing oil, will be put on the altar and the walls. Incense will be burned to help prayers rise and to bless the building. A reception will follow in Don Bosco Hall. After Sunday, regular masses will take place on Saturdays at 4 p.m. and on Sundays at 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 7 p.m.