Keeping the faith in Scituate

By Jessica Trufant
Patriot Ledger
October 27, 2014

http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20141027/NEWS/141026864/12662/NEWS

Jon and Maryellen Rogers, leaders of the occupation vigil at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church in Scituate, stand inside the church on Sunday.

SCITUATE - When the Friends of St. Frances started their around-the-clock vigil at the closed church on Oct. 26, 2004, Saddam Hussein was still alive, Apple had yet to release the iPhone and the Red Sox were still one win away from their first World Series title in 86 years.

“I was 70 then, and I just turned 80,” parishioner Barbara Nappa said from the church foyer as she reflected on the last decade. “My granddaughter Natalie was 4 years old. I remember her coming here to help clean, and she would always notice the fingerprints on the glass doors. Now she’s a freshman in high school.”

Parishioners of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church gathered Sunday to celebrate 10 full years of holding a continuous vigil. While the archdiocese has considered the church a deconsecrated building since October 2004, parishioners have kept its doors open for 3,652 days. Several longtime members take turns holding a service each Sunday. They use host that has been consecrated by a sympathetic priest whose identity is kept a secret.

Nappa recalled arriving at the church on Oct. 26, 2004, to find that all but one of the doors had been locked. A dove, the symbol of Mother Cabrini, was perched on the church, and it shed feathers that Nappa said are still kept on the altar.

“It was a sign that there is where we’re supposed to be,” she said.

Margy O’Brien spends several hours at St. Frances every day during the week, usually reading, paying bills and saying prayers. She wonders whether parishioners would have stayed had they known that the fight to keep the church open would last more than a decade.

“I started (participating) because I was mad. I was mad because it happened, and the way that it happened, and the injustice of it,” O’Brien said. “Then I got to know everybody, and our faith grew, our friendships grew. And on a daily basis, it’s a reminder of what your faith means to you.”

In July, Cardinal Sean O’Malley sent the parishioners a request that they end the occupation and comply with the Apostolic Signatura’s ruling that the Boston archdiocese may sell the building. The Apostolic Signatura is the Vatican’s highest court.

The group is now pursuing two more appeals: a supplemental appeal to the Apostilic Signatura regarding financial audits, and a direct appeal to Pope Francis to grant the parishioners a stay in the church, which they have offered to purchase as a nonprofit.

Maryellen Rogers, who started the 24-hour vigil with her husband, Jon, said the parishioners have not had any contact with the archdiocese since Cardinal O’Malley’s letter in late July.

As parishioners enjoyed coffee and pastries to acknowledge the start of the vigil’s 11th year, Rogers offered visitors a tour of the church. There are several sleeping rooms; the furnishings include a twin bed, a queen-size bed for couples and air mattresses for any additional guests.

Rogers said the true magnitude of a decade is most obvious when she thinks about their youngest members. Triplets Sean, Scott, and Christian Arnold were just 6 years old when their family started the overnight Friday shift in 2004.

“The triplets are 16 now. They’re driving,” Rogers said. “It’s hard to comprehend, but our faith has become so much stronger during 10 years.”

O’Brien said it’s never been a struggle finding parishioners willing to sleep at the church, as people are willing to help each other when vacation, family obligations or other issues arise.

“Jesus would be happy to be part of this group, and we would be happy to have him,” O’Brien said, smiling. “Plus, the Wednesday-night shift is open.”