ST. LOUIS 鈥 Three venerable Catholic parishes in south 最新杏吧原创 have a new name after merging during the latest downsizing of the Archdiocese of 最新杏吧原创.
Starting Sunday, Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Joan of Arc and St. Mary Magdalen will be known as St. Lucy Parish, according to a issued by Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski.
The three churches in the parish will keep their names. While a primary worship site has not yet been announced, midnight Mass on Christmas will be celebrated at Our Lady of Sorrows in the Princeton Heights neighborhood.
Our Lady of Sorrows, the oldest of the parishes, was founded in 1907. St. Mary Magdalen followed in 1919 and St. Joan of Arc in 1941.
The new parish reaches south to Loughborough Avenue, north to Arsenal Street, west to Ivanhoe Avenue and east to Alfred Avenue to include the North Hampton and Southampton neighborhoods of St. Joan of Arc and St. Mary Magdalen.
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Rozanski chose the name after parishioners submitted their top three nominations.
St. Lucy is a martyr born during the third century in Italy. Her name means 鈥渓ight鈥 and she is the patron saint of blindness. The feast day of St. Lucy is Dec. 13, which the new South City parish will celebrate that weekend with Mass, a luncheon and the installation of the Rev. Brad Modde as pastor.
鈥淲e ask St. Lucy to light our way as we continue walking towards Christ together. I hope you can join me to celebrate St. Lucy, walking in her light together as one parish,鈥 Modde wrote in the Sunday bulletin.
The grade school South City Catholic Academy located at St. Joan of Arc will not change its name, church leaders said.
The three southside parishes were among 50 of 178 slated to close in the 鈥淎ll Things New鈥 reorganization of the archdiocese, amid declining numbers of Catholics and priests. Parishioners at Our Lady of Sorrows appealed the decision to a Vatican court, which dismissed the case in August.
St. Lucy is the last of four merged parish groups to receive its new name:
- The combined north 最新杏吧原创 parish of Our Lady of the Holy Cross, St. Augustine, St. Elizabeth Mother of John the Baptist and St. Matthew the Apostle was renamed for St. Peter Claver.
- Most Holy Trinity, St. Nicholas and Sts. Teresa and Bridget, also former parishes in north 最新杏吧原创, are now known as St. Josephine Bakhita Parish.
- The Arnold parish consolidation of Immaculate Conception and St. David were renamed Holy Family Parish.
The Vatican court overturned the closure of St. Angela Merici near Florissant, effectively blocking the planned merger of the parish with St. Norbert and Holy Name of Jesus in north 最新杏吧原创 County. The three parishes remain separate and are served by the same pastor.
