Florida Catholic | St. Faustina Parish

"Homemade" parish celebrates first year

JENNIFER POWERS | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 10.12.07

Members of St. Faustina Parish in Clermont gather for Mass Oct. 5 to celebrate the parish’s one-year anniversary and the feast day of St. Faustina, who created devotion to the Divine Mercy.
PHOTOS |JEAN PAUL GOMEZ

CLERMONT | Bringing their life experiences to bear, the pastor and parishioners of the now year-old St. Faustina Parish in Clermont have created a community they believe is worth celebrating.

On Oct. 5, the feast day of the parish's patron, the culmination of a year of hard work was marked by an anniversary Mass celebrated by Bishop Thomas Wenski, followed by a reception featuring Polish treats.

In September 2006 Bishop Wenski gave the green light for a new parish in the four corners area of central Florida. naming it for the Polish saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. Under the guidance of its new pastor, Father Stephen Phillips, St. Faustina Parish humbly began in the banquet room of a local hotel with an attendance of 168 people at the first Mass.

Bishop Thomas Wenski delivers the homily during the first year celebration Mass at St. Faustina Parish in Clermont.

Bishop Thomas Wenski delivers the homily during a Mass on Oct. 5 at St. Faustina Parish.

In December, the parish converted an ex-barbeque restaurant into a sanctuary and moved to it. In the past year, parishioners have made an altar, assembled benches, painted and sewn to bring life to the space and the parish. "It proves that anything is possible," said Father Phillips. He added that starting a parish from scratch has been an opportunity for a lot of people to help and give their input.

"Everything has been made by someone," said parishioner Kathy Murphy. "We are a homemade, humble church" she said.

Along with the handmade items, many needs have been met through donations to the fledgling church, including a picture of Jesus as the Divine Mercy and a relic given to the parish from the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Mass. St. Faustina in the 1930s received from the Lord a message of mercy and was told to spread his message throughout the world, which she did through her writings on the Divine Mercy.

St. Faustina Parish, one year later, has seven Masses, including one in Spanish, attended by about 900 people each weekend. During the winter, the numbers double as seasonal parishioners return to enjoy the milder weather. On Wednesdays at 3 p.m., parishioners gather for the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. This September, the parish started its first religious education program.

"No pastoral experience prepares you for something like this," said Father Phillips, "We have had to reinvent the wheel in many ways, but it has been a great experience."

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"Homemade" parish celebrates first year

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