Complete with anniversary banners hung up around the parish, St. Mary Church, 309 W. Seventh St. in Lorain, is celebrating its 150th anniversary throughout 2023, according to church leader the Rev. Daniel O. Divis.
Divis said he and the parish staff have yet to schedule most of the anniversary festivities.
“It’s pretty much over, you know, the course of the whole year; we’re going to be doing things,” he said. “We haven’t been able to get together much, so we’re going to do that probably right after Easter, and figure out what else we want to do for the rest of the year.
“But, we will have more. We’ll definitely have more.”
Recently, the church had a scripture specialist come in for a three-day long mission with the church community, Divis said.
“(The mission was) to start off Lent; we’re going to have a couple of other speakers come in throughout the year,” he said. “They’ll kind of make it a retreat-like atmosphere over the course of the year.”
There will be celebrations throughout the year, Divis explained, leading to a 150th anniversary Mass sometime in October, featuring Bishop Edward C. Malesic of the Diocese of Cleveland.
“(Malesic) is the chief shepherd of the Diocese,” Divis said. “To have him come and visit the parish, is a historical event, because he doesn’t do that very often.
“Usually, they come out for confirmation, and it’s not even with the whole parish community, it’s just with those being confirmed.”
Divis said he has been with the church for 35 years, which is an unusual feat for a Catholic priest.
He said he takes pride in being a leader of such an important church for Lorain County.
Divis called St. Mary one of the mothers of all churches in Lorain, and the significance of the parish’s history is not lost on him.
“The parish … it’s really the mother of the Catholic church in Lorain,” he said. “It was the first parish established in 1873, and all the other ones were founded from it, and established for (different nationalities).
“But, they all broke off from the territory that St. Mary’s was covering.”
Divis said being able to watch the parish community change and grow throughout his time with St. Mary, truly has been a blessing.
“Well, it’s really hard to imagine,” he said of the anniversary. “In ’98, we celebrated the 125th, and we said ‘Holy Smokes.’
“I mean, it’s been 25 years already that we’ve done this.”
Through 150 years of ups and downs, Divis said that he loves seeing the parish “still hanging on.”
Often, parishes are referred to as families by their communities, he said.
This one, Divis said, truly feels like one.
“The parish is surviving; it’s still here,” he said. “It has its ups and downs as far as population growth.
“But there’s a lot of faithful people that stick around.”
