EVERETT – After years of standing-room-only during Masses at St. Mary Magdalen Church, parishioners welcomed the dedication of their remodeled, more spacious church building February 14.

“It’s much more of a worthy worship space,” said Father Hans Olson, pastor of St. Mary Magdalen Parish.

In recent years, the Everett parish has been growing 5-8% a year, which means the 2,700-household parish (representing about 9,000 people) welcomes some 100 new families each year, according to Ron Enneking, pastoral assistant for administration.

With a capacity of about 650 parishioners at each Mass in the old church, “we’ve had standing-room-only for the past five years,” Enneking said. The remodeled and expanded building can seat nearly 970 people, he said.

Although the parish began celebrating Masses in the church once the remodel was completed last summer, the pandemic postponed the official consecration Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Paul D. Etienne on February 14. Because of the pandemic, capacity was limited to 25 percent, with overflow space in the gymnasium.

“These ceremonies of dedicating a church are powerful moments,” the archbishop said in his homily. “They remind us of so many concrete symbols and practices of our faith and the means by which our worship not only rightly honors God, but our worship in Catholic tradition through the sacraments brings us into the very life of God.”

Archbishop Paul D. Etienne blesses the walls of the renovated St. Mary Magdalen Church in Everett February 14. Photo: Shirley Miller

During the two-hour Mass, Archbishop Etienne anointed the new stone altar and walls of the church and entombed relics of martyrs St. Adeodatus and St. Fausta (taken from the old altar) in the new altar. (See box below.)

The remodeled church includes a new stone ambo and baptismal font. An experienced woodworker, Father Olson constructed the borders around the Stations of the Cross and made the cross for the crucifix installed behind the altar.

The new space is “more prayerful,” said Robert Brajkovich, pastoral assistant for faith formation and liturgy at St. Mary Magdalen Parish. “Things that were added make it easier to pray.”

Project had diverse support

The parish originally planned a completely new building, but that proved too expensive — about $8 million compared with $6.79 million to redesign the church and construct a new gymnasium, Enneking said. The new gym will be used by the parish, its school and the Catholic Youth Organization, he added.

The gym was completed in December 2018 and was used for Masses when construction began on the church building.

“It was really challenging because we were raising money for two buildings,” said Carla Phillips, who co-chaired the parish’s capital campaign committee with her husband, Jim. “We’re not a wealthy parish.”

She noted the support of the parish’s diverse communities, who helped fund the project. “We’re not building just a church building, we’re building church,” Phillips said.

According to Enneking, the Filipino community donated money for the altar, the Hispanic community contributed funds for the inside main entrance doors, the Pan-African group donated to purchase the holy water fonts and holy water drum, and the Vietnamese community donated funds for the Mary and Joseph statues and the large plaques on the front of the church.

Future plans include adding stained-glass windows and a bell tower, according to the parish.

“Thank you for is marvelous place of worship,” Archbishop Etienne said. “It is a marvelous expression of your faith in God and of your desire that that faith continue to be formed in more people.”

Once the pandemic wanes, the archbishop said, “everyone will return here to receive the sacraments, to be conformed to Christ and be renewed to go back out into the world to carry out the work and mission of the church, which is the work and mission of Jesus.”

 

The relics of St. Mary Magdalen Church’s altar

The relics of Sts. Adeodatus I and Fausta of Cyzicus, taken from the old altar of St. Mary Magdalen Church, were entombed in the new altar during the dedication Mass for the remodeled church February 14.

Placing the relics in the altar signifies that sacrifice of the members of the mystical body of Christ has its source in the sacrifice of the Christ the head.

The relics of martyrs St. Adeodatus and St. Fausta, taken from the old altar of St. Mary Magdalen Church in Everett, are carried into the remodeled church to await entombment in the new altar. Photo: Shirley Miller

St. Adeodatus I, (570 to 618) became pope on October 19, 615. In August 618, after an earthquake followed by a plague of leprosy, Adeodatus worked tirelessly for the poor and sick. He died on November 8, which is his feast day.

St. Fausta of Cyzicus (c. 298 to 311) was arrested at age 13 and then tortured and executed for being a Christian. A pagan priest, Evilasius, was responsible for torturing and executing her. According to tradition, Evilasius converted to Christianity after watching Fausta’s resistance. He was also martyred.

Source: St. Mary Magdalen Parish