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PARISH PROFILE
 St. Patrick’s, Lexington: College students part of ‘spiritual diversity’
By Jean Denton
Special to The Catholic Virginian
St. Patrick Catholic Church, like Lexington its home, is a community that takes pride in bridging the past and the present.
“We are intergenerational and multicultural,” said Father Joseph D’Aurora, the pastor. “Our challenge is to respect and honor the past and move forward.”
That is no small challenge but certainly apt in the historic town where Civil War hero generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are buried and also where thousands of present-day, high-achieving college students are in a preponderance.
St. Patrick’s sits on a corner adjacent to Washington and Lee University, which adjoins Virginia Military Institute. The church parking lot backs up to the W&L freshman dormitories.
Lee Chapel, housing the general’s tomb, is little more than a stone’s throw away.
The 134-year-old parish has about 375 households and, significantly, also serves about 1,500 Catholic college students.
 The church community works to integrate its diverse membership into all aspects of parish life. At any of four weekend Masses one is likely to see retired people and families with young children worshipping with college professors, military officers, cadets and college students.
“We are eclectic,” acknowledged Luci Majikas, parish director of liturgy and music. “That is the challenge. But a ‘blended liturgy’ is what we try to achieve.”
While the designated “student Mass” on Sunday evening uses contemporary hymns “that best speak to young people,” she said, the 8 a.m. Mass includes more traditional liturgical elements and the 10:30 Mass uses more varied worship styles “for the mainstream population.”
But the intention is to “celebrate with a core of liturgical rituals and acclamations that are the same for all Masses,” Ms. Majikas explained.
Father D’Aurora agreed that the St. Patrick faith community takes care to recognize and serve its “spiritual diversity.”
“We still have First Friday devotion and First Saturday Mass, but we also provide (faith enrichment) opportunities that appeal more to our cadets and collegians from different backgrounds and to the younger, ‘Vatican II’ families,” he said.
 The VMI and W&L students are an integral part of the St. Patrick Church community. The parish and campus ministries are mutually supportive. A number of college students serve as catechists or aides in the parish Christian formation program.
Also, besides filling the various roles of liturgical ministry at the student Mass, which other parishioners also attend, college students are highly visible as ministers in the other liturgies.
Parish Council member Diana Trio said, “It’s wonderful for them to see the college students coming to Mass and become very active in the church.”
As for the students, they see the local parish as a place where they can regularly retreat from the rigors of their studies and sustain their Catholic faith life.
The church’s proximity to campus “certainly makes coming to Mass a lot easier for students,” said Matthew Harrison, a senior who is president of W&L campus ministry.
Most Sundays students from both campuses socialize and have supper at church after the student Mass. On Tuesday evenings, too, they gather for faith sharing — W&L at the church and the VMI Newman Club at a chapel on campus. Harrison noted that they also look for opportunities to share ministry.
“Having the faith so readily available, for me has been a rock during my college career,” said W&L senior Shane Wilson. “I’ve enjoyed being able to share my faith with some of my best friends and fraternity brothers.”
 Kristen Depowski agreed.
“It keeps me grounded and connected,” said the third-year W&L law student from New York who sings in the Sunday night choir. “Law school is stressful, so it is helpful to step out of that and focus on prayer and my faith.”
Another third-year student, Chris Colby, said that coming to St. Patrick’s actually renewed his spiritual life as he dealt with the pressures of law school.
“It helped me come back to praying,” he said and added, “You know, as we become lawyers and members of the bar, it is going to be important for us to hold to the moral values that our faith gives us.”
The location of the current church, constructed in 1953, was chosen partly because of its accessibility to the campuses. In fact, St. Patrick’s received financial support for the building project through a national and local fundraising campaign to provide facilities “for the spiritual, cultural and social welfare of Catholic students,” according to a parish history.
Leslie Giles, a parishioner and architectural historian who serves on the art and environment committee, describes the church building as “simple gothic.”
The committee endeavors to enhance the worship space according to liturgical seasons while reflecting the character of the congregation.
“We see an opportunity to really play up the gothic architecture, but we need to strike a balance,” Ms. Giles said. “We want to be current but not modern. I’d say we are contemporary-traditional.”
 Before the Civil War, the Catholic community in Lexington was a mission of the church in Lynchburg. Local residents, with the help of the Diocese of Richmond, organized the parish of St. Patrick and dedicated the original church, located on Henry Street, in 1873. Father Thomas J. Murray was the first pastor.
St. Patrick’s reverted to mission status from 1882 until 1946 when the priests of the Society of the Precious Blood began serving the parish. In 1979 the Richmond Diocese resumed assigning pastors to Lexington.
Father Joe, as he is best known by parishioners, has been pastor for three years. On May 3, St. Patrick’s hosted a celebration of the 35th anniversary of his priesthood.
Discussing the spiritual life and demographic character of the growing parish, he noted the “challenge to recognize the potential and plan and expand for the future.”
Parish leaders echoed his sentiments and suggested that the pastor has indeed encouraged efforts in that direction.
“We are growing and so is laity involvement,” said pastoral council member Diana Trio. “People from New York and the D.C. area are coming and finding a home here.”
Parish Council chairman Frank LeDonne said that St. Patrick’s has increased its ou treach ministries and collaborates more with other churches and the Lexington community, particularly in its ministry of justice and peace.
“We are not an isolated community, but reach beyond St. Patrick’s,” he said. “Father Joe is very open and high energy, and that transfers to other ministries, too, such as formation and marriage preparation. It’s contagious.”
The parish community involvement includes Habitat for Humanity, the Rockbridge Area Relief Association (providing food and direct assistance to struggling families) as well as Project Horizon, the local women’s shelter.
“The Catholic presence has become very accepted,” Ms. Trio said. “I think the community looks to St. Patrick’s for enthusiasm in these ministries.”
Four years ago, under the guidance of previous pastor Father Alan Lipscomb, St. Patrick’s became twinned with a parish in Fond Pierre, Haiti. Program coordinator Josh Harvey said joining with Father Lipscomb’s current parish, Ss. Peter and Paul in Palmyra, and another Catholic church in New Jersey has “accelerated” the twinning project. They recently completed construction of a school and have begun building a church in the Haitian community.
The Knights of Columbus is “a very hard-working group” supporting social activities and community life as well as addressing needs both inside and outside the parish, LeDonne pointed out. The K of C raises funds for numerous church projects and improvements. The group also actively supports KOVAR, a national Knights program of assistance to the mentally handicapped. Their efforts help fund three residential facilities for the mentally disabled in Rockbridge County.
The basement of St. Patrick’s church is a busy place. On Sunday mornings the formation program offers faith experiences across the spectrum of Catholic tradition and practice, program coordinator Colleen Arnold pointed out.
“For instance, our fifth grade class is starting a service project for Haiti while the fourth grade is planning a May Crowning,” she explained.
There are about 130 children enrolled in the program for grades kindergarten to 11. Next year a 12th grade class will be added.
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Copyright © 2008 The Catholic Virginian Press. Articles from Catholic News Services, including Fr. Dietzen’s column, may not be reproduced due to copyright considerations.
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