|
PARISH PROFILE
 Church of the Visitation: Middlesex County parish lives up to its name
By Steve Neill
Of the The Catholic Virginian
When it comes to living “at the rivah” in eastern Virginia, those who live there year-round are often referred to as the “come heres” and the “been heres.”
Some of them are parishioners of the Church of the Visitation in Middlesex County. As “come heres,” they have moved to the once rural area from other parts of Virginia and mid-Atlantic states or New England.
They like the relaxed country environment on the land nestled between the Rappahannock and Piankatank Rivers.
Perhaps because so many of the approximately 170 households which comprise Visitation parish are from elsewhere, there is a warm and welcoming atmosphere when one enters. The parish name is most appropriate.
“When we walked in the door for the first time, people warmly welcomed us,” said Frank Lohr, a member of Visitation since 2001.
Those who are visiting include people who like camping or boating and come to the area on vacation. Catholics who want to attend Mass on Sunday are directed to Church of the Visitation, located 65 miles east of Richmond in a town known as Topping.
First time visitors are invited to stand up during the liturgy and identify themselves and where they’re from. This gives people a chance to greet them personally.
 Father John Boddie, pastor of Visitation and neighboring Francis De Sales parish in Mathews County, was ordained a priest in 1988 and is now in his 12th year at both parishes. He is pleased not only with the warm welcome his parishioners give visitors, but the level of participation they give to various ministries and fundraising efforts.
“Everybody has been so wonderful with their time, their talents and their skills,” he said.
Father Boddie, who grew up in Newport News by his Baptist grandmother, became a Catholic at the former St. Alphonsus Church in downtown Newport News, a black parish which later merged with St. Vincent de Paul parish.
“My grandmother took me, at age four, and led me by the hand to St. Alphonsus,” he recalled, adding that this was the closest church to her home.
“She stayed outside and made sure I went in,” he continued. “For her, the most important thing was that I get the proper moral and religious foundation.”
The parish’s CCD program currently has 21 children from kindergarten through the 11th grade, said Andrea Moore, co-chair of CCD and coordinator of youth ministry.
 The youth group, which numbers only five teens, goes each year to soup kitchens in Norfolk and Newport News where they help set up, serve the meal and then clean up when the guests depart.
“This year we are trying to take the 4th through 7th graders with us,” Mrs. Moore said. “We will prepare them for what they’re going to see.”
With a large portion of the parish retired, adult faith formation is important at Visitation.
Louise Petralia, who has a doctorate in ministry, is in charge of adult education and the RCIA. She and her husband, Jack, moved to the Northern Neck in 1994 and are called “wetbacks” by some of the locals because they cross the Rappahannock to get to church.
“We are just beginning a discussion group which will be an overview of Catholic doctrine and practices, prayer and liturgy,” she told The Catholic Virginian.
Of the RCIA, she said the parish now has two inquirers and two other adults who want to deepen their faith formation.
“I also have sessions with parents of children who are preparing for first Reconciliation, first Communion and Confirmation,” Mrs. Petralia said.
“We try to get them involved as the primary educators of their children and give them updating on the sacraments,” she said.
High school 10th and 11th graders from both Visitation and Francis de Sales participate in a joint Confirmation program. In addition to regular classes, the youths gather for a “Movie and Pizza” session about every two months, an event at which parents serve as chaperones.
“The movie has a religious theme or deals with some moral or ethical issues that can be discussed,” Father Boddie explained. “I ask them ‘what did you hear? What did you see? What kind of message did you get?’”
Carole McPherson, who chairs the justice and peace committee, said outreach to the less fortunate includes a food pantry, donations to Middlesex County Social Services and a prison ministry program in which six volunteers alternate in two teams of three who go every Thursday to the Middle Peninsula Correctional Center. Father Boddie normally accompanies them.
“We also supply Christmas presents to the children of the incarcerated each year,” Ms. McPherson said, adding that usually 40 to 50 wrapped gifts for children of various ages are brought to the prison facility and placed under a Christmas tree in the visiting room.
“The cards and thank you notes we get are really heartwarming,” she said.
 Ms. McPherson also spoke of Visitation’s Scholarship Committee which raises money through the sale of ads from local businesses in the parish bulletin.
“This year we were able to give two of our kids $2,000 each,” she said.
Another annual project of Visitation parish is the Super Yard Sale in late August.
“Our proceeds this year were $16,000 which went mainly to the building fund,” Ms. McPherson said.
“We also donate approximately $500 to $1,000 to a different service organization each year,” she added. “We have helped the rescue squads, volunteer fire departments and Habitat for Humanity.”
Besides raising money for worthwhile projects, the yard sale has other benefits.
“We work from May until August on it and the camaraderie and sense of community it develops is wonderful,” Mrs. Petralia said.
Although Church of the Visitation was not formally established until 1983, Catholics began gathering for Mass in the early 1950s.
The priest from Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament in West Point, 30 miles west of Deltaville, celebrated Mass during the summer at the Rappahannock Theater in Urbanna and later at the Urbanna firehouse.
Fritz Sitterding is among parishioners of Visitation who remembers coming to the area as a young boy where he and his family stayed at his grandparents’ home on the Rappahannock. He served as volunteer administrator of the parish for 11 years and now is a lector and member of the parish finance council.
 “I enjoyed it during those formative years and I always looked at the church money as more important than my own,” he told The Catholic Virginian.
Plans for a parish got rolling in the summer of 1981 when weekly Mass was started at Lower Methodist Church in Hartfield. A second Mass was added on the fourth Saturday at Christ Church School chapel in November 1981.
In July 1983 Bishop Walter F. Sullivan appointed Father Jack Dougher, who had been associate pastor of St. Therese parish in Gloucester, as pastor of the newly designated parish, Church of the Visitation.
The new church, dedicated Sept. 8, 1985, was built at a cost of $205,000 said Jerry McMurtrie, chairman of the parish finance council.
Father Dougher, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, traveled on a moped to learn of Catholic families in Middlesex and Mathews and did so by knocking on doors. “Do you know of any Catholics in the area?” he’d ask those he met.
Father Daniel Bond was named pastor of Visitation and neighboring Francis de Sales in Mathews Oct. 8, 1989. In June 1997 Father Boddie was appointed pastor of the two parish communities.
“We are growing,” Ray Kotesky, parish administrator, told The Catholic Virginian. “That’s one of the reasons we did the expansion. We needed more space because Mass on Sunday at 9 a.m. was getting so crowded.”
 Bishop Sullivan came to Visitation on Sept. 21 to bless the 4,000 square-foot extension which has added 100 more seats, two new classrooms, a separate Blessed Sacrament chapel, new administrative offices, a chapel for weekly Mass (Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9 a.m.), and a reconciliation/vesting room.
The new addition cost approximately $1 million and was financed through a three-year pledge drive. Among those who contributed are part-time residents who have a main home elsewhere and spend weekends and summers at the river.
“Our parishioners’ commitment has been wonderful and very generous,” Mr. Kotesky said.
With Father Boddie as pastor of both the Middlesex and Mathews parishes, the two communities enjoy a close relationship but are separate financially.
The Knights of Columbus have a joint council of both parishes with 57 members known as Our Lady of the Bay Council 11210.
“Anytime Father needs something, he calls on the Knights,” said Jack Banda, Grand Knight. “We do a lot for the community also and go wherever we’re needed.”
The Knights donated the carillon which is inside the new bell tower at Visitation.
“We are small, but we’re a very close parish,” Mrs. Moore said.
back to top
Copyright © 2008 The Catholic Virginian Press. Articles from Catholic News Services, including Fr. Dietzen’s column, may not be reproduced due to copyright considerations.
The Catholic Virginian is a biweekly publication serving the people of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. This website includes some, but not all, of the articles from the print version of The Catholic Virginian.
For subscription information Contact Us.
|
