Celebrating 100 years

Keeping the faith: Local Catholic church marks a century of serving Montrose

Kati O’Hare

Daily Press Writer

MONTROSE —In its 100-year history, St. Mary Parish has seen its fair share of ups and downs.

From when the church burned down in 1911 to its increasing numbers over the years, parishioners took time this week to pay tribute to the church’s colorful history.

“A lot has changed over the years,” said Father Don Malin. “With changing population in Montrose, so has the church.”

When St. Mary became a parish in 1906, there were about 40 registered families, Malin said.

The second church seated around 220 people, but by 2001 the parish had grown to more than 1,200 registered families.

In 1996 a condition report was done by the St. Mary community. The report noted that the church’s foundation was cracking due to shifting soil and water drainage problems. It said the roof also needed replacing and more room was needed for a growing congregation.

A decision was made to build a new church to make more room.

The new, or third St. Mary Parish seats 700 people with room for 200 temporary seating. Malin said there are about 1,550 registered families today.

Bob DeJulio, artist and 75-year-member of St. Mary’s, has been through a lot of the good times and the bad, and said he enjoys the new church. He said Father Malin and Father Walker have done a wonderful job filling up the congregation, especially the Spanish mass, which he said was a problem in the early 1990s.

Masses are done now in English and Spanish, which is a big change from Latin, which was done up until the 1960s.

Roles have also changed over the last 100 years. Ministry has moved from being a role only for the father and sisters, to a “ministry of volunteers” Malin said. Members are getting more involved in the roles of the church and becoming Bible literate.

The church has also become more involved itself, being a large funder of charities. Every year the church gives $24,600 to community organizations and projects like Habitat for Humanity, Association of Montrose Churches and Christ’s Kitchen. In addition to that, it spends $23,155 annually on special causes like Hurricane Katrina relief. They also are funding $5,000 for a Louisiana church that was destroyed in Hurricane Rita.

St. Mary’s has changed locations three times through its history.

In 1885 the first church was built in Montrose. Joseph Projectus Machebeuf was bishop and the church was only a mission of Ouray.

The “first church era,” as Malin calls it, faced Park Street between South 4th and 5th Streets. The wooden church burnt down in 1911 and the “second church era,” that would last until 2001, began.

The second building was constructed of brick and sandstone on South 5th and Park Street. Reverend C. F. O’Farrell was the priest during that time and oversaw the construction of a “standard Catholic Church floor plan.” The building was completed in 1912 and cost around $20,000.

Along with sandstone and brick, 16 stained glass windows were placed in the second church. These windows commemorate nine Saints, the birth of Christ and the Temple. All the stained glass windows can be seen today in the new structure, located at 1855 St. Mary’s Drive. There, descriptions and the history of the windows are displayed, including the family that donated them.

The second church still stands, but boarded windows and overgrown trees hide what was once called a “handsome new Catholic Church” by the Daily Enterprise in 1912.

The layout of the church has also changed over the years, Malin said.

He said the traditional “school bus style” was transformed to a “in the round” style, where nobody is more than 10 rows from the alter.

Confessional booths are directly outside the sanctuary in an area called the “sacred space,” Malin said. He said the design of the church shows a “line of God’s forgiveness,” going from the confessional booths (mercy), to the baptism pool, to the alter, to the tabernacle, which houses the holy communion (forgiveness).

Art through statues, stained glass and “Stations of the Cross” are displayed throughout the sanctuary.

A statue of “Mary, Mother of God” shows Mary as a middle age woman. Malin said this is different because Mary is usually depicted as a young woman.

Throughout the history of St. Mary DeJulio’s presence can been seen. He has been involved in numerous paintings and restorations of art throughout the second and third church.

“I was always working, sometimes what seemed like around the clock,” DeJulio said.

In the 1960s, DeJulio decorated the parish hall with scriptural quotations, accompanied by polychrome symbols. He’s done murals to the restoration of the 14 “Stations of the Cross,” which are now displayed on the walls of the present church.

In these hundred years, people display their gratitude through art, hard work and dedication to the church. Others through written work that can be passed down from generation to generation.

To commemorate the history and the people who made it, a committee was formed to bring together these ideas into a 560-page-hardback book, “A Century of Memories.”

The book includes pictures, genealogy, historical information and newspaper clips.

What do the next hundred years hold? Member Sherry Lynn (Drake) Nicolas said, “May we learn to share our faith and always be ready to work, play and pray together at St. Mary Catholic Church.”