“It took a Parish,” Rev. Richard Guest told his parishioners at all of last Sunday’s masses as he thanked each congregation for their part in building the brand new church building for St. Theresa’s Catholic Church.
The original parish of just more than 100 families, which began in Ashburn in the summer of 1991, first held services in a series of other church buildings whose own congregations and pastors generously loaned their worship space to the fledgling parish. Charlene Lawlor, a 30-year resident of Ashburn and parishioner said that 18 years ago, “this was all farmland… we’ve always had a lot of churches around here, but not Catholic.” Later, masses were held at Broad Run High School. Once the St. Theresa Catholic School was built in 1993, services were held in the school’s gymnasium. “There was a time when we were very grateful to have that gym because we had nothing,” the parish secretary and parishioner of 18 years, Peggy Sullivan said. In recent years, the congregation, now at nearly 3,500 families, has grown restless in the gymnasium worship space. One parishioner purportedly remarked, “I don’t want a basketball going over my casket.”
Two major fundraisers, one in 2004 and one in 2007, helped raise the pledges and donations required to build the $13 million dollar church. “I love everything,” Guest replied when asked about his favorite part of the new church. He said the best part about leaving the gymnasium behind is “having a worship space that gives proper glory to God.”
And there’s a lot for the parish to be proud of. The cruciform church, a form that anyone who has visited an old European church will recognize, has a decidedly gothic architecture and beautiful elements of reclaimed antiques from disbanded churches, like the reredos (the marble-engraved structure behind the altar), which was purchased from a church in Philadelphia. Stained glass windows depicting various biblical scenes, from Eden to the Apocalypse (in the window of St. Michael the Archangel) were designed and built by Lynchburg Stained Glass in Lynchburg, Va. Large mosaics depicting the four authors of the gospel were purchased on eBay and will grace the walls at the ends of the transepts of the church. Guest says that as the church design came together, a theme of angels emerged. The angels are indeed everywhere: from the pair of statues that hold holy water, to the altar and baptismal font and to the stained glass windows. Off the top off his head, Guest counted at least 68 depictions of angels within the church. The large stained glass window over the altar includes a quote from St. Theresa of Liseux, “I will be the love in the heart of the Church.”
The parish will host a dedication Mass in the new church building on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 4 p.m. Bishop Paul Loverde will preside. “I have a feeling there won’t be enough room for everyone [at that Mass],” Guest said.
Wonderful article!! I can't wait to come visit so I can see it first hand!