| 12/3/2008 9:43:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Pauline Jones |
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Pauline Jones, 'mother of St. Augustine Church,' dies at 99
MARK ZIMMERMANN
Editor
The casket bearing Pauline Johnson Jones, the woman revered as the "mother of St. Augustine Church," was placed at the foot of the altar of the historic African-American Catholic church in Washington for her funeral Mass on Nov. 29, not far from the front pew where she sat faithfully each Sunday for Mass. Jones, 99, died on Nov. 18, just six weeks before what would have been her 100th birthday.
"She was so proud to be Catholic, so proud of the history of St. Augustine Church," said her friend and goddaughter, Dena Grant, before the Mass.
Father Patrick Smith, St. Augustine's pastor, began the Mass by noting, "Today we celebrate the life, the legacy and the homecoming of Pauline Johnson Jones... She believed in Jesus, she believed in His promises. That is what we celebrate today."
As a young girl, Jones had to sit in the back of church and wait at the end of the Communion line at her home parish, St. Aloysius. The youngster soon began walking across the city to attend Mass at St. Augustine Church, which had been founded by free people of color, including former slaves, in 1858. This year, the mother church of black Catholics in the nation's capital is marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of its parish and school.
Over the years, Jones became a leader at St. Augustine, preserving the parish's history and witnessing some of her own. She joined parishioners who took part in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington in 1963, and also joined parishioners in protesting against apartheid in South Africa at that country's embassy in the 1980s. This spring, she was among five parish elders to be honored at St. Augustine Parish's 150th anniversary gala.
In his homily, Father Smith said that Jones lived through times of racism and discrimination in her church and country, but "she was convinced God loved her and made her in His own likeness, and expected better, not just for her church, but for her nation."
Jones "gave her life and shared her gifts with this community," the priest said. "Here she found a home." He said she was a woman who "embodied the spirit of both devotion and protest," because she loved God and had faith in His truth. "To be in her presence was to be challenged to be better than who we were," the pastor said. "...She challenged the Church to do better, because she was a faithful member. She called it to be what it could be."
Her legacy and her spirit, he said, inspired St. Augustine Parish to fight one year ago to continue its school at a time when financial challenges led to seven other center city Catholic schools converting to charter schools.
"She was convinced God is for us, and if God is for us, anything is possible," Father Smith said.
The St. Augustine Gospel Choir sang the spiritual "His Eyes are on the Sparrow," and the funeral Mass also included a soloist singing "Ave Maria," reflecting the different liturgical music Jones had experienced in her long life.
Among the mourners at the Mass were several Oblate Sisters of Providence, who taught at St. Augustine's School for many years.
In his eulogy, Michael Leake Sr., a grand-nephew of Jones who served as a caretaker for her with his wife Donna, said Jones was able to attend Sunday Mass at St. Augustine just two days before her death, and receive Communion and the Anointing of the Sick. "She was always on the go," he said before the Mass. "The Eucharist meant everything to her. She lived for the Eucharist on Sunday."
Desireé Grant delivered another eulogy, noting how Jones was one of the first members of St. Augustine's parish council when it was formed four decades ago and remained an active leader at the parish over the years. "Above all, she was an advocate for parishioners. She listened to them. She spoke out for them. Mrs. Jones taught me an invaluable lesson about being a leader and a servant, the two go hand-in-hand... She will be missed, and she will be loved. Her spirit will live on in all of us who fight the good fight at St. Augustine's Church."
Jones was a sodalist at St. Augustine's since 1927, twice serving as prefect, and was a founding member of the St. Monica Auxiliary for the past 65 years. She was a member of the U.S. delegation traveling to Rome for the Holy Year in 1950. Jones was an invited guest to the White House to meet Pope John Paul II during his visit to Washington in 1979, and she and her husband Walter received Communion from the Holy Father at his Mass on the National Mall.
Jones organized the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, the Good Friday Fish Fry, the Easter Vigil Breakfast, and the annual Teacher Appreciation Luncheon during Catholic Schools Week.
Jones worked at the U.S. Bureau of Printing and Engraving from 1942-72. Then-Mayor Marion Barry appointed her to the D. C. Commission on Aging in 1989. Her honors included the papal medal, Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, for outstanding service to the pope and the Church. She also received the St. Augustine School Living Legend Award.
Her survivors include two sons, A. Terrell and Lorenzo Jones; seven grandchildren, eight great grandchildren, five generations of nieces and nephews, including her nieces Barbara Johnson Finch and Olivea Johnson Lundy, and three devoted nieces and caregivers, Donna Leake, Medina Lundy and Cheryl Berkeley.
"You think of the changes she saw, the changes in the Church, the changes in society," said Dan Curtin, the former principal of Mackin High School and archdiocesan secretary for education who is now an administrator with the National Catholic Educational Association. "The thing I admired about her was she never lost her faith, she stayed strong in the faith. She's a great model" for everyone.
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