Calling upon the intercession “of our beloved patron saint as we celebrate 60 years as a parish, so significant to our community here,” Msgr. Charles J. Parry opened Mass on Oct. 18 at St. Patrick Parish in Rockville, Maryland, kicking off an afternoon of spiritual and social activities marking the 60th anniversary of that parish that was established in 1966.
In a packed church of parishioners, both longtime members and new families with children in the parish school, Msgr. Parry, St. Patrick’s pastor, in his homily said, “In the last few years, this wonderful parish, this beautiful parish, where people come to worship the living God in Christ Jesus with tremendous faith… the work of the parish has become nothing less than this: we have become a parish of reparation.”
The priest then said, “We are repairing the neglect of the world, the sinfulness of the world, the disregard of our neighbors, the disrespect for the human person made in the likeness and image of God, from the destruction of the child in the womb to the disregard of the elderly, for the words said about those with physical or mental hardships, for all these things we pray for reparation, we pray to the Blessed Lord to bring about reparation, because you belong to Him. I belong to Him.”
Concelebrating the Mass was Holy Cross Father Linus Nviiri from Uganda, who is in residence at St. Patrick’s. Also participating in the liturgy were Deacon Alan Jeeves, who served as deacon of the Word, and Deacon Benedict Quiambao, a seminarian at Mount Saint Mary’s assigned to St. Patrick’s for this school year, who served as deacon of the altar. Deacon Benedict will be ordained next spring for the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey.
Following Mass, Msgr. Parry led the congregation in a public procession with the Blessed Sacrament from Manor Country Club back to St. Patrick’s. Buses were provided to bring those participating in the procession from the church to the country club. During the Eucharistic procession, children scattered rose petals along the path, and the altar servers rang bells. The more senior altar servers alternated in incensing the procession, which took about an hour from the country club to the church. Along the way, some cars slowed down while driving in the opposite direction, and some drivers made the Sign of the Cross in respect for the Eucharist. Those in the procession sang hymns from a booklet made especially for the Eucharistic procession.
Once back at the church, the five bells of the bell tower rang out to greet the Eucharist. Msgr. Parry, Father Nviiri, and Deacon Quiambao lay prostrate at the foot of the altar while the Blessed Sacrament was exposed in the monstrance on the altar. During Adoration, the Litany of the Sacred Heart and the Divine Praises were read from the ambo, prayers and petitions for reparation were offered from the ambo, and the choir sang the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy.
Afterward, the community was invited to the parish center for a catered buffet meal and cakes decorated to celebrate St. Patrick’s 60th anniversary. Games and fun activities were held outside for the children, along with Bruster’s Ice Cream truck, which dispensed ice cream and sorbet to all.
Before and after Mass, the well-trained altar servers, eight who served at Mass and 15 who participated in the procession, gathered for prayer with Msgr. Parry, who thanked them for their service and long day at St. Patrick’s. One of the servers, Nico Carr, a senior at St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., spoke about becoming an altar server just one and one-half years ago. He said, “I saw it was good and beautiful, and I wanted to grow closer to the Eucharist, and what better place than to be an altar server.” He is currently discerning his future path, whether to attend college or to enter seminary.
Msgr. Parry shared that since his arrival at St. Patrick’s, three young men from the parish have been ordained as priests, three are currently in the seminary, and one or two are discerning whether to enter the seminary. He said that after the height of the pandemic, he had no altar servers and was prepared to continue that way, but young men from the parish came forward and asked to be trained. He has not had to ask for recruits since; he added, “They just step forward on their own.”
St. Patrick’s pastor added that he has three chalices, none purchased by him, all bestowed upon him by other priests, and he takes them out and hands them to his older altar servers. He tells them to hold them and feel the weight. He believes that if they have a calling, he is planting a seed by bringing them closer to what that chalice represents.
In 1966, Mary Hannan Mahoney donated 10 acres of land from her family farm to establish the parish. The parish was named for her father, Patrick Hannan. Her brother, New Orleans Archbishop Philip Hannan, gave the homily at the Dec. 8, 1968 dedication Mass for the new church. Archbishop Hannan, who earlier served as a priest and auxiliary bishop in Washington, died in 2011.
Over the years, St. Patrick’s Parish added a rectory, a pre-K-8 school, and a parish center.
St. Patrick’s traditional approach has drawn many of its parishioners. Usher Phil Doerr immigrated to the United States as a child, as his father had read that the “streets of Los Angeles were paved with gold.” He married and settled in Maryland, closer to his wife’s family in New Jersey. Converting to Catholicism at St. Peter’s in Olney in 1980, he has been a volunteer at St. Patrick’s for more than 20 years. He spoke of the “feel of the parish” and appreciated the focus on Jesus Christ.
Garrick Rumley, who leads the young family ministry, joined the parish three years ago. His wife, Victoria Andrakakos, grew up in the parish. Rumley appreciates “the fantastic priests and the old-school feel of the parish.” He likes that Msgr. Parry “doesn’t skip over the tough topics,” but meets them head-on.
Mary Beth Schepis and her husband Joe, one of the ushers, joined the parish in 2007, and she said that she can “trust Msgr. Parry and the other priests to speak truth and not water down as they preach the Gospel.”
Deacon Alan Jeeves was originally assigned to another parish as deacon, but transferred to St. Patrick’s in 2025 as it is closer to his home. He said that St. Patrick’s is “different from any other parish in its strong focus on Jesus as savior.” He noted the parishioners are very reverent in Mass.
Dr. Paul Radich, Ph.D., who is an assistant professor at the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America, said that the Eucharistic Procession is a “beautiful tradition Msgr. Parry has led in our parish for many years, and it seems to be growing each year.” He went on to say that the procession “inspires us to ‘take it to the streets’ and to aspire to bring Christ to the world, to our neighbors.”
He noted that the procession brought about a public witness, with “people driving by who slow down and roll down their windows, some out of reverence, some out of curiosity.” Dr. Radich and his wife Darenys have six children, the oldest being Father Benedict Radich, who was ordained to the priesthood in June of 2024, and is currently serving as a parochial vicar at St. Mary’s Parish in Landover Hills, Maryland.
(Michelle Ardillo is a freelance writer and parishioner at the Shrine of St. Jude Parish in Rockville. She is a retired middle school English teacher in the Archdiocese of Washington who is currently writing a book on the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. See more of her work at www.michelleardillo.com.)
