Nearly 20 people participated in Saturday afternoon Mass inside the Manalapan Library. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Tim Pallesen
The closing of the Lantana Bridge hasn’t kept Catholics who live in Manalapan from attending Mass.
Instead, a priest from Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Lantana comes to them, leading worship every Saturday at the Manalapan town library.
The services began after the bridge was closed for construction last March. Island Mass recessed for the summer and then resumed Nov. 3.
Manalapan officials approved the library use after a request by Councilman Louis DeStefano, a Holy Spirit parishioner.
“I figured that, if anyone could find us a place, it was him,” Holy Spirit’s senior priest, Rev. Kevin Nelson, said. “He’s the one who made it happen.”
DeStefano’s 97-year-old mother was particularly pleased. The library is across the street from her Point Manalapan home.
“I go there in my wheelchair,” Phyllis DeStefano said. “I’m very happy about it.”
Without the alternative, Catholics who live on the island would be forced to drive north to cross at the Lake Worth Bridge and then go south to reach Holy Spirit.
“It’s not just for Manalapan,” Louis DeStefano said. “It’s for the whole east side of the bridge, whoever is stuck with the bridge being out.”
As many as 40 parishioners attended Mass when it was said in Manalapan last winter. About 20 attended Nov. 3, and that number is expected to grow as snowbirds return.
“It’s a wonderful thing that the church has offered so we can have a place that’s so convenient for ocean people,” Manalapan resident Olga Cuyar said. “We’re blessed to have it.”
Only the priest is inconvenienced by island Mass. Services are held immediately before and after at Holy Spirit Church in Lantana.
“I’m dashing from here to get there,” Nelson said.
***
Church of the Palms Congregational has joined the city of Delray Beach to collect and ship 500 care packages to the military this holiday.
The Project Holiday project began in 2005 when Church of the Palms member Eleanor Williams heard that the city commissioners were supporting city administrative assistant Delores Rangel’s support group for parents with military children overseas during Christmas.
“I always feel it’s such a huge sacrifice to put yourself in danger and be away from family,” said Williams, whose father was an Air Force prisoner of war during World War II. “You feel alone and isolated.”
Rangel’s daughter Melissa, who served five tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, encouraged the parents group called You Are Not Alone to send the holiday care packages.
The packages include nonperishable food, toiletries and cards of encouragement. The ladies at Church of the Palms knit wool caps for a soldier to wear under his or her helmet to stay warm.
Project Holiday has grown to where Delray Beach placed collection boxes at City Hall, the city library and four other locations in November. Eight businesses in Boca Raton also collected items.
Volunteers gather Dec. 2 to pack boxes for shipment at the Delray Beach Community Center. The church, as a nonprofit, accepted $4,000 in donations to pay for postage.
***
Temple Beth El celebrates Hanukkah Under the Stars at the Mizner Park Amphitheater on Dec. 14.
The free community event includes bounce houses, face painting and crafts for children, opening at 5 p.m. A caravan of food trucks will offer Italian, Mediterranean, American and vegetarian cuisine.
The Hanukkah service at 7:30 p.m. has cantor Lori Shapiro joining the congregation’s adult and youth choirs in music to celebrate the Jewish holiday.
“We are always looking for engaging ways to make services filled with meaning and entertainment for people of all ages in the community to enjoy,” Temple Beth El communications director Susan Stallone said.
***
The Delray Beach Chorale performs its annual Voices of the Season holiday concert on Dec. 1, at First Presbyterian Church in Delray Beach.
The community choir will present Puccini’s Messa di Gloria in addition to traditional holiday songs.
Tickets for the 3 p.m. concert are $20 for adults and $5 for students.
***
St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church is helping reopen Catholic parishes that were closed in communist countries.
The Delray Beach congregation chose the Diocese of Vladivostok as its overseas mission after hearing how two missionary priests have already reopened 11 parishes in an area twice the size of Texas.
One of the priests, Father Daniel Maurer, traveled halfway around the world to appeal for St. Vincent ’s financial help last month.
Siberia became a communist land in 1917 after the Russian Revolution, and Stalin confiscated the Catholic churches.
Other priests have joined the effort to reopen the parishes since the first two priests arrived in 1992. They also operate schools, soup kitchens, women’s support centers and a hospital.
***
The community will have access to a classical outdoor labyrinth to be built at the United Unitarian Fellowship of Boca Raton.
Walking a labyrinth is a way of meditation. Such paths are found in ancient and modern religious traditions around the world. They can be carved in stone, cut into turf, drawn on clay or embedded in sanctuary floors. The labyrinth in Boca Raton is designed to give the community “a place to calm the heart, mind and soul under the beauty of the sky.” For some, walking the path deepens spiritual understanding. For others, it brings quiet contemplation, even a way of healing.Members of United Unitarian Fellowship began fundraising for the labyrinth at their Nov. 11 worship service by purchasing virtual bricks for $10 each.
Tim Pallesen writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Email him at tcpallesen@aol.com.
Comments