HR0596LRB100 14214 ALS 28986 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to congratulate St. Mary's Parish in
4Bloomington on the occasion of its Sesquicentennial
5anniversary; and
 
6    WHEREAS, St. Mary's was founded in 1852 when a few German
7Catholic families arranged to have a priest from the Catholic
8boys' school, who spoke German, recite mass; as the church
9grew, the bishop agreed to send a priest for regular services,
10and the church eventually acquired a resident pastor; in 1869,
11parishioners built a small frame church; in 1886, the present
12Gothic church was built; by the early 1900s, the Franciscan
13Friars of Cincinnati, Ohio assumed the pastoral leadership; and
 
14    WHEREAS, In 1962, St Mary's was remodeled, including the
15additions of new stained glass windows, a chapel with a
16baptistery, and a rear entrance to the church; and
 
17    WHEREAS, St. Mary's Hispanic community donated a statue
18commemorating Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1985; the statue was
19blessed and placed in the baptistery; when the church was 111
20years old, a $250,000 interior renovation was completed; the
21renovation included a new wooden altar and portable baptismal
22font; the black, white, and pink marble from the old main altar

 

 

HR0596- 2 -LRB100 14214 ALS 28986 r

1and side altars was removed and used for decorative purposes
2elsewhere in the church; the renovation revealed two windows
3that had been covered in the 1920s; stained glass was added,
4and the windows were restored; the church was rededicated by
5the Most Reverend John J. Myers on September 22, 1996; and
 
6    WHEREAS, St. Mary's serves nearly 1,300 households; in
7addition to daily masses, the church offers five weekend
8masses, included one celebrated in Spanish; the church also
9supports a grade school, which offers Catholic education from
10grades pre-K through eighth; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The Franciscan Friars returned the care of St.
12Mary's faith community to the Diocese of Peoria in June 2016,
13after 135 years of faithful service and pastoral leadership;
14the church's current pastor is Fr. Greg Nelson; Fr. Joe Baker
15is the parochial vicar, and Fr. Tim Hepner serves as the
16vocations director in residence; Jose Montenegro, Loren Keim,
17O.F.S., and Antonio Herrera serve as deacons; therefore, be it
 
18    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
19HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
20recognize St. Mary's Parish on its Sesquicentennial
21anniversary, and we wish it many more years; and be it further
 
22    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be

 

 

HR0596- 3 -LRB100 14214 ALS 28986 r

1presented to St. Mary's Parish.