St. Mary Parish in Richmond celebrates 150 years of faith

David Marsee, left, talks with Jenna Kolb, Joe Linginfelter and Joel Stocksdale, all juniors at Seton Catholic High School in Richmond, about a watercolor painting that he created of St. Mary Church in Richmond on the occasion of the parish’s recent 150th anniversary. Marsee is a member of St. Andrew Parish in Richmond, and volunteers at Seton Catholic High School. (Photos by James Stephenson)

By Sean Gallagher

Catherine Marino came to Richmond in 1956 as a 21-year-old newlywed. Born and raised in South Newport, Ky., she said her only link to the eastern Indiana city was her husband, Phil, and his family and friends.

But more than a half century later, Marino calls Richmond home, in large part because of the friendships she made at St. Mary Parish.

“I met a lot of people that I enjoyed being with,” she said. “Meeting those people from the parish was very rewarding. I didn’t grow up there. I didn’t know a lot of the people except friends of Phil.

“But as my children went to school at St. Mary’s, I got to know the parents of the other children. We would take the kids on their field trips and all that kind of thing.”

Making friends at St. Mary Parish and raising her family there made celebrating the faith community’s 150th anniversary in December all the more joyous for Marino.

An anniversary Mass was celebrated on Dec. 5. Msgr. Joseph F. Schaedel, vicar general, was the principal celebrant. Father Todd Riebe, pastor of St. Mary Parish, was a concelebrant.

A dinner and program to celebrate the anniversary followed the Mass. Included in the program were musical selections that represented the cultural heritage of the Irish families that founded the parish in 1859, and the many Italian families that joined it after immigrating to the United States about half a century later.

“We’re still talking about it,” Father Riebe said. “Someone said, ‘When it’s time to do the 300th anniversary, they’ll be looking to see what we did at the 150th.’ It was a memorable evening.”

Father Riebe is also pastor of Holy Family Parish and St. Andrew Parish, both in Richmond. These parishes, along with St. Mary Parish, make up what Catholics there call the Richmond Catholic Community.

Collaboration among the three parishes marked the St. Mary anniversary.

David Marsee, a member of St. Andrew Parish, was commissioned to create a watercolor painting of St. Mary Church for the occasion.

He accomplished a similar project in 1996 when St. Andrew Parish celebrated its 150th anniversary.

“Just knowing the response to [the painting of] St. Andrew, I knew it would be something that people would cherish for a long time,” Marsee said, “especially for people who have been going there for a long time.”

Father Riebe was especially pleased with the results of the artist’s work.

“I had it sitting in my office for about a week, and wouldn’t let anyone touch it because I just wanted to look at it,” he said with a laugh.

Like Marino, Marsee is a transplant to Richmond from Kentucky through marriage. He grew up in Elizabethtown and studied art at Moorhead State University in Moorhead, Ky.

He said his Catholic faith is part of all of his work as an artist.

“[At the start of a painting], I usually do say a quick prayer, ‘God please guide my hand and don’t let me screw up,’ ” Marsee said with a laugh. “It’s kind of my little prayer at the beginning of each painting.”

Marsee said painting St. Mary Church was a special joy for him because of its architectural distinctiveness.

The 150th anniversary of the parish was also the 100th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the church.

“It’s a landmark in Richmond,” Father Riebe said. “And I think everybody who enters the church is amazed that, 100 years ago, immigrants would build something like this. They truly gave to God their very best.”

And it’s those ancestors of the parish and their descendents living out their faith today that the priest sees when he looks at Marsee’s painting.

“It’s the painting of a community, a painting of the generations who first built the church and the generations today who lovingly preserve it,” Father Riebe said. “It brings so much to life of what St. Mary Parish is that is symbolized by that building.”

(For more information on the parishes that make up the Richmond Catholic Community, log on to www.richmondcatholiccommunity.com.) †