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MEMORY OF LATE PASTOR EVOKED BY APPEAL SUCCESS
In Williamsburg’s Transfiguration parish, success in the 2006 Annual Catholic Appeal has enabled parishioners to establish a simple memorial to a beloved late pastor who spent his entire priesthood among them.
Msgr. Bryan Karvelis died last October after a half-century at Transfiguration. His death prompted the parishioners and administrator, Father Anthony Hernandez, to channel part of the parish’s earnings from the appeal toward creating a space in the church dedicated to the memory of the deceased priest’s devotion to Eucharistic adoration.
As part of the appeal’s plan, parishes retain funds raised above the goal assigned to them. For Transfiguration, the $10,200 goal was met early, and the amount pledged through Sept. 15 rose to $36,303. If all the pledges are redeemed, the parish will have $26,103 to use for local purposes.
In addition to the memorial to Msgr. Karvelis, the appeal overage will enable the parish to address the updating of the church sound system and the repairing of the church bells that fell silent after a lightning hit in July, Father Hernandez said.
“We placed the appeal in the context of the generosity the Diocese has shown to the parish through financial subsidies for many years and the support it showed for Msgr. Karvelis and his work,” he said.
In response, the parishioners spoke clearly that they heard the appeal by pledging five times more than they did last year, when the pledged amount was $7,250. “I was very happy with the jump and the expression of gratitude to the Diocese,” Father Hernandez said.
Now, the parishioners see the memorial to Msgr. Karvelis taking shape in the church to the left of the altar, principally through the restoration of a Crucifixion scene that had been losing its luster over the years.
It will be a focal point for Eucharistic adoration to which Msgr. Karvelis and parishioners devoted countless hours, Father Hernandez said. Prie-dieux will be placed there, along with copies in English and Spanish of Blessed Charles de Foucauld’s “Prayer of Abandonment” (“Father, I abandon myself into Your hands. . .”).
Msgr. Karvelis had a special affection for the spiritual works of Blessed Foucauld, a 19th-Century French monk known for his humble form of spirituality who inspired the formation of the Little Brothers of Jesus and the Little Sisters of Jesus.
Near the painting will be a set of candles, donations to which will go to a homeless shelter for men that Msgr. Karvelis had established.
“This will extend his memory and his apostolate,” Father Hernandez said.
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9/26/06
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