We are entering our fifth decade! We are no longer a baby. HAPPY 41st OLHOC!!! We are getting up in age. But we remain one of the youngest parishes of the Archdiocese. MAY GOD CONTINUE BLESSING our parish and all our parishioners! May we keep the pioneering spirit of our founders!

When Cardinal Hickey established our parish, he put us under the "double" protection of OUR BLESSED MOTHER. First, he chose her as our patron saint. Our name will always remain "OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS”. Second, he also chose the Feast Day of OUR LADY OF SORROWS, SEPTEMBER 15, to be the day of our birth.

I will never forget my first day at OLHOC. It was SEPTEMBER 15, 2010, our 30th birthday and we prayed together with our staff in our daily chapel. Then, we had the privilege to have a get-together of our entire parish with all our pastors present: Fr. Peter Alliata, half-Irish/half-Italian (founder, leading our first 7 years 1980-1987), Fr. Eamon Dignan, born in Ireland (led completion of our physical building, and stayed for 17 years), and my predecessor Fr. Thomas Crowley, also 100 percent Irish, born in Pennsylvania (completing six full years at OLHOC).

Our first pastor FATHER ALLIATA just celebrated 60 YEARS OF PRIESTHOOD! I was one of the many concelebrants at the Jubilarian Mass celebrated by Cardinal Gregory earlier this year. In the Catholic Standard of July 26, 2021, the Editor Mark Zimmermann wrote a beautiful article about the celebration of Fr. Alliata's 60th anniversary of priesthood' with a picture of Cardinal Gregory presenting him a specially engraved pyx. He also quoted from the OLHOC website (click here to read the entire article):

"Those early years were formative of a wonderful ecumenical spirit that still exists. Knowing that we were a community without a home, the local churches opened their doors and invited us to share their facilities. We celebrated our Saturday evening Mass at Good Shepherd Methodist Church for more than 9 years. The Peace Lutheran community presented us with a key to their front door for evening meetings, on a space available basis. We formally returned the keys to both churches in June 1990, when we completed the construction of our church."

I wrote recently about our second pastor FATHER DIGNAN as I visited him at St Mary's Center in Leonardtown (click here to read my column of June 27, 2021). It was such a JOY to see a BIG SMILE on his face when I mentioned WALDORF AND OUR LADY HELP OF CHRISTIANS. He may be losing his short-term memory, but he has kept in his heart good remembrances of his 17 years at OLHOC. Like Fr. Alliata, he too was honored for his 60th anniversary of priesthood (two years ago). I renew my invitation to the many parishioner friends of Fr. Dignan to go and visit him (call the St Mary's Center in advance).

Many of you have kept wonderful memories of our third pastor Father Crowley. I still hear from you about his great sense of humor and his great homilies. In his last two assignments as senior priest at Sacred Heart and then pastor at St Francis Xavier, he kept serving the church with much strength and courage despite his failing health. On March 29, 2017, he died at the young age of 67 after completing 41 years of priesthood. He had literally given his entire life to Jesus Christ and the Church. I wrote about him in my column of April 9, 2017. Deacon Bill, his wife Rhonda, and I had visited him at the Leonardtown Hospital just a few days before he died. His last words to all OLHOC Parishioners were: "GIVE THEM ALL MY LOVE AND THANKS FOR THEIR PRAYERS.” Every March 29th, we will keep offering one Memorial Mass for him at OLHOC. While we keep praying for him, we have begun to ask for his prayers as we hope that by now God has already asked him to join HIM forever and ever in the beautiful paradise we call Heaven. MAY FATHER CROWLEY REST IN PEACE and may he keep praying for us and keep smiling upon us!

As we celebrate our 41st anniversary, we pray that God will continue blessing our "OLHOC PIONEERS”, including our first two pastors who together dedicated 24 years of their priesthood to build the solid foundations of our parish. May their spirit of evangelization continue inspiring us! May GOD also bless all parishioners as we enter into a FORMAL YEAR OF EUCHARISTIC RENEWAL at OLHOC beginning this Sunday September 12, 2021, and ending Sunday September 11, 2022! May OUR BLESSED MOTHER keep protecting us and leading us all to her son JESUS CHRIST!

See you all at our picnic after the Outdoor 11:30 am Mass this Sunday September 12!

One in Christ,

Fr. Alain