Memory Lane

Week Forty-Six - Saint Ann (Groesbeck)

4:30 Saturday afternoon mass, St. Ann. I was baptized at St. Ann's. I attended grade school at St. Ann's. I made my First Communion at St. Ann's. Both of my parents' funerals were at St. Ann's. History? I'd say so. Long story short - I grew up at St. Ann's. Then why does it feel so foreign to me?

The best answer to that question is this: my fondest memories of St. Ann's are of a church radically different from the current church - both physically and spiritually. I remember communion rails and a long center aisle between rows of light-colored pews. I remember Father Lunn, the founding pastor, notorious for stepping on the altar boys' toes if they weren't serving properly. I remember chapel veils and a lack of air-conditioning - and the accompanying huge fans used in the summer to try to cool the church down. I remember little Sister John Michael playing the organ off on the side. The list goes on and on.

In 1980, a few years after my prime time at St. Ann's, a completely renovated church was dedicated. It took several minutes to convince my daughter that the chairs we were sitting in were actually located in what used to be the school cafeteria. The church, which had been situated north-south, was reoriented to lie east-west and was designed in a contemporary style, including, most notably, individual chairs surrounding a simple, unadorned altar. The mere revelation of the plans for the new church caused an upheaval among the faithful which ultimately led to more than a few parishioners breaking away from St. Ann's. I recall that, among so many other disagreements, for some reason, there was a big to-do about the proposed lights - lights which have ironically been replaced again since then, just as the church itself has been renovated again since then.

Currently, St. Ann's is still a contemporary church, and frankly, there's really not much to it. Individual chairs, individual kneelers. A very plain, if not ugly, altar - possibly the ugliest I've seen to date. Off to the side is one single statue of the holy family, including grandma, St. Ann. Look to where the choir might be seated and you will see where the church's original altar used to be. Two token stained glass windows behind the altar were placed in an unfortunate west-side location for summer afternoon masses. The sun shone brightly through the windows creating silhouettes of those presiding over the mass as well as pinpointing them in the baking sunlight. They had to be hot since the church on a whole was none too cool on this hot Saturday afternoon. Oh! Maybe that's why half of the congregation left immediately after communion. Ouch.

Bottom line: I barely recognize this church anymore, and yet there are still a few familiarities - mainly in the faces. I see parents of a few of my grade school classmates - classmates who I haven't seen since grade school. Neighbors from the street I grew up on are there - although they usually attend St. Ignatius Church these days. Hmmm. Oh, look - there's another family that we're friends with - who belong to St. James' parish. And the presiding priest . . . is from St. Ignatius. The lines are getting a little blurry here, folks.

ATTENDANCE: Mostly full

DURATION: One hour