I saw on Facebook Thursday St. Alphonsus was exhibiting a display from the Vatican that recounted 126 miracles. I have only been back to Saint Alphonsus once since my Dad died 13 years ago.
My Mom agreed to take me because I wanted to see the exhibit. We went on Friday in the late afternoon. I haven’t really been to East Dearborn by Saint Alphonsus at all in a pretty long time. As we got closer to Saint Alphonsus, all of the store fronts had changed but it was still familiar. I haven’t been in that parking lot in so long but it seemed so familiar to me too because I spent my entire childhood there! I went to school there from Kindergarten and I graduated from there in the year 2000.
The steps leading to the front of the church have changed, now there is a ramp on the right side which makes the whole front look different. I remember taking team photos on those exact steps and it seemed so long ago. As we were entering the church, a woman asked If we needed help. She offered to hold the door as my Mon pushed me up the ramp because I was in my manual chair. The woman graduated in 1983 from there and I got to tell her that I graduated in 2000. As she opened the door, it smelled exactly the same!
I held my breath is we got through the vestibule and entered the church. I recognized the man who opened the door for us so we could enter into the church. Mr. Savage. It looked exactly the same! It was the same ol’ St. Al’s!
Once we got inside, my Mom pushed me past the exhibit and straight up to the altar. She knelt at the communion rail while I sat in my chair in the center with my eyes transfixed on the altar piece! I slipped my hands into my sweatshirt and put them to my face. Once my hands were covering my face, I began to cry.
I had just seen video footage of my eighth grade Christmas play that took place in the church and everything looked exactly the same! In that video, I was dressed as an old-school nun and I sang a solo.
I remember that very large rosary I have fixed to my belt but watching the video, I couldn’t get over how straight I was walking and the fact that I was even walking, so effortlessly. It wasn’t until I saw and heard myself singing that I remembered it.
I couldn’t sing it now if I tried and it was really nice to see both my Mom and Sean’s face when they saw me singing. Being in the church, brought everything back and I was so relieved that it still looks exactly the same! Two parishes have merged into this church.
The current pastor saw us as we were headed toward the exhibit after leaving the altar and he walked over and welcomed us. Fr. Linus is his name and he asked about us and blessed both me and my Mom because she is my caregiver. His hands were so big and warm. It made me think of my Dad‘s hands.
The exhibit was a bunch of posters displayed in the pews. My Mom asked if she could take the poster out of its place to bring it over to me to read it. Mr. Savage said that was not a problem and I sat in the main aisle as my Mom went into the pew to get a poster.
I stared all around at the church while I waited for my Mom to get another poster. I tried not to think about the fact that a lot of the tiles were carpeted over; it was all carpeted up to the break in the main aisle.
My Mom read me as many posters and she could until she got tired and then she signed the book for us and as we were leaving, I saw multiple offering baskets leaning against the back wall and I could hear the usher saying, “Thank you!” like we had heard so many times at mass when we were kids.
This definitely was a blast from my past and I told my Mom that I wanted a cheese pie for dinner. We got it from the same bakery that my friend, Natalie, and I used to walk to from her house which is right across the street from the church when we were in grade school.
It tasted the same and I thought of St. Al’s with fondness on our way back to my house. I’m very glad that I took the time to see the exhibit even if it was in my manual chair.