St. Finbar Parish celebrates its re-consecration

One hundred years after it was originally consecrated, St. Finbar Parish’s church building was re-consecrated during a special mass by Bishop Guy Sansaricq, auxiliary bishop emeritus, on Sunday, May 20.

Father Michael Gelfant, pastor of the Benson Avenue church, said that the present church building was built between 1910 and 1912. It was originally consecrated on May 14, 1912.

“A new building is consecrated by anointing the four corners of the church walls [with chrism],” Gelfant explained. “It’s basically a symbol that the building is dedicated for the worship of God only – you can’t have a Super Bowl party there.”

Since the original markings are no longer visible, the parish decided to have the church re-consecrated for the 100^th anniversary of its first.

“When you come into the church now, you will see gold crosses with little candles, so we will all know when it was consecrated,” Gelfant said.