By Peter Rosengren
An estimated 800 people turned out in Amherst Road in Canning Vale last Sunday afternoon to participate in the consecration and dedication of their first Parish Church.
The Church of St Emilie de Vialar is the first parish Church in the world dedicated to the Saint, Archbishop Barry Hickey told worshippers during his homily.
St Emilie is the foundress of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition, who have been in WA since 1855 and involved in the parish since its founding in 2001.
Although the Church is designed to seat 350, a large overflow congregation stood outside the building on a cold and overcast afternoon to witness and participate in the ceremonies.
So many people presented to receive Communion during the Consecration Mass that ministers effectively ran out of hosts to dispense.
Later, Parish Priest Fr Robert Carillo told The Record, of the 800 hosts prepared before Mass only two were left over, prompting Archbishop Hickey to anounce to communicants that receiving the Sacrament from the numerous chalices throughout the church would be sufficient.
In his homily Archbishop Hickey said that the opening of a new church was a sign of unity and maturity in a parish.
From that day on, Mass would be celebrated daily until the Church ceased to exist, he said. Meanwhile, whereas parishioners had participated in Masses celebrated in a variety of locations, including a famhouse and the nearby Catholic school, their new church would be the focal point for the parish from now on, he said.
A parish church is a centre for the people and a centre for worship, a place where a parish’s members are meant to see one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. “We are speaking of a house of God, a place that is holy. All the Sacraments can be celebrated here now,” he said.
Few see more than one dedication of a parish church in their lives, the Archbishop told the packed congregation. Already those present had seen the solemn entry into the Church, the carrying of the lectionary to the sanctuary, and the sprinkling of the walls and the assembly with holy water.
“The walls are holy now. Soon the altar will be covered with the sacred oil of Chrism, relics will be placed in the altar. It will be lit with candles and incense will be burned upon it, incense that will rise to heaven like the prayers of the assembly.
“This is a beautiful ceremony – one you will be able to tell your children and your children’s children about,” he said.
Approximately 35 parish priests and auxiliary Bishop Donald Sproxton, together with Vicar General Monsignor Brian O’Loughlin and Redemptoris Mater Seminary Rector Fr Michael Moore SM were also present to concelebrate Mass with the Archbishop, Fr Carillo and Assistant Priest Fr Denis Sudla.
The Archbishop also paid tribute to the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition, whose foundress had become the official patroness of the parish.
It was their example and that of St Emilie which had been the inspiration behind the naming of the parish, he said.
Coincidentally, he added, the Sisters had arrived in 1855 in Western Australia on board a ship named The Lady Amherst; the name of the street on which St Emilie’s stands is Amherst Road.
During the ceremony the Archbishop placed relics of St Emilie in the new altar with the assistance of parish acolyte John Harkens.
In his own comments at the conclusion of the Mass, Fr Robert Carillo thanked all those who had been involved in designing the church.
He especially mentioned Sr Margaret Mary Gannon SJA, a Sister of St Joseph of the Apparition, who had served as Pastoral Assistant since the inception of the parish 10 years ago.
She had, he said, been a pillar of St Emilie’s from the very beginning.
But so had all the parishioners who, by their donations of time and effort had also been foundations of the parish.
“[They] are the pillars of the Church; Your Grace, I am very proud of them,” he said turning to address Archbishop Hickey.
At the conclusion of Mass Archbishop Hickey told the congregation he would be leaving the brand new vestments he was wearing as a small gift from the archdiocese ot the parish.
Following Mass, most of those attending retired to St Emilie’s School, which stands on the same proerty adjacent to the new church. Parishioners had earlier delivered homecooked food and a feast in every sense.
WHO IS ST EMILE?
Anne Marguerite Adelaide Emilie de Vialar was the eldest child and only daughter of Baron James Augustine de Vialar and his wife Antoinette. She was born at Gaillac in Languedoc, France, in 1797. At the age of 15 she was removed from school in Paris to be companion to her father, now a widower, at Gaillac; but unhappily, differences arose between them because of Emilie’s refusal to consider a suitable marriage.
For 15 years Emilie devoted herself to the care of children neglected by their parents and to the help of the poor generally. In 1832, her maternal grandfather died, leaving her a share of his estate which was a quite considerable fortune. She bought a large house at Gaillac and took possession of it with three companions. Others joined them and three months later, the Archbishop authorised the Abbe to clothe twelve postulants with the religious habit. They called themselves the Congregation of Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition. Their work was to be the care of the needy, especially the sick, and the education of children. In 1835, she made her profession with seventeen other sisters, and received formal approval for the rule of the Congregation.
The foundress, in the course of 22 years, saw her Congregation grow from one to some 40 houses, many of which she had founded in person. The physical energy and achievements of St Emilie de Vialar are the more remarkable in that from her youth she was troubled by hernia, contracted in carrying out a deed of charity. From 1850 this became more and more serious, and it hastened her end, which came on 24 August 1856. The burden of her last testament to her daughters was "Love one another". Her canonisation took place in 1951. – Source: Catholic Online
All foundations of Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition in Australia came from Fremantle. The four French-speaking Sisters sent to WA in 1855 by St Emilie were the last to be personally chosen and assigned by the Saint.