‘Ready for the next 100 years’

St. Brigid’s Church celebrates milestone

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It was approximately 9:55 Sunday morning, and the Rev. Robert Rochon, the priest at St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church at 1231 Plainfield St. in Johnston, had just finished greeting a host of parishioners and making sure the day’s young alter attendants were in place.

Rochon then walked to the church entrance and put on his chasuble, assisted by Fran Wilkie, who made sure his vestment was wrinkle free.

After all, Rochon was about to celebrate a most important Mass – one to commemorate the small but proud parish’s 100th anniversary.

The Mass, which launched a daylong list of events highlighting St. Brigid’s centennial, was historic in many ways, but most notably in the closing song “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name,” which Rochon said “was sung at the laying of the cornerstone and at the first Mass celebrated in our church.”

“Today’s celebration is the culmination of a year of activities commemorating our parish’s 100th anniversary,” Rochon said. “Every event has been special and filled with God’s blessings.”

St. Brigid’s also received a special papal blessing from Pope Francis, which John Santilli, a member of the parish’s Centennial Committee, had the honor of reading during Sunday’s post-Mass celebration luncheon held at Cranston Country Club.

“The Holy Father Francis cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing to St. Brigid Parish on the occasion of its 100th anniversary invoking through the intercession of Divine Grace,” Santilli read from the beautifully framed gift that has since been hung inside the church.

There were other special presentations Sunday to mark the parish’s anniversary.

For example, each parishioner received a commemorative pin donated by AG&G that featured the St. Brigid’s Cross, as well as what Rochon and Cynthia Galipeau, who chaired the 100th anniversary celebration with her husband Ron Galipeau, called “an extraordinary and newly written history of the Johnston-based parish.”

“The book is absolutely fantastic,” Galipeau said. “Lots and lots of research went into making the book beautiful as well as special.”

The same held true for the entire celebration, which Galipeau said was an “overwhelming success thanks to the efforts and dedication of a lot of people who served on many committees.”

And that’s yet another example of the close-knit, community atmosphere that Rochon has created during his tenure at St. Brigid’s.

The new parish history book, Rochon and Galipeau explained, “includes a host of information from people who have been baptized, made their first communion, marriage and funerals.”

Sunday’s dinner, which attracted 145 proud parishioners, was also a huge success and featured a delicious dinner of either baked scrod or chicken cordon bleu. It was preceded by a hors d’oeuvres-cocktail hour and finished with ice cream and wandies for dessert. Even the Italian wandies were special and donated by Golden Crest Nursing Home.

“Now we’re ready for the next 100 years,” Galipeau said, while announcing that the centennial celebration will continue with many parishioners doing 100 hours of community service, including visiting people in nursing homes and even cleaning up the church and parish.

Earlier last week, the Johnston Town Council issued an official citation to St. Brigid’s in recognition of the 100th anniversary.

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