Jubilee: The Spirits of St. Francis de Sales

The Spirits of St. Francis de Sales

Most parishioners walk past our graveyard every Sunday without ever reading the names on the tombstones or thinking of the people who reside in this hallowed ground. On October 29th and 30th, the Jubilee Committee and the Shadow Players Theatre Company shared the lives of one such family with parishioners.

The ‘Spirits of St. Francis de Sales’ told the story of the Callahan family from their arrival in Harford County from Ireland in 1849 until the present. Through numerous character interpreters, family members from each generation came alive in the telling of their contributions and experiences in our parish community.

These people, along with many others, brought their talents, traditions and faith to the parish. From its beginning at Midnight Mass in 1866 and continuing through this Jubilee Year, families like the Callahans have made St. Francis de Sales parish their spiritual home.  Their faith is the true foundation of this community.

While markers in the graveyard denote their place of rest, it is their spirit that permeates the walls of the buildings. You can feel their presence as they live on through each of us.

Let us never pass their gravesites again without saying a prayer of thanksgiving for those who have come before you. Let us, inspired by our predecessors, continue their legacy of faith.  We can only hope that our lives at St. Francis de Sales parish in Abingdon, Maryland will be an inspiration for future generations.

REMEMBER, WE ARE ST. FRANCIS!!