Final Mass Celebrated at St. Joseph, Lewiston

Every pew was filled as former and current parishioners of St. Joseph Church gathered one final time to celebrate Mass at the worship site that has welcomed generations of Lewiston Catholics. After 152 years, the Main Street church is closing.

“It was pretty much home,” says Mora LePage. “It’s a family because you know everyone all around you. And then all the people around you are saying, 'Now where are we going to go?' So it’s sad. It’s sad, but we understand.”

“St. Joseph is an integral part of my life, and as we are finding it difficult, so is everybody else, particularly the senior citizens,” says Ed Plossay who has sung in the choir for more than 50 years.

St. Joseph Church is among five churches that make up Prince of Peace of Parish in Lewiston. St. Patrick will also close later this month. The decision to shutter the churches was a painful one, according to Monsignor Marc Caron, the pastor, but one that became necessary. “I think there is a realization that the circumstances in the city have changed dramatically from people’s years growing up, compared to 30 years ago, 50 years ago. The circumstances are so different and people do recognize that.”

Those circumstances include a decline in the number of Catholics in the city as well as economic concerns.

Bishop Richard Malone celebrated the final Mass at St. Joseph, acknowledging the sadness and the necessary grieving of those in the pews, but reminding parishioners that the Church is not the building. “The Church is God’s people. The Church is all of you,” he said.

It was a message echoed by Father Frank Morin, a former pastor of St. Joseph’s, who returned to concelebrate the Mass and deliver the homily. “The Church is on a mission, the whole Church, laity and clergy,” he said, “and a Church on a mission in inescapably a Church in change.”

But change can be difficult, especially when memories go back decades and generations. St. Joseph was the root church in Lewiston, established in 1857 to serve Irish immigrants. When French-Canadians began moving to the area to work in the mills, St. Peter and Paul Parish, now a basilica, grew out of St. Joseph's.

“My first reaction was my family and the sentimental feelings,” says Deborah Ouellette Simoneau.“The marriages, the baptisms, the funerals, it’s almost like you find you really have to let go of some of those now, and it’s difficult. But they’re good memories.”

“I’m a graduate of St. Joseph’s School. I was married here. I taught religious education for 18 years. My children received the sacraments here. I’ve attended funerals of close friends,” says Marine Shea. “It’s devastating. It’s just like the loss of a family.”

Shea fears she will not find the closeness again that she felt at St. Joseph’s. But parishioners say they know they have to look ahead.

“It’s saddening to find out this church is closing, but we are all looking forward to going to various churches,” says Brian Labrecque, a choir member. “Hopefully, we can just take the best parts of our church and share them with our new congregations and move forward.”

And with the closing words of his homily, Father Morin reminded parishioners that wherever they go, God will be with them. “Our loving God knows our sadness. Our loving God takes it seriously, but He also invites us to live in the present, celebrate the past, and hope for the future. May Mary, our Mother, pray for us.”