Parishioner Anne Lesnik Awarded Cheverus Medal and Hymnals with Prayers Return in a New Way
Each year Cardinal Seán honors a few of the most active, dedicated Catholics from throughout our archdiocese by presenting them with the Bishop Cheverus Medal, named after the first Bishop of Boston. From time to time we are blessed to have one of our parishes honored with this special award, and this year it was given to one of our very deserving parishioners, Mrs. Anne Lesnik, in honor of her thirty-five years as a very active member of St. Mary Parish and our collaborative.
Starting as a catechist, Anne helped the parish to support our parents in the important task of handing on the Catholic faith to our children. While Anne tends to avoid public attention, she allowed herself to be seen and heard as a long-time member of St. Mary Choir, participating in countless rehearsals, Masses and special liturgies. She also spent many hours as a volunteer assisting former music director Alex Kuznezov with running the parish Christmas Village each winter. Over the years, Anne has continued to grow in her faith and find new ways to serve the parish and our Plainville-Wrentham Collaborative. She provided consultation to pastors by serving on the Parish Pastoral Council through the period when the councils from our two parishes merged to become the Collaborative Pastoral Council, helping us navigate the balance between parish identity and collaboration in ministry. She took on a second job as rectory housekeeper, and she has exceeded expectations by so lovingly caring for the priests. Her assistance during the pandemic was indispensable, as she willingly took on new duties with humility, love, and grace. She has also embraced Adult Faith Formation and became the volunteer coordinator of our ChristLife programs (Discovering Christ, etc.), which are the centerpiece of our collaborative evangelization efforts. So congratulations to Anne Lesnik – we are proud of you and happy you have received the Bishop Cheverus Medal!
In a fitting coincidence, as we honor a former member of our music ministry, we are finally re-introducing hymnals to both of our churches. As explained in this column on September 4, having considered other options, we decided to stay with annually updated, recyclable hymnals. While the readings in these new editions start with the first Sunday of Advent, they arrived early so we put them out now so you have access to the music and the prayers that we say each week. Because our attendance is still down a bit and our budgets are in the red, rather than order enough to fill every pew rack, we will keep the hymnals in the book racks by the entrances for you to take on your way in and return there after Mass. This savings allowed us to buy those shelves and still save almost 25% of what it would cost to fill the pews (with even more savings next year). The QR codes in the pews will remain active for access to the readings, prayers, and other church resources, but we will be phasing out the lyrics that can be found in the hymnals.
As the Cheverus Medal honors people for their active participation in the life of the Church, we hope the return of hymnals will help us all to renew our active participation in the liturgy of the Church. “Liturgy” literally means “work of the people,” and as baptized members of the Body of Christ, we are called to a “full, conscious, and active participation” in the Mass. This way we can feel more engaged in our worship and experience the honor and dignity of being the People of God!