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John Bagladi Photo/The Catholic Spirit - Bishop Michael J. Bransfield celebrates Mass in the new worship space at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Berkeley Springs Dec. 16. With him are Father Cyprian Joseph Mercieca, TOR, pastor of the parish, left, and area clergy.

With seating for more than 500 people, the recently constructed new section of the church has room to accommodate the growing Catholic population of Morgan County.

Bishop Michael J. Bransfield was joined by Father Cyprian Joseph Mercieca, TOR, pastor of the parish; priests from the area; former pastor Father John Ledford; and parish native son Father Leonard Smith in dedicating the new church to its congregation. In his homily, Bishop Bransfield compared the incorporation of the old church building of the parish into the new worship space to God’s Church today.

“We must bring the Church into the present age,” he said. “The greatest stories of history are lost if they are not brought to the present.”

He said the consecration of the altar made it worthy of the Eucharist—holy in the sight of God. But the altar and the building, he emphasized, are just the beginning. “The richness of the Church is in its people,” he said.

During the Rite of Dedication, Bishop Bransfield anointed the altar and walls of the church with sacred chrism and then incensed the altar and church. As the Rite of Dedication continued, members of the parish’s Altar and Rosary Society dressed the altar.

Bishop Bransfield expressed his thanks to Father Mercieca and the people of the parish for their gift to all the people who would come to find a place to pray in the future.

The Catholic community of Berkeley Springs was founded in 1798 and has had a number of places of worship before the erection of the fourth church in 1932. That church, seating 125 worshippers, was incorporated into the new church as its gathering area.

Father Mercieca has told his flock, “This new structure is where we will daily celebrate the Eucharist. May we, as a people, become ever more deeply men and women of the Eucharist, sustained by our Lord in our love for and devotion to Him through the celebration of the same.”
“It is a glorious sight, conducive to prayer,” Father Mercieca said of the new church. “As soon as you walk in, it takes away your breath. ... This is a more-than-worthy successor to the old church and the people are ecstatic, they are thrilled” by the important addition to the building.