Local parish helps support those Catholics displaced from their spiritual home

Church sign in front of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish in Cambridge City.

By Mary Ann Wyand

CAMBRIDGE CITY—The sign outside St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church on April 7 read, “St. Anne, our prayers are with you.”

Inside the church, it was standing room only during a shortened Easter Vigil Mass for members of three parishes in east-central Indiana.

After fire destroyed St. Anne Church in New Castle during the early morning hours of Holy Saturday, the Vigil Mass for members of St. Anne Parish, St. Elizabeth Parish and St. Rose Parish in Knightstown was held at the church in Cambridge City.

Father Joseph Rautenberg, administrator of St. Elizabeth Parish and sacramental minister of St. Anne and St. Rose parishes, rewrote his homily on Saturday afternoon to address the devastating loss of the historic church.

“The Vigil … usually begins with a service of light and the blessing of the Easter fire,” he said. “Fire is an important symbol. It represents the spiritual light of Christ—his truth and the comforting warmth of his love. … But fire can also … seem to take on a life of its own where it escapes control and destroys, even kills. … As most of you know, the Church of St. Anne at New Castle was heavily damaged by fire.”

The Easter Vigil being celebrated at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish in Cambridge City.

Expressing his condolences, Father Rautenberg asked the people to contribute to a second collection to help with some of the parish’s immediate expenses.

Three Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults candidates from St. Anne Parish—Yvonne Mroz, Steven Higgins and David Sharpe—entered the Church during the Mass at St. Elizabeth Church.

“The fire was a shock and a blow, kind of like your home being destroyed,” Father Rautenberg said. “Fortunately, no one was killed or seriously hurt. But the loss hurts. In life, sometimes we do suffer major losses.

“… But Jesus rose from the dead and with him rose the hopes of his disciples—those of 2,000 years ago and us today,” he said. “Out of death comes life. Jesus lives and reigns forever. … None of the blows of life can defeat or destroy us unless we give up. A church has been … destroyed, but the parish and its history and its faith continue. So does the faith of St. Elizabeth and St. Rose [parishes]. Despite the pain and the sorrows and the evil forces in this world, Jesus has risen. May our spirits rise with him to joyful discipleship.” †