By Diane Grant
After almost 132 years as the heart of the Catholic community in Avenel, St Mary’s Church has closed due to declining congregation numbers and increasingly large maintenance expenses. The Church was deconsecrated by Bishop of Sandhurst, the Most Rev. Shane Mackinlay, at a special Mass last Sunday, 21 April.
Avenel St Mary’s folk were joined by members of St Malachy’s Nagambie folk along with visitors who had, over the years, had some affiliation with St Mary’s.
Bishop Mackinlay led the processional party into St Mary’s for the last time. He was assisted by Parish Priest of St Malachy’s, Fr Rene Ramirez, RCJ, Fr Tony Hill, former Parish Priest and Monsignor Frank Marriott former Parish Priest of St Mary’s and St Malachy’s, Incense bearer server Anthony Holligan, acolytes Rosemarie and Cecilia Legalo, and led by Crucifer Mason Crosier.
The service began with a short history of Avenel and St Mary’s formation by Grace Kenworthy followed by the Rite of Blessing and sprinkling of Holy Water on the congregation.
Bible readings were given by Mike Dibben and Robyn Hyland and the Collect, Psalm and Gospel acclamation by Fr Rene.
Hymns of praise during the service were played by organist Fleur Smith, and led by a small group of choral singers. The sung Eucharist was led by Bishop Mackinlay, with Prayers of the Faithful said by Grace Kenworthy.
Thanksgiving was given for the priests, families, congregations and community supporters who had kept the church going for those decades.
Bishop Mackinlay gave his homily based on Avenel’s history and the history of St Mary’s faithful community over the years.
The Holy Communion was celebrated by Bishop Shane and Fr Rene.
The Rite of Closure began the final part of the closing ceremony; with the procession of the clergy moving to various spots in the church where each items such as the paschal candle, lectern, altar, baptismal font, were prayed upon and handed to a St Mary’s parishioner for safekeeping. This was followed by the reading of the Decree of Relegation by Fr Rene on behalf of the Bishop, which was then signed by Bishop Mackinlay.
The congregation processed out of the church to witness the Bishop closing the door of the church officially for the last time. Praying that “As we close the door of this church, we ask you to keep open the doors of our hearts, that we may welcome you always as you come to dwell within us."
Following the service and group photos, the folk adjourned to the Avenel Memorial Hall for refreshments and chat about the ceremony, many stating that they had never been to a deconsecration before of a church.
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The Church, which was part of the Nagambie parish had, until last week, been a place for Avenel Catholics to gather for Mass on alternate Sundays. On the Sundays they didn’t have Mass, the congregation gathered without a priest for a Communion service and some parishioners have frequented the Church daily to pray by the Blessed Sacrament, (consecrated bread and wine in the tabernacle of the Church).
Monsignor Frank Marriott was Parish Priest (then Fr Marriott) at Avenel for eight years in the 1980s. He was Parish Priest when the congregation joined with the other Avenel church, St Paul’s Anglican and the Avenel Uniting Church for morning teas after the services they held at the same time on Sundays. He also led a contingent of church families from the 3 churches to see the Pope at the MCG in the 1980s.
Fr Patrick Farrell was priest in charge when the township of Avenel celebrated its 150th anniversary and was involved in the blessing ceremony at the opening of the new gates at the Avenel cemetery.
Fr Chris Reay then became the Parish Priest followed by Fr Andrew Fewings then Fr Tony Hill at Euroa was Parish Priest at Nagambie took over for fifteen years (until late 2023) and he remembers times when St Mary’s Church was so full that people had to sit outside. “Avenel is a place where people looked after each other, so if there was a funeral or a wedding, there would be a large congregation,” he said.
Fr Tony said he did his best to make sure Catholics in Avenel had access to Sunday Mass; given that he also celebrated Mass at Nagambie, Violet Town and Longwood, the only way he could fit Mass in at Avenel was to celebrate Sunday Mass on Friday night. “We’d have a good crowd on Friday night; we’d celebrate Mass then go the local pub for a meal,” said Fr Tony. “When we moved Mass to early on Sunday morning, people didn’t seem so keen,” he said wryly.
Monsignor Frank and Fr Tony both recall how parishioners pitched in to maintain the Church. Parishioners rebuilt the altar, and the floors were restored with donated timber and labour from experienced and qualified parishioners.
“I remember one Christmas when the organ just died in the middle of Mass,” said Fr Tony. A Melbourne based business person, who had a holiday house in Avenel and frequently attended Mass in town, happened to be at this Mass. His solution to the problem was to donate a $10,000 organ to the Church – it’s magnificent.
One of our parishioners could play it very well (Fleur Smith) and she could sing very well – a ‘soprano’. The rest of us were just ‘Catholics’, and we’d try to sing as best we could, but eventually we ended up just listening,” he laughed.
It is sad when a church in a small community closes and many families who had been associated with St Mary’s in Avenel attended the last mass. Many were very upset that their little parish church after 13 decades was closing. It brought back many memories of weddings, funerals, baptisms, confirmations and other celebrations.
The fellowship shared and faithful Christian worship of the St Mary’s folk will remain in their hearts forever and will not be forgotten by many whose lives were interwoven there.
As a building, the Church will remain part of the Avenel urban dynamic. Bold and attractive it will forever be hard to miss when driving in to Avenel, a legacy of the Avenel Catholic congregation.
