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E L L I C OT T C I T Y, M A RY L A N D Goal: $1,800,000
Dear Brothers and Sisters, It has been an incredible blessing to serve here as your pastor since 2007 and witness the great goodness of the Lord in all that He has helped us accomplish. In our years together we have: undertaken a major repair and renovation of our school and religious education building, paid off all of the debt from that emergency project together with the longstanding debt from our Parish Center construction, renovated the sanctuary and interior of our church, seen our parish family grow both in number and in our sense of community through blessings like our Parish Family Dinner Nights, provided for the future care of our parish by saving the funds needed for long-term maintenance projects, and seen new ministries and activities grow and ourish, like our monthly Holy Hours with adoration and worship. All of this has been accomplished because of the Lords goodness to us and your great generosity in responding to our needs. Now, I want to share with you what I hope will be another great accomplishment and blessing for our parish family: the construction of a new entrance and gathering space for our church, which will also house a new Eucharistic Adoration Chapel. We are undertaking this project as part of our parishs participation in the Archdioceses Embracing our Mission - Shaping Our Future campaign, which is aimed at strengthening the Churchs ministry in our parishes, schools, charities and outreach. The Lord has been so good to us here at OLPH and I look forward to seeing all that He still has in store for us. I have been so blessed in my years with you and hope that you will join me in this campaign to strengthen the mission of our parish and the Church here in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Thank you for generously supporting this good work!
Our History
For over 120 years, Our Lady of Perpetual Help has been bringing the Good News of Jesus to the people of Ellicott City and responding to the spiritual needs of those in our community. Whether it was the opening of a one-room schoolhouse to serve the children of Ilchester, or the spiritual home the Redemptorists offered to Catholics who lived on this side of the hill in Ellicott City, our parish has tried faithfully to serve the spiritual needs of our community. Our roots are with the Redemptorist priests who opened a seminary in 1868 and soon found themselves caring for the spiritual needs of Catholics in the local communities of Thistle, Grays Mills and Ilchester. On September 14, 1879, the Redemptorists hung the portrait of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Ilchester chapel as part of their mission from Pope Pius IX to make the Blessed Mother, through the title Our Lady of Perpetual Help, known to the world. That same icon still adorns our church today, reminding us of Marys motherly care and perpetual help. On September 15 our rst school opened: a one-room schoolhouse that served 24 children. It was not until 1893 that Cardinal Gibbons ofcially established Our Lady of Perpetual Help as its own parish and in the years that followed,
the parish continued to grow, the school expanded, and a cemetery was added. By the 1950s, the parish had outgrown the seminary chapel at the base of Ilchester and our families began fundraising to purchase property about a mile from the original seminary chapel. Families in the parish were generous and a tract of land was purchased, so that in 1957 a new one-story brick school could be constructed, with a basement for a temporary church. What we now know as Harrison Hall served as our parish church and place of worship until 1985, when the current church was constructed. Along the way, the school building expanded and the parish family continued to grow. In the mid 1990s the Redemptorists could no longer staff the parish and so it was transferred from the care of the Redemptorist order to the Archdiocese of Baltimore, to be served by parish priests of the Archdiocese. Over the years, Our Lady of Perpetual Help has experienced tremendous growth, as has the rest of Ellicott City and surrounding Howard County communities. As the parish continues to grow, we look forward to a vibrant and faithlled future!
As you can see from the enclosed drawings, the new Narthex will offer a larger, more inviting space: To welcome our parishioners and guests as they come to Mass; For our parish ministries to engage parishioners with current activities and offerings; For parishioners to gather after Mass, allowing the church to remain dedicated for those wanting to spend a few minutes in prayer before and after Mass; For our parents with young children, who need more space and a better environment than the current cry room offers; For additional meeting space during the week when our regular meeting rooms are occupied. The new Eucharistic Adoration Chapel will offer: Parishioners and visitors a dedicated space for prayer, accessible throughout the day and evening; The opportunity to highlight the centrality of the gift of the Eucharist and to encourage parishioners to spend time with the Lord in prayer; The potential for expanding our weekly Friday Eucharistic Adoration into Perpetual Adoration, 24/7. The exterior design of the new Narthex will offer: A more visibly sacred appearance to mark our church and campus as a place of prayer and faith in our community; A more efcient and effective way to comfortably heat and cool the gathering space than our current narthex. Our parish family has always responded generously in the past for important initiatives and I am condent we will be able to achieve all we are hoping to in this new project, as we bring others to share our excitement and sense of purpose.
RENDERINGS
$100 Million
The Embracing Our Mission ~ Shaping Our Future capital campaign has been initiated to ensure lasting service to the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the community we serve.
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Archdiocesan Schools
Catholic Charities
Evangelization $3 Million
Sharing the truth of Gods love and life with our children, as well as those who may be struggling with their relationship with God is central to the growth of our Faith.
Archdiocese of Baltimore 320 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 410-547-5356 Fax 410-625-8485 www.archbalt.org/giving
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