Archbishop 'goes home' to St. Ann for golden Mass

By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald

Archbishop Gregory Aymond regularly celebrates anniversary Masses at church parishes across the Archdiocese of New Orleans, but the 50th anniversary Mass Nov. 7 at St. Ann Church and Shrine in Metairie held a special personal significance.

When Archbishop Aymond served as rector-president of Notre Dame Seminary in the 1980s and ’90s, he had no standing weekend assignment, so he assisted founding St. Ann pastor, the late Msgr. Charles Duke, by celebrating at least one and sometimes two Masses each weekend to help out in the growing parish.

Archbishop felt at home
“We come together to give thanks to God, and I do personally because I claim St. Ann as my parish,” Archbishop Aymond told the packed congregation inside the three-winged church that incorporates into its sacred space the National Shrine of St. Ann. “I remember many of you from those days, and it’s great to be able to return home. You are truly a parish that is anchored in hope and expresses deep faith.”

Father Billy O’Riordan, pastor, delivered the homily and gave an overview of the parish, which was established on March 1, 1971, under the name St. Ambrose by Archbishop Philip Hannan on property purchased in 1962 by then-Archbishop John Cody.

The parish territory was carved out of St. Philip Neri and St. Clement of Rome parishes, and the first Mass was celebrated at Alice Birney School on March 4, 1971. Weekday Masses were initially celebrated at Leitz-Eagan Funeral Home on Veterans Memorial Boulevard, and one wedding “that we know of” was celebrated in the chapel of the Daughters of St. Paul bookstore, Father O’Riordan said.

St. Ambrose, the fourth-century bishop of Milan, was a brilliant theologian and “important ecclesiastical figure” who wrote, “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks (to God),” Father O’Riordan said.

On March 1, 1973, Archbishop Hannan renamed the parish St. Ann and also designated it as the relocation site of the national shrine of St. Ann. The current church facing Transcontinental Boulevard was dedicated on Oct. 9, 1976.

St. Ann School opened in 1975 with Ann Rotolo serving as first principal along with the assistance of the Salesian sisters. Including preschoolers, St. Ann School has an enrollment of nearly 1,200, making it the second-largest Catholic elementary school in the archdiocese, Father O’Riordan said.

Referring to the first reading from the Book of Kings about the widow preparing what she thought would be her last meal for the prophet Elijah and the Gospel passage about the widow placing her two coins in the temple treasury, Father O’Riordan said the parish grew through the parishioners’ faith and small acts of sacrifice over many years.

“St. Ann Parish has not achieved greatness by a few great deeds, but by a lot of little ones, and many people with the generosity of the poor widows continue to ‘give till it helps,’” he said. “The diversity of ministries that go on behind the scenes on a daily basis truly amazes and astounds me, as well as the generosity to the poor and in times of despair for those who have suffered devastation from hurricanes.

“With the difficulties that COVID-19 has brought us, St. Ann parishioners and friends are always coming to the rescue and giving until it helps.”

Ministry to the poor
Father O’Riordan said he has been particularly overwhelmed by St. Ann’s ministry to the poor – the St. Anthony Ministry – which operates solely on donations left in the poor box or sent to the parish.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “It’s basically like a St. Vincent de Paul. All of their help comes from people donating to the poor box. In this past year, I think it amounted to $66,000 helping the poor.”

Father O’Riordan also is proud of the parish school, which was headed for many years by principal Susan Kropog and now is run by Lindsay Guidry.

“The school ultimately is the greatest mission of the church because of how large it is,” Father O’Riordan said. “Lindsay has a great team, which was set up by her predecessor. They have this team of leaders, and they do an amazing job.”

That cohesiveness and unity was displayed recently at the school when fourth-grader Abby Douglas – at St. Ann school for just two months – was tragically killed after the car in which she was riding was slammed into by a drunk driver. The school rallied by providing counseling to the students, and Abby’s family made the decision to donate her organs to save other lives.

“Lindsay was telling me it’s a difficult time for a child to come into the school because other kids at this point have made their friends,” Father O’Riordan said. “But Abby made herself present, and even the kitchen staff knew her by name and knew what she liked in terms of food. She told her mother and father that she needed a rosary because she wanted to become a Catholic. And then, this happened.”

Father O’Riordan was able to anoint the child at the hospital.

“The mom kept asking, ‘So is she a Catholic now?’” Father O’Riordan said. “Three times we told her, ‘Yes, she is.’ And then she told her, ‘Well, Abby, you are a Catholic now, and that’s what you want. So you can go to God.’”

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