St. Nicholas Parish Celebrates

Just before he began the Eucharistic Prayer at 10 a.m. Mass Sept. 14, Father John Brosmer censed the people in the almost-full St. Nicholas Church. He pastors the Santa Claus, Ind., parish, and had just finished censing a new crucifix and newly elevated altar – the centerpieces of a sanctuary renovation.

“I censed what is holy in this sanctuary,” he said before praying; “the altar, the cross, and the people of God.” Shortly thereafter, many parishioners knelt during the Eucharistic Prayer – for the first time in the 18-year history of the parish.  Custom-designed, hand-built kneelers are another important element of the sanctuary renovation.

“Seven years ago, the subject of renovations came up,” Father John said during his homily. “Someone said, ‘you need a crucifix in that church.’ Well, we have one now; and we have raised the altar up; and we have kneelers.”

Renovations on the sanctuary, which dates to late 1996, began in the days after Pentecost Sunday. Planning started much earlier, and involved a number of parishioners.

Father John celebrated the first Mass in the renovated sanctuary on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, which falls annually on Sept. 14 – not always on a Sunday. With a 10-foot-tall crucifix suspended above the altar, the imagery was striking. Parishioners built the cross by hand from cedar, and affixed a Corpus that came to southwest Indiana from Italy.

Father John blessed the new sanctuary as Mass began, and he concluded it by processing with the Blessed Sacrament – from the altar to the new chapel at the back of the sanctuary. The Blessed Sacrament Chapel is another element of the renovation.

The Gospel reading from the Mass included one of the most well-known passages in all of the Bible – John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

“Sacrifice,” Father John said, “that’s what makes us followers of Jesus. When we are faced with decisions in our lives, we must ask how we can give glory and praise to God. We have to imitate Jesus Christ.

“He took the form of a slave,” he continued, turning his gaze to the crucifix suspended above him. “This cross is a victory for us. We must consider how we will handle our crosses in life.”

Humility, he said, is the key. “When we humble ourselves, we become exalted in Jesus Christ.”