REGINA | 149
REGINA: Are there any projects that are currently underway?
Canon Wulfran Lebocq: Currently, our project is to install two marble adoring angels on each side of the high altar as well as a beautiful marble pulpit, saved from another closed church.
In the end, we are not here simply to fix windows and boilers, but to integrally restore this church to its former nobility, beginning with the liturgy and ending in contemplation of Our Lord.
REGINA: Would you tell me about the response you have received from the local Irish community?
Canon Wulfran Lebocq: The closure of the church was profoundly discouraging to the local community. It seemed to them that the light of the Gospel was being overcome by the darkness of the world.
Today, church’s resurrection has become a source of great hope and renewal for the faith of the local community, so sorely tried by the increasing antagonism of the modern culture and materialism.
After we had opened daily, we solemnly prayed the rosary before the Blessed Sacrament exposed for the month of October. The people were impressed by the reverence and beauty of the ceremonies, even if the condition of the church was dilapidated.
Many visitors who step into the church for the first time after several years are moved to tears to see such a young and vibrant community totally dedicated to the service of souls and the Church. For some, it is like a passage to a bygone era from their youth. People often share stories and happy memories with us about their receiving the sacraments or attending Mass as students, singing in choir, or listening to the organ play.
To witness some of this again is a true source of inspiration for them, and their subsequent charity has been a grand consolation and motivation for us.