By JESSE GRAHAM
YARRA Glen community members came together last weekend to celebrate 125 years of faith at the Saint Aloysius Church, with 100 people attending the event.
The 125th anniversary of the church’s dedication on Sunday, 19 July, was a milestone event for the building and its users, according to parishioner, Phillip Roper.
Mr Roper told the Mail that about 100 community members, including priests, and church-users who have since moved away, attended the event and were led in prayer by parish priest Father Arsenio Tuazon.
TarraWarra Abbey’s Dom David Tomlins and former parish priest, Reverend Greg Bourke, joined Fr Arsenio in Mass, which was also attended by Yarra Ranges mayor Maria McCarthy.
“We had a big barbecue afterward, and people hanging around for a few hours,” Mr Roper said.
“It went really well.”
He said the sun came out in the afternoon of the celebration, warming up the visitors after a cold weekend, and a booklet was shared with the attendees, with stories from the history of the church since 1890.
Fr Arsenio and community member Mathew Moxey then cut the cake, which Mr Roper said commemorated the “strong spirit of teamwork” between priests and people in the parish.
As a mission church, Mr Roper said a priest would travel from Heidelberg by horseback in the church’s early days.
The church has been in regular use since its opening, both by parishioners and for weddings and funerals, and had been restored in the past after congregations raised money to maintain the building.
“We’ve been trying to keep it in working order,” Mr Roper said.
A community Mass is held at 7pm on the first Wednesday of each month at the church, while Rosary prayers take place on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month at 6.45pm, followed by a meal.
The church is at 20 Sayle Street, Yarra Glen.
