The Church of the Most Holy Trinity has adopted a simple slogan as it celebrates the 200th anniversary of its founding.
"To remember is to understand," said the Rev. Michael J. Kavanaugh. "Our tradition teaches us about ourselves, whether we're talking 200 years ago or 2,000 years ago."
Kavanaugh joined Holy Trinity's staff in January. The parish has spent much of the year preparing bicentennial celebrations, which include a Mass, ball, benefit concert, lectures and feasts.
The celebrations continue through the end of the year, with tours of the church's crypt on Halloween and an Advent celebration in December.
The church, Kavanaugh said, stands as a memorial to one of Georgia's oldest Catholic communities. The present-day building was erected in 1863, after the Civil War and a yellow fever outbreak caused several delays, making it the oldest surviving Catholic Church building in Georgia.
The building has plenty of quirks, which testify to a rich and varied past, Kavanaugh said.
The pews don't quite fit. They were taken from Sacred Heart Catholic Church and retrofitted to the space, a visual reminder of the 1971 consolidation of three downtown parishes.
The crypt includes the ashes of one priest who served at Holy Trinity until 1870, which is unusual, Kavanaugh said, given the church's direct opposition to cremation at the time.
A cornerstone identifies Most Holy Trinity as St. Patrick's Church, the name that fell into common usage, though the church has always officially been known as Holy Trinity, Kavanaugh said.
The church's parish center still bears the name of St. Patrick. The building, which sits catty-corner to the church, houses the church offices and the Immaculate Conception Catholic School, which moved into the space last year.
Enrollment at the school has reached nearly 100 for the first time in 15 years. Last year, only 12 were from families in the church. This year, 34 are.
"The school is essential to what we do here," Kavanaugh said. "This is a good school, too. People are beginning to see that."
The congregation includes about 950 families, many of whom commute downtown, sometimes from as far away as Hephzibah, Martinez, Evans or Aiken.
"They've got old family connections, or they like the style of liturgy and worship, which is a little more high church," Kavanaugh said. "For a long time, if you were Catholic in this town, you were in this parish. That's not the case anymore, of course. But if folks have at any point been a part of this church, they're welcome to come back, even if for the celebrations."
The first, a Mass with the Most Rev. Edwin O'Brien, archbishop of Baltimore, is Friday.
1798: The first Mass is held in a home on Broad Street.
1810: The Roman Catholic Society of Augusta and Richmond County is organized. The Rev. Robert Browne becomes the first resident pastor (1809-11).
1812: Construction begins on a church building.
1814: A church, 24 feet by 49 feet, is completed and consecrated under the name Church of the Holy Trinity.
1818: The parish rectory is completed.
1826: The first convention of the Roman Catholic Church of Georgia is held in Augusta.
1839: Yellow fever hits Augusta. Three Sisters of Mercy attend to 70 patients in the parish rectory.
1850: The Diocese of Savannah is created. Eight priests served an estimated 5,000 Catholics.
1853: Each church member donates 25 cents per month for a new building.
1854: Yellow fever interrupts the collection of funds.
1857: Construction begins on a new church. A volunteer force of 120 men of the parish excavate the foundation.
1861-65: Sisters of Mercy tend to the Civil War's wounded soldiers in the old church.
1861: The Augusta Chronicle reports that the new building is superior to "any church in the southern country."
1863: The new church, 10 times the size of the original, is completed for $42,833.32. Some 7,000 people attend the dedication. The congregation votes to name the building St. Patrick's.
1868: The Jardine organ is installed for $6,000.
1913: Immaculate Conception School opens.
1919: Elaborate stained glass windows replace the 12 original opaque windows along the sides of the church.
1963: $40,000 is spent to restore the church on the 100th anniversary of the consecration.
1971: Dwindling numbers at downtown parishes prompt the consolidation of Sacred Heart, Immaculate Conception and St. Patrick's.
1972: The name Holy Trinity is put back into use.
1993: The organ, one of the largest Jardines in existence and the oldest of its size in use in the South, is restored.
1997: The former home of Mayor Charles DeVaney on Broad Street is bought and made into a rectory. The church is put on the National Register of Historic Places.
1998: Holy Trinity spends $1 million on renovations, including painting, an expanded choir loft, restored stained glass windows, new pulpit, cross and chairs.
2004: The Baird Building catty-corner to the church is purchased for $900,000 to serve as a new parish center.
2008: A pro-life rosary garden is installed at the church.
2009: Immaculate Conception School moves from Laney-Walker Boulevard to the parish center.
2010: Enrollment at the school reaches nearly 100 students. The church celebrates its bicentennial.
Holy Trinity has several events planned through the end of the year. They include:
BICENTENNIAL MASS: 7 p.m. Friday at the church, with the Most Rev. Edwin O'Brien, archbishop of Baltimore, and priests and deacons of the diocese. A reception will follow.
BICENTENNIAL BALL: 7 p.m. Sept. 11 at Augusta Country Club, to include food, entertainment, and music by John Lamb. Tickets cost $75.
FEAST OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL: 6:30 p.m. Mass and 7:30 p.m. dinner Sept. 27. This celebration is in honor of the life of the French priest and saint, an advocate for the poor and the parish's co-patron saint.
BENEFIT CONCERT: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1 at North Augusta Community Center, with drinks and hors d'oeuvres at 6 p.m. The show, featuring Wycliffe Gordon and Friends, will benefit Immaculate Conception Catholic School. Tickets cost $50.
STAINED GLASS LECTURE: 3 p.m. Oct. 31, with Deborah S. Jamieson explaining the iconography of the 15 large stained glass windows in the church. Tea will follow.
CRYPT TOUR: After all Masses Oct. 31 through Nov. 2, a guide will take visitors below the church to view the tombs of the eight priests and one bishop resting under the nave of the altar.
BLACK CATHOLIC HISTORY MONTH WITH JAMES O'TOOLE: Lecture begins after the 10 a.m. Mass on Nov. 13 in St. Patrick's Hall. O'Toole is a professor in the Department of History at Boston College.
ADVENT LESSONS AND CAROLS: 4 p.m. Dec. 5, the church's choirs perform under the direction of Music Director Nancy Sutton. A reception will follow.
Immaculate Conception Catholic School, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2013, is establishing the Immaculate Conception Alumni Association. All alumni are invited to attend a meeting at 6 p.m. Sept. 13 at St. Patrick's Hall of The Church of the Most Holy Trinity, on the corner of Eighth and Telfair streets. Call (706) 589-6112 or e-mail jcookpeace3@hotmail.com for more information.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
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