Lockport Hibernians celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at St. Patrick’s church, possibly for the last time, on Tuesday.
Hibernian traditions were maintained all the way through the solemn celebration of Ireland’s patron saint and the subsequent tribute to Irish natives who helped build the Erie Canal and settle the communities along its path.
Members of the local chapter of Ancient Order of Hibernians stood guard outside St. Patrick’s church prior to the noontime Mass, recalling the order’s original purpose: guarding Irish-American Catholic churches and clergy against nativist threats.
Cued by the music of piper Joe Baschnagel, the Mass began with a procession toward the St. Patrick’s sanctuary. The Cross Bearer and the Color Guard led the way, followed by the men of AOH, who took their seats in designated pews to the left, then the women of Ladies AOH-Lockport chapter, who took their seats to the right.
About 70 people, including a smattering of non-Hibernians, took part in the Mass. Noting storytelling is a St. Patrick’s Day tradition, celebrant Father Walter Szczesny encouraged everyone to keep it going by telling their descendants the story of St. Patrick, who was taken to Ireland as a slave, eventually escaped, and returned willingly to advance Christianity on the pagan isle in the fifth century. St. Patrick had hope, Szczesny said; he never gave up.
The so-called elephant in the room — the pending closure of St. Patrick’s church, ordered by the Diocese of Buffalo as part of its “Road to Renewal” consolidation plan — wasn’t acknowledged aloud until the end of the Mass, when Joe Taylor, AOH chapter president, referred to it possibly being the last St. Patrick’s Day Mass at the church raised for Lockport’s Irish families eight generations ago.
“I’d just like to acknowledge the importance of this house to all of us, and all who came before us. … We’re very grateful,” Taylor said.
The diocese in 2024 proposed merging Lockport’s two remaining parishes, All Saints and St. John the Baptist, and closing and selling St. Patrick’s church, where All Saints parishioners worship. A counterproposal from Family 10, of which All Saints and St. John’s are members, would have the parishes merging for the purpose of sharing a priest and other resources while keeping St. Patrick’s church open.
The diocese’s determinations are subject to appeal and ultimately Vatican approval.
Nonetheless, local Hibernians are mostly resigned to the loss of St. Patrick’s church.
“We’re told it’s being closed,” LAOH president Erin Brady said after Mass. “We’re praying for a miracle (but) potentially, yes, this was the last St. Patrick’s Day Mass here.”
Following Mass, the Hibernians formed their annual procession from 76 Church St. to the Big Bridge, a couple of blocks away, to place a wreath in memory of deceased AOH members at the monument dedicated to the Irish immigrants who helped construct the original Erie Canal.
That tradition is also at risk in the event St. Patrick’s church is closed, according to LAOH historian Teresa Kearns. “Are we all going to walk here from St. John’s (on Chestnut Street)?” she asked, skeptically. “We’ll have to figure it out.”