My Dear Parishioners and all People of Good Will,

In these uncertain times, we are all struggling with what the future holds, and the normal means by which we deal with those struggles seem to be taken away from us.  As your pastor, I have a responsibility to provide you with comfort and spiritual guidance.

Because we cannot gather as a community to share, we have to find other ways of sharing our fears, anxieties, joys, and accomplishments.

I realize the announcements of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and the State of Georgia place a burden on all of us who wish to come together to share the Word of God and the Body of Christ as we usually do as a parish community.  For example, it was a difficult decision to keep the church building closed on the weekends, but the chances of large crowds coming on the weekend is much higher than during the week and we are trying to honor the directives of the government and the church to keep people safe.

Fear can be a powerful, debilitating force, especially when those who should provide solutions and understanding, like journalists and government leaders, tend to amplify our fears, rather than helping us deal with them calmly and rationally.  Let us, then, help each other by reaching out to friends and neighbors and by reassuring each other that we are here, together in spirit, if not in body.

Thankfully, in this century, we are able to communicate and pray with one another through video and audio technology.  Many friends and organizations are setting up times to pray together online or on apps.  We are not allowed to live broadcast parish Masses, because if people knew where and when Mass was being recorded, the temptation to go to church and congregate would defeat the purpose of cancelling public Masses.  If you have a suggestion of gathering the faithful to a “virtual” prayer or support meeting, please let us know at smmcc@smmcatholic.org

As we continue with this enforced distance from the sacraments, parishioners are inspiring me to find new and creative ways of gathering the faithful, not physically, but electronically, in addition to the options already available through our website and the archdiocesan website, archatl.com.

I think it was part of God’s plan that this pandemic occurred during Lent, because we can truly commune with Christ “in the desert.”  We really are experiencing the retreat of Lent, not only from daily life and routine, but also from the comfort and certainties of life as usual.

To help preserve a little bit of stability, I will be providing the Scripture readings for Sunday and a short homily in the Homilies tab on our website each week.

Peace,
Fr. Terry Crone
Pastor

Have Beautiful Plants All Summer Long, and support a good cause! Leave behind the hassle of garden centers and planting—shop the St. Mary Magdalene Council of Catholic Women’s Spring Plant Fundraiser!   Orders will be taken through March 26, 2020.  Plant pick up day is April 18, between 9-11 am.

To order online click here: https://www.osvhub.com/st-mary-magdalene-cath-church-1/forms/smmccw-spring-plant-sale

For more information, contact Kathy Holcomb at kaholcomb75@gmail.com or call/text 513.850.1888.

As directed by Bishop Konzen, Administrator of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, in an effort to stem the spread of disease, all parishes in the Archdiocese, including St. Mary Magdalene, will be suspending all public Masses, Communion Services, Stations of the Cross, Adoration, Bible Studies, Faith Formation, Preschool, and all other meetings at our Parish facility until further notice.

Confessions are available individually by appointment.

The Church will be open for individual prayer on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30am – 3pm and Thursdays from 9:30am to 7pm.  The Blessed Sacrament will be present in the tabernacle, but will not be Exposed in the monstrance.

Parish Office hours will be 9:30am to 3pm, Tuesday thru Friday (closed on Monday).

As we will not be taking a collection at Masses on the weekends, but we still have expenses each week, please consider sending your donation to us through Online Giving, bank bill pay, or by mail.  You can find a link to online giving on our website at www.smmcatholic.org. 

For the most up to date information on the Corona Virus and its effects on the diocese, please go to the Archdiocese of Atlanta website at https://archatl.com/covid-19/

In the words of Bishop Konzen, “We can still unite in prayer. We can still care for our neighbors. We are still the Body of Christ. We are challenged to find non-traditional ways to connect with one another. It is a sacrifice, for sure, for all of us to alter our participation in the Eucharist, a sacrifice as unwelcome as it is new. Still, we understand that it is, for the time being, a cross we bear in a spirit of self-denial, an emptying of ourselves in imitation of Our Lord’s privation as He faced His Passion. We know that we can hope in the Resurrection. Let us bring that hope to our neighbors and our communities through our sacrifice, our service, and our prayer.”

Bishop Konzen has granted all Catholics in the Arch. of Atlanta a dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass for March 14-15, 21-22, and 29-30.

Please see the Georgia Bulletin article here that gives further details.

At this time, Masses at St. Mary Magdalene will take place as scheduled.

Click here to learn more:  https://georgiabulletin.org/news/2020/03/pope-francis-names-new-archbishop-for-the-archdiocese-of-atlanta/

Bishop Konzen, the Administrator for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, has sent this instruction to all the parishes:

“Given the ongoing concern over COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, we have decided to suspend distribution of the Precious Blood for the time being. We feel we would eventually have to take this action and hope that taking it early will allay any fears people have now and demonstrate our concern for the health and safety of our congregations.”

St. Mary Magdalene has implemented this directive effective March 2, 2020.

Be assured that Christ is truly present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, completely within either species (the Host or the Precious Blood) or even a tiny particle of the same.  We have low-gluten hosts which we consecrate for those with wheat allergies, but if you have a serious allergy, such as celiac disease, which prevents you from consuming any gluten at all, we can make arrangements for you.  In either case, please speak to the sacristan after Mass so we can make preparations for you.

“The Wild Goose:  Discovering a Deeper Relationship with the Holy Spirit” is the first study.  From the comfort of your homes and neighborhoods gather with other Catholics for 90 minutes per session to grow in faith and community. Each segment has a 22 – 30 minute video with discussion to follow.

Click the link here to sign up! : https://www.osvhub.com/st-mary-magdalene-cath-church-1/forms/the-wild-goose-1 

In 2017 Father Terry said he wanted a mural to be painted on the wall above the glass doors in the narthex.  He described a scene with an open tomb, the stone rolled away, and the resurrected Jesus telling Mary Magdalene, “Do not touch me, as I have not gone to the Father.” I said I could paint the scene, but asked how I was going to get up to the wall? Father Terry said to let him worry about that.

Work started with the shape of the mural and figures, which were designed to fit the style of the church.   Several small-scale drawings were made.   As the first drawings of the mural progressed, Father Terry suggested some details: a few of the apostles, the city of Jerusalem, and Golgotha with the three crosses.  The internet has a wealth of information, including pictures that show how other artists have interpreted this scene, but the church needed its own interpretation.

Beginning in May of 2017, the shape of the mural reflected the arched shape of the windows. It was later changed into a dome shape, and by October, the mural took the shape of the San Damiano cross found above the altar.  The size and shape of the mural and the size of the figures of Jesus and Mary Magdalene were calculated using church blueprints of the wall.

The design was ready, but the wall was not.  The plaster cracks needed repairing, and the wall needed priming, as it had not been repainted since the church was built.  After research and sketching preliminary drawings, a small-scale chalk sketch of the mural with the poses of the two figures was drawn in February of 2017. With a few adjustments for perspective and to avoid the chandelier blocking the view from the ground, in May of 2018, Johnny Holloway taped off the mural shape of the San Damiano cross.  He repaired the cracks in the plaster and primed the wall in the shape of the cross using four background colors.  Father Terry rented a lift and harness.  Painting was underway.

Research continued even though drawing and painting had begun.  Additional information about the time of Jesus helped with the design and painting of the appropriate plants and flowers, birds, clothing, old Jerusalem, Golgotha, the Mount of Olives, gardens with tombs, the topography and soil of Israel, the size and shape of the shroud of Turin, and the sky at dawn.

The decision regarding the faces and poses of Mary Magdalene and Jesus were the most difficult.  An acquaintance who had posed for a past project matched the direction of the pose for Jesus.  But he had passed, and I couldn’t talk to him about the project.  His face became the model for the face of Jesus. He was a carpenter.  The first choice for the face of Mary Magdalene was a doctor at Emory Hospital in Atlanta.  But plans changed when we found a random photo of a woman with a startled expression and the right pose of hands.  Eventually, the original face won out, but the hands stayed.  Two other people agreed to be models for the drawing of the bodies of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.  Jesus is clothed in a replica of the Shroud of Turin.  A soft cloth the size and shape as the shroud was given to the model for Jesus, with the directions, “How would a man put on this cloth?”

The final small-scale figures of Mary Magdalene and Jesus where drawn, and in June of 2018, they were projected onto five feet by five feet sheets of cloth donated by Linda Porter.  Using the big glass doors of the narthex with the sun shining through, the cloth was turned over and the figures were traced with chalk, on the back of the large squares.  After Vince Antonich gave several lessons on how to go up and down in the lift, Vince drove it into place and the painting could finally begin.  The cloth was flipped to the front side, taped to the wall, and the figures were traced again.  The chalk on the back side of the cloth transferred the drawings to the wall.  Adjustments were needed for perspective, figures were redrawn, and painting on the wall started in July of 2018.

The figure of Mary Magdalene was painted first with the random face.  Then the morning sky and the dove representing the Holy Spirit were painted.  The shape of the Holy Spirit needed to be something unique to Mary Magdalene Church.  The dove shape was found in an unusual place.  The shape of a dove had formed in the moisture inside the ached double paned glass above the doors at the entrance to the church.  The shape was not only unique but was also a part of Mary Magdalene.

The outer shape of the mural evolved out of necessity.  The San Damiano cross shape came too close to the head of Jesus.  Father Terry solved the problem.  He suggested a Greek cross shape and drew the adjustment to the San Damiano cross.  That became the final shape of the mural.

Once the sky, Holy Spirit, and Mary Magdalene had been painted, it was time to add many of the background details, including the wall around Joseph of Arimathea’s garden and appropriate vegetation. Also, the face of Mary Magdalene was changed back to the original model.  Bit by bit the mural progressed.  In September of 2018, Golgotha, the tomb, and the old city of Jerusalem were painted.  As research continued and new information came in, Jerusalem was repainted several times.  Also painting of the face and figure of Jesus began.

Parishioners and visitors coming and going through the church gave advice, suggestions, opinions, observations, ideas, and help with decisions.  Their input was greatly appreciated and helped determine many aspects of the mural.  For example, when a balance of color to compliment the large area of blue sky was needed, Kathy Kelly Huey suggested a spring of water, because Jesus is the water of life. This addition balanced the color and fit with the narrative of the earthquake that rolled back the stone.  The earthquake started a spring of water from the rock wall behind the figure of Jesus.  Mayra Marchand printed out the scriptures with references of the scene as told in the books of the Bible.  The poses of the apostles Peter, James, and John coming out of the Mount of Olives were made possible because a visitor to the church agreed to run across the narthex.  David Smith, who had been to the Holy Land, gave input for the shape of Golgotha, the acacia trees, and printed out pictures of the plants from the time of Jesus.

The trees on the mural were growing in Jesus’s time: frankincense, myrrh, apricot, acacia, date palm, olive, and citron.  They are blooming to represent the time of year, Spring, as are the iris, day lilies, cornflower, and flax.  The ripe wheat and grapes symbolize the Eucharist.  The bright white clouds at the top of the mural represent God the Father with rays of light pouring God’s grace down on Jesus.  The Holy Spirit completes the Trinity.

The border for the mural was started in November of 2018. The color of the border was painted to match the color of the windows and door frames found in the church.  Final corrections and the addition of little birds and flowers were made in December.  Vince painted the wall surrounding the mural with a color to compliment the colors of the mural.  Vince gave great advice, many ideas, and without his help driving the lift, the mural would not have been completed.  While the actual painting took six months, the research, ideas, composition, drawings, painting, and border took about 18 months.   I am honored that Father Terry asked me to paint his vision of a mural for Mary Magdalene Church.  I have thoroughly enjoyed painting it.  Thank you to Father Terry and Vince, and all the people who listened and gave advice.  I couldn’t have done it without you.

Cecilia Smith

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