MORGANTOWN — The Rev. John Di Bacco was intoning the universal Prayer of Home Renovation on Sunday afternoon in Star City.
Universal, with a couple of tossed-in tweaks apropos to this particular home renovation project.
Paraphrased, it went like this:
So it isn’t April, but that’s OK. We’re dealing with it.
Bless the people for being generous (and I don’t have to tell You, they’re always generous).
And God, am I ever glad we’re almost done with this thing.
Amen.
Let it be known that the shepherd was smiling and shaking his head the whole time.
That’s because Sunday was a celebration at St. Mary Roman Catholic Church, where Di Bacco serves as parish priest.
A pre-celebration, anyway.
For the last couple of years, the church, a once-box-shaped structure sitting off tree-lined University Avenue in Star City, has been in the midst of a major renovation project.
The price tag could inch near the $4 million mark when work is finally complete over the next several weeks.
Parishioners kicked in the money as part of a capital campaign entitled, “Honoring Our Heritage.”
The campaign, he said, made for “lots of envelopes” in the collection basket.
Extensive roof repairs were part of the work. So was the installation of a distinctive bell tower out front. Classrooms and office space were also added.
A new narthex, the traditional entry area that also serves as an informal gathering space after Mass, is part of a 5,100-square-foot addition.
On Sunday, the asphalt was still fresh in the parking lot, and Town of Star City work permits were still pasted to the windows.
Inside the narthex, its walls lined with windows, parishioners and others gathered for the open house heralding the project, as Di Bacco said, that is almost there.
The church has been celebrating Mass in an adjoining assembly room while the work has been ongoing.
Last April was set as the original completion date, Di Bacco said, but the marble baptismal font from Italy has yet to arrive.
Same for the altar, and the ambo — the lectern where Gospels are read and prayers are intoned. Those are still under construction in California.
Debbie Marano was among the parishioners who turned out Sunday.
Like molecules and atoms, they clustered, as people do in such settings.
They drank coffee and iced tea while munching on cookies from a multitude of plates brought in for the occasion.
They laughed, told inside jokes and shared cellphone snaps of far-off kids and grandkids.
More than a few mused if WVU’s football Mountaineers really do have a prayer for the Big 12 Championship this season.
Marano has been attending Mass here for 30 years. Her daughters were baptized here and married here.
No matter what happens in the Vatican or the local diocese, parish life, Marano said, is eternal.
“We get to see the cycles of everyone’s life,” she said.
That formula — of people and the parish — is one that never fails, said the St. Mary priest, who earned a chemistry degree in college before the alchemy of faith took over.
Di Bacco ducked into a back pew as the Open House was winding down. He leaned his head back for the briefest of moments.
And there it was again: The guy was smiling.
Tweet @DominionPostWV. Email jbissett@dominionpost.com.
