A Treasury of Devotion
St. Mary, Laurinburg
Sister Elizabeth Bullen, I.H.M., has been Pastoral Administrator of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Louisburg, NC, since 1999. “I have a dream,” she says with a smile, “of creating a map that shows all the different places our community has attended Mass in its history.” Those locations would include, prominently, the chapel at Louisburg College, as well as the local Episcopal church, the Moose Lodge, a public school cafeteria and the house where Sister Bullen is currently living.
Catholics have been worshipping in Louisburg since the ‘60s, when priests would come to minister to college students. Often they came from St. Catherine of Siena in Wake Forest. “We consider St. Catherine our mother parish,” Sister Bullen says. Our Lady of the Rosary has also received priestly ministry over the years from members of the Dominican Order. The parish, which began as a migrant ministry with 25 families, was officially recognized in 1999, but its canonical status is that of a mission church.
The present church, in a rented building south of downtown, serves as the worship site for some 200 families, about 60% of them Hispanic. It has been home to Our Lady of the Rosary for three and a half years. Father Scott McCue, Assistant Principal for Spiritual Life at Cardinal Gibbons High School, celebrates two Masses there on Sunday, one in English and one in Spanish. The Spanish Mass is often standing room only. The parish is proud of its vibrant youth faith formation program; in a recent year, 17 young people from Our Lady of the Rosary were confirmed.
Everything in the sanctuary of the present church is donated. The tabernacle came from St. Bernadette in Butner. The ambo was handmade by the father of a Louisburg College student; the man came from New York with tools and wood and built it in the parking lot. St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Raleigh has also been a benefactor, helping to establish a food pantry in the parish center and donating soup kits to help feed the poor.
Our Lady of the Rosary is the only Catholic church in Franklin County. It is also a “pilgrim” church in search of a permanent home. Land was purchased for a future church close to downtown, but the costs associated with building there were prohibitive; now that land is for sale. Meanwhile the Diocese of Raleigh has purchased 20 acres north of town in hopes of a church being built there at some future date. “In God’s time,” Sister Bullen says.
Meanwhile, she says, “It’s a great joy to be part of bringing people together, and of seeing our people’s commitment and unity in building up the Body of Christ.”