Now, however, that home is closing. Final Masses at Our Lady of the Rosary and at Holy Cross Church in Lewiston, both part of Prince of Peace Parish, were celebrated on Sunday, June 29. 

“It’s sad because we’re losing something good, but we’re also aware of the joy of being together,” said Msgr. Rene Mathieu, former pastor of Holy Cross, who joined other priests who have served there in   celebrating the closing Mass at the church.

“Holy Cross kept us together,” says Claire Therriault, who has attended the Lewiston church through all 84 years of her life. “This is very sad but yet very good because we will always remain a family as Catholics and good Christians. We love our faith, and we love our Church. We will continue on, just in another church, but we will be together in faith and in God.”

“I’m going to miss home. This is home for me,” says Sister Monique Belanger, OP, who began working as a pastoral associate at Holy Cross in 1990 and more recently served as pianist and music director. “This is my home parish. I was baptized here. I’m not sure I’ll find another place that I feel will be home. I’m sad that it had to come to this point, but I certainly understand why.”

The why came down to the cost of maintaining churches built for a different time, when French-Canadian immigrants were arriving in large numbers and when many people still walked to Mass. The Holy Cross community was established in December 1923, with the first Mass in the church celebrated the following September. Originally a mission church run by the Dominican Fathers of Lewiston, Our Lady of the Rosary was built under the direction of Father Thomas Gill, OP, in 1910.

With the closures, Prince of Peace Parish has three remaining churches: the Basilica of Ss. Peter & Paul in Lewiston, Holy Family in Lewiston, and Holy Trinity in Lisbon Falls.

“It was a difficult decision, but financially, it was the right decision,” says James Daigle, Grand Knight of Knights of Columbus Council 13181 from Sabattus, who served on the parish’s transition task force. “We’re getting to a point where we just don’t have the people to support it financially. Unfortunately, that’s what it is. It takes money to run the Church.”

Daigle describes himself as attached to Our Lady of the Rosary but says what is most important is that people continue to practice their faith.

“We’re going to still see each other, whether they go to Holy Family, or they go to the basilica, or they go to Holy Trinity. It will be difficult at first but as long as people continue to attend, even if they go to Auburn, even if they go to another cluster, Winthrop or whatever, as long as they still continue to go and don’t lose their faith,” says Daigle.

As sad as they are, parishioners say they understand the reason for the closings and say they will move forward, taking warm memories with them.

“I was married here. I came to school here as a child. And I taught preschool here. I was on the school board. My husband was on the school board. We were married here. Our children were baptized here,” says Donna Castonguay, who attended the final Mass in Sabattus. “It was just that we were all so close. We still are when we see each other, but life goes on and you move on.”

“I started singing in the choir when I was in fourth grade,” says Mercedes Gastonguay, who has attended Holy Cross Church all of her 82 years. “We’ve always sung in the choir, and [my husband] was a lector.”

 “I didn’t start in the choir in elementary school. I joined much later in life, but I was a lector for over 40 years,” says Jean Gastonguay, Mercedes’ husband.

 Mercedes, a former art teacher, also taught students from Holy Cross School, while Jean, a French teacher, used to help the priests brush up on the language.

“When we had French Masses, a lot of the priests who came here knew French from when they were kids, but I taught them so that they could do a good job at Mass. I did that for quite a few years,” says Jean.

The Gastonguays say as much as they will miss Holy Cross Church, what they will miss most is the community, a sentiment echoed by many in Lewiston and Sabattus.

“We know just about everybody because we were here all our lives,” says Mercedes.

“We love this little church, but it’s the community,” says Connie Chasse, who attended Our Lady of the Rosary for 50 years and spent 24 years working in the office there. “It’s a community is what it is. It is not just people coming to Mass and doing their duties on weekends; it’s a community. We all became close, and now the sad part is that we’re all going our different ways.” 

“It’s talking with friendly people. I have a lot of people that I love, and we enjoy working together,” says Pauline Gemme, who worked with Chasse in the Our Lady of the Rosary office and helped with meals served after funerals.

“I just love the joyfulness and the involvement and just the friendliness,” says Ann-Marie Gagnon, who leads the Holy Cross Choir and has been a choir member since she was 14 years old.

 Those who love the Holy Cross Choir need not worry. The choir will now sing at the 8:30 a.m. Mass at Holy Family. 

“We’re moving over to Holy Family, and I’m OK with that,” says Gagnon. “This area for the choir lends itself to music, so I’m going to miss that, but with that said, we’re trying very hard at Holy Family.”

Parishioners praised Father Daniel Greenleaf, pastor of Prince of Peace, for his leadership during this time of transition. During the final Masses at the two churches, Father Greenleaf urged parishioners to be open to a new church community, saying the closings of Holy Cross and Our Lady of the Rosary are not the end of the story.

“As this chapter closes that has served to keep the faith alive for our families for over 100 years, a new one begins. Please remember that there are beautiful people everywhere in the Church, and keeping our hearts open to love, they just may make their way into your hearts in ways only God knows. But for sure, God does live in the hearts of the people who are in the places we will go to from here,” he said. “I know that it is uncomfortable going to a new place and seeing strange faces. Within time, I hope these strangers become the people you love the most.”