It was a Sunday morning unlike any other in the long, rich Catholic history of the Illinois Valley region. Every hour on the hour, from 8 to 11 a.m., parishioners with heavy hearts gathered June 14 at one of four beloved churches for a final regularly scheduled weekend Mass.

Because the churches are all located in or within a few miles of Spring Valley, a person could have attended all four emotional liturgies. Such a pilgrim surely would have come away from the experience with a profound respect for the present and past members of St. Gertrude’s, Seatonville; St. Thomas More, Dalzell; St. Benedict’s, Ladd; and Sts. Peter and Paul, Spring Valley.

The love these good people have for their beautiful churches, each with a different character, is evident. Built by the sacrifices and labors of their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents — and maintained by their own gifts of time, talent and treasure — the buildings have their own page in the long and continuing story of salvation history penned by our loving God who writes with our hands.

Every stained glass window, every pew, every art piece, every brick or wooden beam, holds and preserves a memory of personal, family, and communal Catholic faith. That visitor traveling to each church last Sunday would have noticed the many names memorialized on plaques and windows — Polish names such as Jagodzinski at Sts. Peter and Paul, for example, or Italian names like Tonozzi at St. Benedict’s. Past parishioners seemed present at each church on Sunday, and our faith tells us we are with those who’ve gone before us to heaven whenever and wherever Mass is celebrated.

The traveling pilgrim would have been emotionally and spiritually moved on several occasions. He would have wanted to console the woman in Seatonville, a senior parishioner, who had to sit down after the exchange of peace because she had begun to sob. He would have marveled at the number of prayer petitions lovingly gathered, bundled, and remembered throughout the year at the perpetual adoration chapel in Dalzell. There were sacks full of the petitions, all symbolically burned following Mass. Of course God heard every prayer.

A lump would have formed in any visitor’s throat when Father Edward Kopec, former pastor at Sts. Peter and Paul, lovingly played the Polish Marian hymn “Serdecsna Matko (Beloved Mother)” on the pipe organ as a Communion meditation, or when Dolly Abney led the assembly in Dalzell in an a cappella rendition of “Amazing Grace.” And while the respective pastors offered many comforting and inspirational words, perhaps the most memorable moment came in Seatonville when, closing a homily filled with respect and gratitude, Father Michael Monclova reminded them “the Father loves you” by borrowing words not from Scripture or the saints, but from a purple dinosaur.

“I love you. You love me,” he sang at St. Gertrude’s. “We’re a happy family. With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you. Won’t you say you love me too?”

He didn’t have to ask. Members had already posted a “We love you” sign and well wishes to Father Monclova on the marquis at the church’s entrance for all passersby on U.S. Highway 6 to see.

This visitor saw it. Yes, this roving reporter witnessed a lot on Sunday morning he’ll not soon forget.

I thank members of the four Illinois Valley faith communities for building up my faith on a day that surely tested their own. I’m also mindful that similar moments of grace and emotion were shared at St. Mary’s Parish in East Moline, where Masses have also been suspended. St. Mary’s, too, has a century-long history and its own page in the story of the people of God in the Diocese of Peoria. As the son of a parish organist, I wish I could have been present to hear St. Mary’s longtime organist bid farewell to the church with her rendition of “The Bells of St. Mary’s.”

While the future of all of these beloved churches is unknown as the pastoral needs of the regions are being studied, two things are beyond question: 1) their members all have key roles in the next page of their regions’ Catholic history, and 2) surrounding parishes are about to be bolstered by some wonderful souls.

May we keep them in our prayers as they transition, and may they be welcomed and appreciated as the gifts from God they have been, are, and will be. — Thomas J. Dermody, editor-in-chief, The Catholic Post