A decline in parishioners has caused a Pennsport church to merge with another Lithuanian site.
Members of St. Casimir Parish received Holy Communion from Rev. Peter Burkauskas, background, left, at Sunday Mass, one of seven weekly chances for the community to display its faith. A new identity for the 118-year-old parish began two weeks ago with an announcement from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
The canonical Gospels all tell of The Feeding of the 5000, the miracle through which Jesus Christ multiplied five barley loaves and two fish to feed a famished crowd. The members of St. Casimir Parish, 324 Wharton St., likely wish their savior would similarly increase them to strengthen their spiritual home’s identity. They will need to alter their petitions, as the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced the merger of their 118-year-old church with Fairmount’s St. Andrew Parish, July 1.
The combination makes the Pennsport location an alternate worship site for St. Andrew’s 761 registrants. The oldest among three Philadelphia churches serving Lithuanians, St. Casimir will depend on the youngest for assistance.
“I make an analogy that this was the mother, who has turned 118, and now her daughter is going to be helping her. That’s the way families should be,” Rev. Peter Burkauskas, St. Casimir and St. Andrew’s pastor, said Sunday.
Head of both parishes since 1998, he has seen the South Philadelphia spot’s registered figures drop slightly and St. Andrew’s rise significantly. From 2000 to ’10, St. Casimir’s parishioner count fell from 195 to 182, a 7 percent decline, while St. Andrew’s experienced a 59 percent bump by going from 479 to 761 worshipers.
“The decision can’t come as any big shock,” Burkauskas said. “You can see the numbers are dwindling.”
The soft-spoken priest celebrated the 9 a.m. Mass for nearly 40 followers. Though Roman Catholics are going through Ordinary Time, he and the believers know their church is not experiencing a typical period.
“A new chapter has begun, but we are still here,” he said in his homily. “Our doors are still open, and Masses will be celebrated.”
He spoke of this Saturday as a doubly special occasion, as it honors the Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the 118th celebration of the first Mass for Philadelphia’s Lithuanian Catholics at the defunct St. Alphonsus Church, formerly 1400 S. Fourth St. Rev. Joseph Kaulakis, St. Casimir’s founding pastor, presided over that Mass, and the perseverance of his predecessor and other religious figures caused Burkauskas to laud the church as “a monument to Lithuanian faith and devotion.”
He asked for increased attendance at Mass for the acquisition of understanding as the church enters a new phase. It will retain its name but must deal with debt incurred from the Archdiocese’s assistance in allowing the school, which closed the year after, to reach 100 years in ’06.
“We’re still St. Casimir’s,” Burkauskas said, repelling rumors that the space would lose its title and its role as a Pennsport staple. “May the God of peace make you perfect and holy.”
A look around the church proves the deity has enabled its congregants to show their faith through art. The vestibule offers a dazzling depiction of two angels stretching a banner that reads “Iženk geras, išeik geresnis” or “Enter good, leave better.” Impeccable stained glass rests below images of Katharine Drexel, John Neumann, Elizabeth Ann Seton and Francis Cabrini, four prominent American saints, on the left side. Likenesses of St. Pio, the Venerable Maria Kaupas, Blessed George Matulaitis and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta dominate the right side.
St. Casimir served as a royal prince of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and of his native Poland. The Roman Catholic Church canonized him in 1522 and honors March 4 as his feast day. He held a great devotion to the Blessed Mother, and Pope Pius XII deemed him the special patron of all youth in 1948.
The altar’s right side bears an image of his funeral, at which someone placed a copy of his favorite hymn, “Daily, Daily, Sing to Mary,” in his casket. The left shows one of his miracles, the raising of a dead girl at his Vilnius, Lithuania shrine. As one looks up from the pews, the inscription “Wonderful on earth, more wonderful in heaven” sums up the legacy of the saint, who died at 25.
“He is definitely our protector,” Burkauskas said.
The devotees have often needed their patron’s intercession, notably after fires in ’30 and ’51 that necessitated reconstruction. They, however, have not wanted for camaraderie among one another and certainly do not decry their size.
“We’re small but we’re wonderful,” 58-year parishioner Karen Lemba said.
The resident of the 1900 block of South Galloway Street serves as a special minister of Holy Communion and often coordinates flea markets. She noted the church needs a new roof but is happy that come September, it will resume its Fellowship Sundays complete with cakes, cookies, coffee and conversation.
“We will be fine,” she said of the identity change. “We’re people of God and bend to his will.”
Come June, Friday morning Mass at St. Casimir Parish will not be the same. Worshipers always had a chance to hear a crop of angels -- commonly known as the children's choir -- sing heavenly hymns. However, the comforting sounds produced by the cherubs of St. Casimir School, 324 Wharton St., soon will turn into early-morning silence. After a tough decision, the school will close its doors and its students will be displaced. Tears streamed down Cecilia Stevenson's face when she read a letter late last year confirming St. Casimir's fate. Daughter Kelly Ann, 9, and son Robert, 6, attend the school. "My kids have to adjust to a new school and I don't know if any other Catholic school will give them what this Catholic school gave them," Stevenson, of 23rd Street and Passyunk Avenue, said. Small class size is what Stevenson and many other parents admired about the institution, which currently houses 99 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. But it is this very reason why the school is closing. "We were hoping that we would have a bigger enrollment this year," Angelina Clair, St. Casimir's principal, said. "If we had about 145 students, we would...
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