June 5, 2010 was a day of great celebration as 900 people shared with Bishop Edward Kmiec, Bishop of Buffalo, in the dedication of the new St. Mary's Church. After 6 years of much hard work involving hundreds of parishioners we celebrated our First Mass. This has allowed us to expand our ministries and reach out to the Catholic families of the area. The Dedication committee produced an excellent book containing explanations of the building and various artists who helped us. We also are finishing a DVD of the 2 hour ceremony with an abridged version available soon. If you get a chance stop in and visit us during the weekdays or on Saturday or Sunday all day.
These are exciting day for all of us. I invite you to visit us at one of our weekend Masses. We have combined the Sunday 10:30 and Noon Masses into an 11:15 a.m. Mass. With our addtional rest room facilities, a nursery and a Children's Liturgy of the Word during the 9 a.m. Mass, we are able to reach out to families who attend Mass here and bring with them some wonderful young people.
In 1840, Father John Neumann suggested to the Catholic Community of the Transit (known as Swormville since 1849) that if you have a log cabin church you should be able to get a resident priest. This happened in 1850. From the lob cabin the parish ancestors bought the current property on Stahley and Transit Rds. and built our current church with the help of the 80 families of the parish. These included soldiers returning from the Civil War who helped complete the church in 1866. It is here that we have worshipped since.
As pastor I welcome you to visit our parish community as you are reviewing our website. St. Mary’s is located on the border (Transit Rd.) between Amherst and Clarence about 7 miles north of Interstate 90 and 5 miles north of Main St.
Our parish strives to be a "warm and welcoming" community inviting all to join in our Eucharistic celebrations as we give praise to God for our blessings. We are a community of 2,400 families with an average age of 32. St. Mary’s was basically a farm community until about 1970 when the Ransom Oaks subdivision was being started. We are one of the few parishes of the whole United States that began with the prayers of a German missionary priest John Neumann who was canonized a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in 1977. What he started with saying Mass in the Jacob Herberger house in the area in 1836 has led to St. Mary’s being the 14th largest parish of the 190 in the Diocese of Buffalo.
During the past year, 140 children received the Sacrament of Penance, 160 children celebrated First Communion, and 120 teens received the sacrement of Confirmation. We have a very active RCIA process and we recently welcomed several individuals into the Catholic Church this Easter season. We have a dedicated staff of religious and lay leaders here at the parish who come together to bring their time, talents, and treasures to share with the People of God.
Check out the current bulletin and learn more about the parish on the Web site. There is much to discover about St. Mary's -- our school, faith formation programs and youth ministry. If you have any questions, please let me know. May God bless you and your family.
Rev. Robert M. YetterPastor of St. Mary's Parish
