CHESAPEAKE CITY, Md. — Tucked between Elkton to the north and Middletown, Del., to the east, St. Rose of Lima Church in Chesapeake City has gone about its business of serving the faithful in Cecil County for 150 years. On June 30, the church will celebrate a milestone.
St. Rose, a mission of St. Joseph Parish in Middletown, will celebrate its sesquicentennial with Mass and dinner. Bishop Koenig will celebrate the 4 p.m. Mass and get to meet some of the folks who have made the church their spiritual home for many years, or, given the growth in the area, perhaps just a few.
Bishop Thomas A. Becker, the first bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington, blessed the cornerstone of St. Rose of Lima on Aug. 30, 1874. Early parishioners arrived by steamship.
Larry Ortt is a fifth-generation member of the church. Many of his family members are buried in the cemetery behind St. Rose. He noted that the church has never been a parish of its own.
“We were Old Bohemia. Then they moved it to Middletown,” he said. “At one time, they transferred us to Elkton, to Immaculate Conception.”
Ortt, 79, moved with his family from Baltimore to Chesapeake City soon after he was born.
“I started serving on the altar in 1957,” he said.
Ortt joked that Father Chris Hanley, a diocesan priest who was once assigned to St. Joseph’s in Middletown, told him he was the second-oldest altar server in the country, “and the first one just passed.”
St. Rose didn’t have running water inside until the 1960s, he continued. There were two outhouses behind the church, and someone used to bring a jar of water to use during Mass.
Parishioner Bette Luzetsky noted that the church used to have fireplaces on either side, but those have long been covered. An addition on the rear of the building gave St. Rose space for a small office and a bathroom, among other things.
“It was just the original church and a little cubby hole,” she said.
Luzetsky lived right down the street from St. Rose. She said her mother used to set out the altar cloths and led the altar society.
“We would walk to the church. My mother had the keys to the church. She cleaned the church,” she said.
St. Rose of Lima has a certain charm, they said. Parishioner Cathy Sawdon, who helped organize the 150th anniversary celebration, called it “very homey. When it’s the sign of peace, it’s really, really sweet.” Everyone knows each other, and as is the case in most churches, they typically sit in the same pew.
There are two Masses each Sunday, at 8 and 9:30 a.m. They also have an 8 a.m. Mass on Tuesday mornings.
Eileen Viars was married at St. Rose in June 1964. She recalled that there was no air conditioning, and it was quite warm that day.
“We got married on the 27th. My husband’s fingers had swollen up, and I couldn’t get the ring on,” she said.
She likes the familiar feeling she gets there.
“It’s a small church. We all love one another. It’s a great church. It’s warm. It’s friendly,” Viars said.
She recalled that a priest once told her she should go to St. Joe’s so she could meet new people.
“I said if I wanted to meet people, I’d go to the 9:30 Mass instead of the eight o’clock. I want to be here,” Viars said.
Luzetsky said St. Rose used to boom during the summers when people would spend the season at their cottages. That still happens, but there also has been an influx of people moving into the area, both younger and retirees.
Ortt graduated from Salesianum School, and he remembers the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales coming from nearby Childs to say Mass. He said he was an altar server for one of his teachers, which was a bit awkward.
A few congregations of religious sisters used to call Chesapeake City home, including the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil, whose property sits up a small hill directly behind St. Rose. The sisters operated an orphanage, and the children used to come to Mass at St. Rose. The nuns have been gone for several years.
Sawdon said they are excited to have Bishop Koenig come for a visit and hope others will take the opportunity to see St. Rose of Lima.
“It’s going to be nice,” she said.
Ortt said the church is on solid ground. “The only thing we have to do is bring a jar of water to church on Sunday and start the oil burner.”
