Benedictine receives grant for Logan parish

Friday, Jan. 09, 2015

HYDE PARK — Benedictine Sister Marilyn Mark was awarded a $2,000 grant from the Oregon Catholic Press to put toward anything related to liturgy for Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish. 

“I found out on the first day of school in August,” said Sr. Marilyn, St. Thomas Aquinas pastoral associate and music director.  “Father Francisco Pires handed me an envelope from the Oregon Catholic Press and I wondered what it could be because I hadn’t ordered anything. But when I opened it, we had been awarded the $2,000.”  

Sr. Marilyn attributes receiving the grant to having a high percentage of Spanish-speaking members among the parishioners at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish. She also said a reason they received the grant was having a lot of parish outreach. 

The parish is involved with the Loaves and Fishes program, which is a joint effort from various organizations to feed families in need. “Our parishioners are involved in stewardship and provide a lot of donations daily,” said Sr. Marilyn. “We served about 70 families for Christmas.”

The parish is fortunate to have professors from Utah State University as music volunteers, said Sr. Marilyn. “There is an orchestra professor who teaches young children to play the violin; his fifth-grade daughter helps him. We also have a pianist/organist, who also plays the violin with her two sons, and assists the children; we have had several violins donated, so the program is growing. There is a professor of clarinet, a published musician and a professor of physics who plays the guitar and piano.”

The parish is also very culturally diverse.

 “We have many people who speak different languages in our parish and who participate in the universal prayer or intercessions,” said Sr. Marilyn.

St. Thomas Aquinas had planned to use the Oregon Catholic Press grant money to purchase a baby grand piano, but recently had a family donate their grand piano, so the grant money will be used to purchase music, replacing the slipcovers on the missalettes, and toward purchasing new hymnals; each hymnal costs $15.50.  

“We are trying to go green rather than throw away papers every few months or yearly on books. Companies that send out paperback missalettes, send out a lot of paper that ends up at the dumps,” said Sr. Marilyn. “Purchasing hymnals with the readings is wise.” 

The grant acted like seed money; after people heard about it they started making donations, said Fr. Pires. “That brought us closer to our goal,” he said, adding that this was the second time he has received an Oregon Catholic Press grant; the first time was when he was pastor of Saint Andrew Parish in Riverton.

The Oregon Press grant is a yearly program; the number and amount of grants may vary from year to year. Any Catholic parish in the United States may apply; the only restriction is that the purpose be linked to liturgy/music. The program has awarded more than $2 million to parishes across the country.