By Julie A. Miller
Catholic Herald
Diocesan Jubilee Year Mass: What to expect when you arrive in Superior
About 1,500 people from throughout the diocese are expected to attend the Mass, which will be held in the gymnasium at Superior Senior High School at the corner 28th Street and Catlin Avenue. Nineteen parishes have chartered buses to bring members to Superior.
White polo shirts decorated with the jubilee logo will identify ushers, who will be stationed both inside and outside of the building. Some will direct cars into the parking areas in school lots and at Wessman arena across Catlin Avenue from the school.
Ushers will act as greeters at the school's two entrances, which will be marked by brightly colored balloons. In addition, a large jubilee banner will welcome worshipers at one entrance and the jubilee flag will fly beneath the U.S. flag at the other entrance.
Inside the gymnasium ushers will help with seating. The building is handicapped accessible and the Mass will be signed for the hearing impaired. The ushers will be available to help those in wheel chairs locate spaces on the main floor and help the hearing impaired find the special section designated for their use. Later in the Mass the ushers will direct people into lines for Communion.
Three platforms will be erected in the center of the gymnasium for the Mass. The altar will be on the center platform, while the other platforms will hold the ambo and the bishop's chair. Chairs placed on two sides of the row of platforms will provide seating for 800 people. An additional 500 seats will be available in each of two balconies.
Despite the secular setting, a worshipful atmosphere will greet people as they arrive for the Mass. Preludes of sacred music will begin at 2:10 p.m. A pipe organ piece will be followed by performances by the St. Bridget Parish choir from River Falls, the St. Anthony youth choir from Cumberland, the St. Francis Xavier family and gospel choirs from Merrill and the diocesan chorale. The chorale will also lead the congregation in song during the Mass.
The pipe organ has been rented especially for the Mass. In a recent diocesan liturgy newsletter LaMoine MacLaughlin, director of the diocesan chorale, explained the importance of a pipe organ in the liturgy. "Why a pipe organ? Because a millennium of experience has demonstrated that the pipe organ provides the best means of leading and supporting congregational singing."
The day after the Mass, the pipe organ will be available for purchase. Interested churches can contact LeMoine MacLaughlin at 715-948-2829.
The Mass will begin at 3 p.m. with Bishop Raphael M. Fliss and the priests and deacons of the diocese entering the gymnasium in procession. Also in the procession will be a representative of each parish carrying its symbolic basket. The baskets will be placed on tables along the walls to be blessed by Fliss after the homily. For the Jubilee Mass each parish has chosen symbols of its outreach to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. These symbols have been placed in the wicker baskets they received at the Chrism Mass last April.
A collection will be taken during the Mass, with all the money going to the Catholic Relief Services to help the poor and disaster victims worldwide. The money will be taken up to the altar as part of a special intercultural procession of children from St. Francis Solanus School and adults from St. Francis Solanus Parish in Reserve, and St. Ignatius Parish in New Post.
Sr. M. Felissa Zander, a School Sister of St. Francis and principal of St. Francis Solanus School, described the planned procession and explained its symbolism. Two boys and two girls will enter the gymnasium in a circle of life offertory procession while a fellow student plays an Indian flute melody. Wearing traditional Ojibwe regalia, they will carry vessels of burning sweet grass, sage and cedar. When they reach the altar, they will turn to face the four directions, representing the four races. By waving a feather fan, the smoke will be offered to the Great Spirit from all people united in one circle of life.
Zander said five or six Ojibwe girls in a fancy dance processional will come next, dancing to the beat of a drum. Their jingle dress dance gets its name from the traditional dresses they wear. Each dress has 365 jingles sewn on it -- one for each day of the year. They will be followed by adults bearing the gifts of bread and wine and the collected money.
Before and after the Mass those attending will be able to view four displays of photographs on the gymnasium walls. The 84 photos, depicting various events in the diocese, were assembled from the archives of the Catholic Herald by Cathedral parishioner Paul Birch.
Following the Mass there will be a reception with an hors d'oeuvre buffet in the school cafeteria.
The Mass will be professionally videotaped by Pro Video Productions of Duluth, Minn. Tapes will be available for a nominal fee, according to Steve Tarnowski, diocesan director of development. Order forms can be picked up at the Mass.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2000