St. Mary experiment works
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
Article by Dan Telvock for The Free Lance Star:
The Rev. Donald Rooney was worried all week as Easter Sunday approached.
The popular Easter Mass yesterday for the 14,000 members of St. Mary Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception was an experiment.
After years of standing-room only Easter Masses, Rooney decided to change the venue to a location without stained-glass windows, an array of flowers or paintings of Jesus.
He was worried the membership might not show up.
But when the doors opened at the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center, Rooney could hardly believe the sight: Several thousand people entered the circle-shaped room.
“This is a phenomenon,” said Moonyeah Jones, as she glanced around the cavernous space filled with more than 3,500 chairs.
