Mission Statement
Sacred Heart Parish seeks to create a nurturing community where the love of God guides our futures, enriches our families and enables us to care for our brothers and sisters.
Registration
Please register as soon as possible. Membership is a condition of the Sacraments of Baptism, First Reconciliation, First Eucharist, Confirmation, and Marriage. Registration is also required before the parish can issue a sponsorship certificate for those asked to be sacramental sponsors. You must be registered for at least three months before a certificate will be given. Registration forms are available in the commons of the church and at the reception desk.
Guide to the Church’s Statues & Stained Glass
Statues in the Sanctuary
(Hand-carved in Italy from linden wood)
Mary, the Virgin Mother of Jesus (front left)
St. Joseph (front right)
St. Joseph was the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus. He was a carpenter who, despite his humble means, was a descendant of David, the greatest king of Israel.
St. Isaac Jogues (left side front)
St. Jogues was one of the heroic Jesuit missionaries canonized as the Martyrs of North America in 1930. From 1636 he worked successfully with the Hurons in Quebec. In 1642 he was imprisoned and tortured for a year by the Iroquois, then captured by the Mohawks & beheaded in 1646.
(Source: The Wisdom of the Saints—Biographical Notes)
St. Kateri Tekakwitha (left side back)
Kateri was born in 1656 of an Algonquin mother and a Mohawk chief in the Mohawk village of Canaouaga (now Auriesville) in upstate New York. At age 19, she converted to Catholicism, taking a vow of chastity and pledging to marry only Jesus Christ. Her decision was very unpopular and some of her neighbors started rumors of sorcery. To avoid persecution, she traveled to the Mission of St. Francis Xavier, a settlement of Christian Indians in Canada. While there, Kateri taught prayers to children and worked with the elderly and sick. She was known for her great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Cross of Christ. She died of smallpox on April 17, 1680, at age 24. She became the first Native American Saint in the United Stated on October 21, 2012.
(Source: http://www.katerishrine.com/kateri.html)
St. Francis of Assisi (right side front)
The most universally known and beloved of all saints, Francis was born to a wealthy silk merchant. He spent his youth in pursuit of pleasure and glory in war and had an idealized, chivalric image. He was captured in battle, imprisoned and suffered a serous illness which changed his temperament. He had compelling visions of Christ and began to devote his life to serving the sick and poor. After a break from his father, Francis turned to a life of absolute poverty and simplicity, wandering through the world calling all to the practice of charity and penance. In 1224 he received the stigmata, the five wounds of the crucified Christ.
(Source: The Wisdom of the Saints—Biographical Notes)
Sacred Heart of Jesus (right side rear)
Statues in the Day Chapel
(From the original Church located in downtown Southport.)
The Blessed Mother The Sacred Heart of Jesus
The Stations of the Cross
Altar, Baptism Fountain and Holy Water Font
(Made of empress green marble quarried in Italy.)
Stained Glass in the Sanctuary
(Designed by Father Methodius Telnack, O.C.S.O)
Over the Altar
The rose window is Jesus, the Divine Mercy, from Sister Faustina’s vision.
The three right windows represent the seed, which becomes the wheat, which becomes the bread, which is the Body of Christ.
The three left windows represent the water, which becomes the grape, which produces the wine, which is the Blood of Christ.
In the Clerestory
(Windows in the upper portion of the walls to supply natural light.)
The front four windows on either side of the clerestory are based the hymn “Mary the Dawn” written by Paul Cross in 1949.
Right side (1st – 4th) Left side (1st – 4th)
Mary the Dawn Christ the Rose blood-red
Christ the Perfect Day Mary the Rose-Tree
Mary the Gate Christ the Have’s Rest
Christ the Heavenly Way Mary the Beacon
The back five windows on either side are based on invocations in the Litany of
the Sacred Heart, promises of the Sacred Heart.
Right side (5th – 9th)
Heart of Jesus, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom & knowledge
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills
Heart of Jesus, formed by the Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mother
Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts
Heart of Jesus, in whom dwells the fullness of divinity
Left side (5tb – 9th)
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance
Heart of Jesus, our life and reconciliation
Heart of Jesus, abode of justice and love
Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High
Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness
Stained Glass throughout the Church (from the original sanctuary)
Transepts
The areas set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform (cross-shaped) church.
Right Transept / Day Chapel
(from left to right)
Sacred Heart Nativity
Jesus with Children Loaves and Fishes
Wedding Feast at Cana Good Samaritan
Lamb of God (in vestibule)
Left Transept
(from left to right)
Last Supper Jesus Praying in the Garden
Crucifixion Resurrection
Mary, Mother of Sorrows Sacred Heart (visible from outside)
Gathering Area
Jesus teaching in the Temple (entry, right) Jesus with the Children (entry, left) Easter Lilies (either side of Columbarium door) Statue of the Madonna Della Strada (Our Lady of the Way) (in the courtyard at the rear of the Church, from Italy by Ferruzzi) Whoever Welcomes One Such Child in My Name Welcomes Me Mary Mother of God, Protect the Unborn Dedicated in Loving Memory of the Unborn Sacred Heart of Southport Knights of Columbus Council #12537 Columbarium & Memorial Garden The Columbarium and Garden are outside the Church, through a door on the left side of the Gathering area. A statue of an Angel watches over its four vaults, with a total of 250 niches, each niche is able to hold two urns. ______________________________________________________
The current sanctuary was consecrated in November 2003 by Bishop Gossman.
This pamphlet is dedicated to the generous Parishioners of Sacred Heart who made this possible,
and particularly to the Building Committee, their chairperson, Bob Kleid, and Father J. Douglas Lawson.
Front page artwork by Juliet White