Worshippers celebrate 100 years of tiny chapel

Rock Point site is home to church normally hidden from public view

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photos The St. Francis De Sales Chapel at Rock Point is celebrating its 100th anniversary May 18. The chapel was built in 1908 by the Rev. Joseph A. Myer, pastor of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Issue, to mainly serve the Polish Catholics who worked at the fishery and oyster cannery at Rock Point. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

In the late spring when the trees are leafy and flowers bloom, worshippers began arriving at the chapel to celebrate early morning Mass.

It’s hard to tell by looking at the St. Francis De Sales Chapel at Rock Point that it was once a bustling place of worship where Masses, funerals, weddings, community meetings and learning abounded early in the last century.

Built in 1908 by the Rev. Joseph A. Myer, pastor of Holy Ghost Church in Issue, the chapel was used primarily by Polish Catholics who worked at the oyster canning factory and fishery at Rock Point, according to a church history.

It is said that the church was built specifically for the wedding of Frank Roach and Jenny Lancaster.

The land is still owned by the Lancaster family, but is deeded to the Archdiocese of Washington as long as the chapel is in active use as a place of worship.

The chapel’s 100th anniversary will be commemorated with a Mass at 8 a.m. May 18 in the chapel that is tucked away on Parish Lane off Furbush Road, said the Rev. David Beaubien, pastor of Holy Ghost.

The celebration will feature a reading of the papal blessing and a letter of congratulations written by Archbishop of Washington Donald W. Wuerl, Beaubien said.

Monsignor Bill Parent, pastor of St. Peter’s Church in Waldorf, will also attend the celebration, he said.

Weather permitting, light refreshments will be served following the worship service.

The chapel that overlooks the Wicomico and Potomac rivers was built from timbers taken from the woods surrounding the property, according to the church history. Once, a parish hall and school also occupied the site. The parish hall burned down in the 1990s and it is uncertain when the one-room school disappeared, Beaubien said.

The pews and the kneelers and the bell that tolls early every Sunday morning in the summer from the loft of the chapel, are original, according to the church history.

The parish hall was built in 1910 and along with the hall at Holy Ghost served as the focal point for social activities in the Rock Point, Newburg and Cobb Island area in the early and mid-1900s, including fundraisers, American Red Cross classes and visits by doctors and nurses during the Great Depression.

The primary social event at the St. Francis De Sales chapel was an oyster dinner in the fall, according to the church history. Sunday’s celebration to commemorate the anniversary of the chapel is an important milestone in its history, Beaubien said.

‘‘It’s the 100th anniversary,” he said. ‘‘We want to recognize all of the people who have been part of the parish community and Rock Point all of these years. I’m looking forward to it.”

Celebrate 100 years of worship

Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Issue invites the community to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the St. Francis De Sales Chapel at Rock Point with an 8 a.m. Mass May 18 at the chapel on Parish Lane in Rock Point.

The celebration will also include a reading of the papal blessing and a letter of congratulations written by Archbishop of Washington Donald W. Wuerl.

Light refreshments will be available, weather permitting.

Call the Rev. David Beaubien, pastor of Holy Ghost Church, at 301-259-2515.