Local

The diocese’s smallest parish

Dave Borowski | Catholic Herald

Our Lady of the Valley Parish in Luray is one of the smallest in the Arlington Diocese.

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The crucifix and tabernacle at Our Lady of the Valley Church in Luray.

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Our Lady of the Valley Church in Luray is home to a small but generous community.

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For a town of only 4,800 people, Luray has a lot of churches.
They’re all Protestant denominations, from Baptist to
Episcopalian, except one Catholic church – Our
Lady of the Valley
. It serves a congregation of just over
200 people and draws parishioners from all over the Page
County area.
The population of Luray grows in the summer when tourists
visit the nearby Luray Caverns or hike the Shenandoah
National Park or drive Skyline Drive. The peak season for
tourists, and parishioners, is from early spring until the
final leaves of autumn lose their color and drop from the
trees. The winter brings attendance back to its base of 205,
but the nearby Massanutten Ski Resort adds some worshippers
during ski season.
The parish is small enough that its pastor, Third Order
Regular of St. Francis Father Christopher Lemme, can handle
just about everything. He does it all, including cutting the
grass on some of the land that surrounds the church and
rectory.
“It’s a one-man shop,” laughed Father Lemme.
In the mid-19th century, Mass was celebrated in private homes
by priests from Winchester. At the beginning of the last
century, the few Catholics in Luray made the 50-mile round
trip to St. John the Baptist Church in Front Royal. Travel
was by horse-drawn buggies, so going to Mass was a labor of
love.
In 1951, there were just 36 Catholics in the Page County
area. The Redemptorist Fathers from the Holy Infant Mission
in Elkton were invited by Richmond Bishop Peter L. Ireton to
start a mission church in Luray. In addition to Luray, Elkton
supported missions in Stanley, Shenandoah, Grottoes and
Charlottesville.
The fledgling Luray parish met in the Rotary Room of the
Mimslyn Inn in Luray. Bishop Ireton gave special permission
for the Blessed Sacrament to be permanently reposed in a
meeting room at the hotel. Religious education classes were
held at the Page County Bank building. The Richmond “Trailer
Chapel” priests helped out by providing mobile opportunities
for worship.
By 1953, a group of parishioners wanted to buy 10 acres of
land to build their own church. It wasn’t easy being a
Catholic in rural Virginia in the mid-20th century. For one
thing, no one wanted to sell land to Catholics to build a
church. As a way to get around this discrimination,
parishioners Michael and Theresa Kopec bought the land as
individuals and donated it to the Richmond Diocese.
The following year, Bishop Ireton dedicated the completed
church. Three hundred people attended the dedication.
Redemptorist Father Robert Smith served as founding
pastor.
In 1968, the Redemptorists, citing declining vocations, asked
Bishop Ireton to be relieved of their parish
responsibilities. Richmond diocesan priests starting with
Father Robert O. Hickman served the parish until the
Arlington Diocese was formed in 1974. In 1976, they became an
independent parish and Father Charles Ryan became the first
Arlington diocesan pastor of Our Lady of the Valley.
The Third Order Regular of St. Francis fathers assumed
responsibility for the parish in 1992 and Father Gervase Cain
was the first pastor.
Father Lemme came to the parish in 1998 as associate pastor
and in 2000 was named pastor.
Page County is poor. More than 12 percent of the population
falls below the poverty line. Many of the local industries
have left taking jobs with them.
“Place after place has been going under,” said Lori
Gallagher, a parishioner who runs the church website.
Gallagher said that places like the Wrangler plant have
either closed or are have severely cut back employees.
Poultry plants, including Pilgrims Pride, once a mainstay of
employment, have left the area or reduced staffing.
Many residents are retirees living on fixed income and they
come to Luray to find God’s country and a less expensive
lifestyle. They make up a large portion of the parish.
Father Lemme said that parishioners are generous even in
these tough economic times.
“Our collections haven’t been affected,” he said. “They’ve
remained steady.”
In fact the parish recently donated $500 to help people in
Somalia.
There is a history of generosity at the parish. In 1973,
through the donations of parishioners, the parish retired the
mortgage.
The parish and the Third Order Regular of St. Francis are
supportive of a low-cost thrift shop in Luray called Page
One, founded by Father Ryan. The order donates $10,000 every
year to the thrift store. Parishioners donate items for
sale.
The parish partners with other churches in the area to
support Page One. The ecumenism extends to other activities
including an annual prayer for peace.
There’s an active pro-life ministry supported by the
20-member Knights of Columbus council. The Knights donated a
memorial to the victims of abortion and it sits in front of a
statue to the Blessed Mother, the church patroness.
The parish buses parishioners to the March for Life and has
an annual program called 1,000 Rosaries for Life to support
an end to abortion. Parishioners have prayed 1,022 rosaries
in 2011.
They’re small but active.
The parish celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2004 and
Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde celebrated Mass. In a
congratulatory letter to the parish the bishop wrote, “Your
parish has developed into a faith-filled church community,
encompassing today more than 300 square miles, serving 100
families and the many visitors to the valley from a diversity
of backgrounds, nationalities and cultures.”
Father Lemme and his predecessors have worked hard to build
the faith-filled community Bishop Loverde wrote about.
“It’s small and I know everybody,” Father Lemme said. “The
people have been good to me in everything I do.”

Next week’s
profile

St. Michael in
Annandale

 

Quick facts

 

Our Lady of the Valley
Church

200 Collins
Ave.

Luray, Va.
22835

540/743-4919

 

Pastor:Fr. Christopher Lemme,
T.O.R.

DRE: Elizabeth
Hutchens

 

Mass
Schedule:

Sat.: 5 p.m.
vigil

Sun.:  9 a.m., 11
a.m.

Weekdays: 8 a.m. (April 1
through Sept. 30), 9 a.m. (Oct. 1 through March
31).

 

Parishioners: 205

 


 

 

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