Open For One Day

Our Lady of Visitation has been closed for almost two years. Last evening, with the okay from the Archdiocese of Denver, a mass was celebrated. It was one of the two masses allowed by a directive from Rome; two masses a year, one for when it opened and one for Our Lady of Visitation Feast Day.



As they waited for the church to open the people gathered around outside which included Sandy Garcia, a main fighter for reopening the church; Federico Peña, Denver County former mayor; and Dennis Gallagher, Denver's past auditor. There may have been others of distinction present but the once mentioned were the ones I recognized.

People began to gather around five in the evening and were greeted with cookies, hot chocolate and some burritos. When the doors were opened, everyone entered the church and before long all the pews were filled. Many of the regulars, that I remembered seeing when I attended mass at the Little Church, were present. A priest from Holy Trinity Church celebrated mass and he gave a beautiful homily about prayer, humility, love and forgiveness. Two men sang in Latin and as I looked around the church I noticed that saint statues were still in their nooks on the wall. The church is very comforting and reminded me of small churches in New Mexico.

I was happy to see that the church looked clean and kept up. The outside looked freshly painted but I am not sure if it had been recently painted. The inside was clean and if I had not known it had been closed for over a year and a half I would have thought it was a weekly mass. I got  a good feeling that evidently someone has kept the maintenance up and maybe there is a reason; could it be opening soon?  The missals were in the holders behind each pews and I wondered if they had been there for two years or did someone place them there for the mass?

Since two masses a year will be allowed at the church, the next one will be on May 31, 2019. The priest announced that the church would be open for prayer after April 2, 2019, on Tuesdays (10 a.m. - 12 p.m.) and Thursdays (6 p.m. -7 p.m.).  This seems to be a step in the right direction and Our Lady of Visitation will once again enjoy visits from those interested in seeing the opening of the Little Church.

Prayers, funds and persistence are need to continue the fight to re-open Our Lady of Visitation!

May the dream of this parish soon come true!