Parish
Our Lady of Mercy Parish is a
Catholic Community whose
The History
of Our Lady of Mercy Parish
The
original parish of 58 families of Our Lady of Mercy was called “The Catholic
Community of Fox Valley” until it was named “Our Lady of Mercy” on August 28,
1988. The parish was so named because of its formation during the “Marian” year
of 1988. At that time, the parish maintained an office in the Fox Valley
Commons on
The
neighboring parishes of Ss. Peter & Paul, St. Thomas the Apostle, St.
Raphael’s and St. Anne’s not only provided the founding families for our
parish, but were ever so generous in many other ways. Ss. Peter & Paul
extended their hospitality by inviting Fr. Tivy to
live in their rectory. Our original Processional Cross was made as a result of
Some
of the memorable “firsts” in our parish are:
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Religious
Education classes started the week of October 17, 1988 and RCIA (the Rite of
Christian Initiation in Adults) commenced October 26, 1988.
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The
first “Coffee and Community” was held following the 9:00 a.m. Mass on October
2, 1988.
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The first parish organization was the Council
of Catholic Women, who had their inaugural meeting on October 18, 1988.
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On
August 28, 1988, John Michael Callahan was the first child baptized in our
parish.
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The
Blessed Union of Joanne Huffington and Roy Murphy was
the first Sacrament of Matrimony celebrated on November 19, 1988.
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Thirty-four
children celebrated their Sacrament of First Reconciliation on December 12,
1988; the inaugural celebration of the Sacrament of First Eucharist was
celebrated when 22 Communicants first received the Body of Christ on April 29,
1989.
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Kristen Joy Fedder
was the first parishioner confirmed at our first Easter Vigil on March 29,
1989.
While
these events are special, the people who serve God by serving others are even
more special in our hearts:
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When
Fr. Tivy was installed as Pastor, he was assisted by
Sister Louise Staszewski, O.S.M. as Pastoral
Associate and Director of Religious Education.
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Deacon
Michael Cook and Deacon Robert Schreiner came to us on March 5 and March 12,
1989, respectively. Deacon Mike remained until his farewell reception on March
17, 1996. He was reassigned to be Deacon at the cathedral parish of St.
Raymond’s in
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Father James Flint, O.S.B., from Procopius
Abbey in Lisle, first came to assist Fr. Tivy in
February 1990 and remained a Weekend Associate until March, 1994.
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On
October 10, 1992, we were blessed with Father Richard Best and Sister Marianne Talian. Fr. Best is our Weekend Concelebrant and Sister
Marianne is a Pastoral Associate and Administrator of Finance. Sister Marianne
had been serving the parish from another location as a volunteer from almost
the start of our parish.
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In
1992,
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Father
Charles Van Duren, Pastor Emeritus of St. Mary Immaculate in
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Father
Kieran Okoro was here October 18, 1998 through
January 1999 while on an educational Sabbatical from St. Michael Parish in
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Father
Al Heidecke was Associate Pastor from early 1999 to July
2001 when he was reassigned to Holy Trinity Parish in
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In
June 2000, Father Tivy was named Pastor of St. Joan
of Arc in Lisle. We are blessed to have Father Hugh Fullmer, who comes to us
from
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Kathy
Grodsky managed our Parish Office all these years
until she left the office in the fall of 2000.
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In
1997,
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In
1999, the parish nurse ministry program began at Our Lady of Mercy with
Marguerite Armstrong, RN, as our first parish nurse.
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In
September 2000, Marguerite left Our Lady of Mercy and was followed by
parishioner,
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Heather
Domanski served as Parish Secretary from 2001 to 2006.
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Father
Pete Jankowski was named Associate Pastor in June 2001 and remained with us
through July 2004.
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We
were fortunate enough to have Bob Vavra, our first deacon, move into our parish
in November 2001.
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In
the summer of 2002 we saw a lot of changes in staff with the introduction of
Jean Bohr as our new Director of Religious Education, and Debbie Moen and
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In
August of 2003,
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On
September 13, 2003, Phil Rehmer was ordained a permanent deacon. Deacon Phil
was the first ordained deacon from our parish family.
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Fr.
Show Reddy Allam arrived from
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We
were blessed to welcome our newest Deacon,
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In
October of 2005, Anne Valdez of the Parish Life Campaign office relocated to
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In
July of 2006
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Ms.
Candy Rice joined the staff to coordinate the Middle School Youth Ministry in
August 2007.
The
first Parish Council had the primary mission to establish the new parish and to
construct a suitable place of worship. On August 17, 1996, Bishop Roger Kaffer, Auxiliary Bishop of
In
2001 planning and fundraising for a