Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, Cullman, will host a year-long centennial celebration of the laying of the cornerstone of the present church building starting this July and concluding the following July in 2013.

The history of Sacred Heart Church began in 1877 when Catholic settlers followed the town founder, German-born Colonel John G. Cullmann, to this area in order to serve their religious beliefs. The parish itself was founded in 1877 by Father James Meurer. The first church was made of wood and served the parish for 36 years. On this same block of land, which had been given to the church by the railroad, there also was a school, rectory for the priest and convent for the Sisters of Notre Dame who arrived to start Sacred Heart Catholic School in 1878. In 1899, five Benedictine sisters arrived from San Antonio, Fla., to serve as teachers for the local students and members of the religious order remained a vital part of the school system until 2005. Their influence has been an important part of Sacred Heart School history.

Benedictine priests began serving the Sacred Heart community in 1888 and have continued to do so since the founding of St. Bernard Abbey in 1891. Current Pastor is Father Patrick Egan, O.S.B., with Fr. John O’Donnell, O.S.B., serving as assistant pastor and Padre José Guillermo Aristizabal as Hispanic associate pastor in residence.

During the course of the coming year’s celebrations, all parish organizations will sponsor events to both provide the community with special ways to celebrate this historic occasion as well as acquaint the parishioners and the community with the work and functions of these groups in the church.

Father Patrick has served as pastor of Sacred Heart since August 2009. A Benedictine priest only for the past three-and-a-half years, he is a native of Florence, Ala., and product of St. Joseph Catholic Church community there. He joined ROTC while attending the University of North Alabama and following graduation embarked on a 30 year career in the U.S. Army, retiring at the rank of colonel in July, 2001. While in service he was posted in Germany for five years and throughout the United States during the other 25 years of his career, including a stint at West Point Military Academy.

His life took a turn about two-and-a-half years before his retirement, when he started to wonder about a religious vocation and felt an inclination to explore more fully the Benedictine way of life. He said he was greatly affected by the St. Bernard monks/priests who served as St. Joseph pastors during his growing up years. He credits the “discipline” he acquired during his Army life with the ability to adapt more readily to the discipline and rules of a Benedictine monk when he entered the Order.

Following his ordination in 2008, he spent time at Ave Maria Grotto prior to being assigned to Sacred Heart Parish.

During the past two-and-a-half years, Father Patrick and the parish council have overseen several major events in the church’s life, chief among these being the project to restore and preserve the present stained glass windows which surround the church building. There is quite a history to the windows themselves before they even came to be installed at Sacred Heart. Seems that the windows were designed by the Von Gerichter Ecclesiastic Studio of Columbus, Ohio, in 1914. Twenty-four of the windows were built in Munich, Germany, but when a couple of them were ready to be shipped to Cullman, World War I broke out in Europe and the windows were buried to protect them until the war ended. They finally were installed in 1920.

The window project has been a real “Sacred Heart Parish family affair”, especially the capital fundraising campaign. Father Patrick, instead of just asking for funds to support this urgent endeavor, made it a point to bring the entire church family right into the process. Every week, the church bulletin featured a colored photo of one of the windows and a written article explaining about the individual or event depicted in the life of the church. One Sunday, Father Patrick presented a homily from the church aisle and visibly brought each person in the pews during that Mass into direct contact with the 24 beautiful windows, artfully detailing their unique designs and historic importance and beauty. Something that parishioners previously might have taken for granted each week suddenly became more “visible.” The windows came to life within the four walls of Sacred Heart.

Needless to say, the fundraising campaign was a major success. Preservation work on the stained glass has been completed and now the three largest windows, called the Rose Windows (which only were supposed to be temporary when they first were installed in 1955) soon will be replaced with windows much more in keeping with the design of the original 24 windows. The restoration work is being done by Bovard Studios of Fairfield, Iowa, a world leader in stained glass creation and restoration. Bovard also is repairing the windows of First United Methodist and First Baptist Churches in Cullman which were damaged by the April 2011 tornadoes.

Father Patrick’s enthusiasm for his ministry to Sacred Heart parishioners has brought about several newly implemented programs which seek to build a sense of “family” among members of the church as well as to develop the spiritual life of each individual more fully for both their benefit and for the entire congregation. Thus, it is that when he left military life he traded the uniform of an officer for the new mantle of “shepherd of the flock” for both Sacred Heart Church and Sacred Heart School members.

According to Father Patrick, the goals of the upcoming centennial celebration are many. “A common thread of the year’s events hopefully will be that by looking back at the roots of Sacred Heart and seeing all that has been accomplished by those who came before, we will be able to look forward to all the tomorrows facing our church community. The entire parish family is being encouraged to take time to reconnect with all that has gone on before. For many folks in the congregation — their parents, grandparents, even great-grandparents — have stood in this same church, or in the wooden one before, and they gave their time, talent, fruits of their labors, spiritually and physically, to make Sacred Heart what it is today. Hopefully even newcomers to our church community can get a sense of the heritage that is Sacred Heart Church. Finally, this celebration will allow our entire parish family realize where we have come from and to honor those on whose shoulders the present parish community has been built. It also will be a time to celebrate our Benedictine heritage which has been one of the cornerstones of our Parish.”

Father Pat’s wish is that the children of the congregation come face-to-face with their religious heritage, so they in turn can pass along to their children the rich and vibrant history which is Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Cullman. By studying the past, he continues, our parishioners can learn what to share with those around them whose lives they influence, whether it be their children and grandchildren or community members outside the parish.

In addition, Father Patrick, with his unique ability for rousing his “troops” and drawing folks in to be part of whatever is going on around him, “hopes that the celebration opportunities which present themselves in the coming year will enable the Sacred Heart parish family to grow together spiritually. The commemorative events should help everyone involved be reminded of the beauty and depth of the life of this place called Sacred Heart Church in Cullman”. His goals during this centennial celebration are two-fold. He wishes the Parish family to be able to say with a heart full of praise “Thank you, Jesus, for our Sacred Heart. Lead us onward to the future.” And then he added with his ever present smile, “Let’s have a lot of fun together, too.”