About Us...
On behalf of the over 500+ families and households that make up our parish community, it is with great joy that I welcome you to our faith community!
This Parish has been serving the needs of Roman Catholics in the Camden County area for more than 100 years. Since that time, we have grown in numbers and in need. Enclosed you will find information about our services and ministries which will familiarize as to what we offer, and which you might wish to participate in once you are settled.
Be sure to read on the following: Parish History, Sacred Heart and Saint Lucy History and Blessed Pope John XXIII
Live Long and Prosper in Jesus’ Love,
Fr. Hugh
Overview of Parish History..
We are one parish of two separate churches, a unique arrangement in a diocese with only five other missions. We are St. Lucy of Blue Anchor and Sacred Heart of Cedar Brook. Each cherishes its identity. The mission community is older than the base parish. Our two parts have long commingled, with parishioners comfortable worshipping at each other's church, even inter-marrying. Parishioners appreciate being able to choose from the services --such as religious education-- of both churches.
While many of our elders are of a southern Italian descent, all are welcome. We face certain township growth somewhat inhibited by Pinelands-Wetlands restrictions. Farming is still honored even if not as prevalent as in our past. Some members struggle with financial responsibilities. Growth makes it likely that taxes and the cost of living will rise. Despite our mix of traditional country and suburban new arrivals, we are post-Vatican II Catholics intent on passing on to our children our faith in the risen Lord. It is because of our fundamental belief in God that all in our parish exists, i.e., committees, societies, socials, and buildings.
We are here to continue ministering to the needs of our membership and to the non-Catholic community at large. We see our Christian discipleship as something not to be hidden but to be publicized, not to be hoarded but to be shared, not to be trivialized in private piety but enacted in Jesus' catholic love of all, especially the marginalized. We accord our women their equality and any minority its dignity. We consciously seek clergy-lay collaboration and respect.
Blessed Pope John XXIII...
John XXIII, 1881–1963, pope (1958–63), an Italian (b. Sotto il Monte, near Bergamo) named Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; successor of Pius XII. He was of peasant stock. Educated at Bergamo and the Seminario Romano (called the Apollinare), Rome, he was ordained in 1904. While secretary to the bishop of Bergamo (1904–14) he wrote scholarly works, among them a life of St. Charles Borromeo (completed in 5 vol., 1936–52). Called up for service in World War I, he was first in the medical corps and was later a chaplain. After the war he held posts in Rome and reorganized the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.
In 1925 he was made archbishop and sent as Vatican diplomatic representative to Bulgaria. Later he was representative in Turkey and Greece, and in 1944 he was named papal nuncio to France. There he acted as mediator between the conservative churchmen and the more socially “radical” clergy; he gained popularity. In 1953 he was made cardinal and the patriarch of Venice. He was elected pope Oct. 28, 1958.
As pope, he put reforms into practice: He laid stress on his own pastoral duties as well as those of other bishops and the lesser clergy; he was active in promoting social reforms for workers, the poor, orphans, and the outcast; he advanced cooperation with other religions (among his innumerable visitors were many Protestant leaders, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, the archbishop of Canterbury, and a Shinto high priest).
In April 1959, he forbade Roman Catholics to vote for parties supporting Communism, but his encyclical Mater et Magistra—a vigorous social document issued July 14, 1961, just 30 years after Pius XI's Quadragesimo Anno—advocated social reform, assistance to underdeveloped countries, a living wage for all workers, and support for all socialist measures that promised real benefit to society. Pope John XXIII almost doubled the number of cardinals, making the college the largest in history to that point.
On Jan. 25, 1959, he quietly announced the intention of calling an ecumenical council to consider measures for renewal of the church in the modern world, promotion of diversity within the encasing unity of the church, and the reforms that had been earnestly promoted by the ecumenical movement and the liturgical movement. The convening of the council on Oct. 11, 1962, was the high point of his reign (Second Vatican Council). His heartiness, his overflowing love for humanity individually and collectively, and his freshness of approach to ecclesiastical affairs made “Good Pope John” one of the best-loved popes of modern times. more on Blessed Pope John XXIII
Sacred Heart Church..
By the side of one of South Jersey's busiest highways, the little white church sits proudly before its peaceful cemetery. It has been there since the traffic on the narrow Blue Anchor - Tansboro Road in front of it was almost all horse drawn, and the loudest sound was usually that of wagon wheels crunching on the gravel surface. It has been there since the old Atlantic City Railroad behind it was one of the fastest railroads in the world and more than fifty trains on a busy day passed through the nearby Cedar Brook station.
It has heard the prayers of three generations in times of war and peace, during the general depression and through major changes in the Catholic Church and the lifestyle of her people.
Before Sunday Mass, an altar boy pretends to concentrate as he tolls the bell, happily aware of the envious glances of his peers. Young parents, arriving early, take their children to visit the graves of their great-grand parents. To the newcomer, accustomed to anonymous urban churches and huge suburban parishes, it seems a step back in time to a more leisurely, welcoming way of life. more history
Saint Lucy Church...
Fifty years has not changed the outward appearance of St. Lucy's Church but most certainly great changes have taken place. St. Lucy's is now a parish with Sacred Heart, Cedar Brook as a mission, consisting of about 300 families. Father Bernard Darby is Pastor. Father Robert Craven, Chaplain at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital, is in residence at St. Lucy's. Also, Father Peter Osinski, Diocesan Assistant Director of Vocations, assists weekends at St. Lucy's and Sacred Heart. Our church now provides many services for the faithful: two masses on Sunday, one on Saturday evening, daily and holy day masses. The newly reorganized Sodality of the Blessed Virgin, with approximately 35 active members, has very healthy growth prospects. Diane Fucetola is residing President. To some, these changes may seem insignificant, however to us they mean a great deal. More than fifty years ago, a nucleus of eight people spent long winter afternoons talking about the need for a place of worship in which their children could be baptized and trained in the practice of their 'faith, later married, and their dead could be blessed before burial.
At this time, the few Catholic families in the community were primarily Italian immigrants who cleared the land and created small farms to provide a living for themselves and their families. How can one recount the dreams and aspirations of a few farmers who had left their homeland with the hope of finding a better life 7 They had a great spirit of determination and cooperation. A horse and wagon, their only means of transportation, made attendance at mass a rare occurrence, as the nearest church was Sacred Heart in Cedar Brook or St. Anthony's in Waterford. They wanted a church in Blue Anchor! more history