Celebrating the power of faith and prayer \u2013 along with the raps of a staff on the front doors \u2013 a Mass of Dedication was held at the new Holy Rosary Catholic Church.<\/p>\n
Speaking beneath bright, sunny blue skies, with a light wind, Father Jonathan Molina welcomed those attending the ceremonies, saying the day of the opening had finally arrived after years of construction and decades of preparation.<\/p>\n
Woodland Mayor Tom Stallard read a proclamation issued on March 3 by the Woodland City Council, just prior to the grand opening, celebrating \u201call the Catholic family\u201d in the community, which he hopes will serve the city for decades to come.<\/p>\n
Located at the northeast corner of California and West Cross Street, the new building is able to hold as many as 1,040 people with an additional 98 people in the Adoration Chapel. The old church seated around 500.<\/p>\n
More specifically, the new building unites on one block the Holy Rosary Community Center and Holy Rosary Catholic School as well as the administration offices for the church.<\/p>\n
Construction of the new building began on July 15, 2024.<\/p>\n
Struggling to hold back tears \u2013 and sometimes failing \u2013 Janet Ruggiero, chairwoman of the Church Building Committee, said it was originally estimated that it would take 12 years to build all four structures, something that didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Ruggiero credited Father Jonathan with keeping the faith that the various projects could be done with a continuity bringing together the best of the old church while serving the needs of a growing number of parishioners.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you enter the new church today,\u201d Ruggiero continued, \u201cmay your hopes and desires be met. Early in our journey Father Jonathan reminded us that we as a parish grow together in faith, and in prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she celebrated the day by seeing Christ\u2019s faith in the faces of each of those entering the chapel. \u201cWe are in gratitude to the priests who have served our church in our journey,\u201d she added, especially Father Jonathan who provided \u201cspiritual support\u201d in moving the work forward.<\/p>\n
The main celebrant of the Eucharist was Most Reverend Jaime Soto, Bishop of Sacramento. Also present were Auxiliary Bishop Most Reverend Rey Bersabal, Most Reverend Bishop Emeritus William Weigand, and the dozens of Priests from throughout the Diocese of Sacramento.<\/p>\n
The architects and contractors later presented the church plans to Father Jonathan, who accepted them and then turned them over to Ruggiero.<\/p>\n
\u201cMay grace and peace be with you all in the holy church of God,\u201d Bishop Soto said, speaking in both English and Spanish before the crowd with his words broadcast on an open-air big-screen television along with another television located in the Community Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cDear brothers and sisters, we are gathered here with joy to dedicate a new church by celebrating the Lord\u2019s sacrifice,\u201d he said. \u201cLet us take part in these sacred rites with love and devotion, listening to the word of God with faith, so that our community, reborn from the one baptism, and nourished at the same table, may grow into a spiritual temple and be brought together at one altar and advance from the love of our hearts.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few moments later, Bishop Soto raised his wooden staff and said, \u201cEnter the gates of the Lord with Thanksgiving,\u201d before rapping the doors three times, which were then opened by Father Jonathan.<\/p>\n
Following the services, hundreds of parishioners, guests, and visitors were serenaded by singers as they were ushered into the main hall.<\/p>\n
The new church features a Spanish Mission architecture, similar to the old church, as well as a 74-foot-tall bell tower with a real bell that will ring every hour, stained-glass windows, and an Adoration Chapel\/Daily Mass Chapel.<\/p>\n
The entrance\/lobby room, called the narthex, now seats 25 chairs. It is separated from the main church by glass doors and windows\/panels so people can still see and hear everything from the lobby. The space has also been accommodated to fit people for big celebrations such as Easter, as well as a space for families with young children if they need to step out.<\/p>\n
The narthex also has a rose window featuring stained glass depicting the Queen of the Most\u00a0Holy\u00a0Rosary. The women\u2019s restroom will be on the east side and will include a designated area for mothers, a space for brides or quincea\u00f1eras, and a confessional.<\/p>\n
The altar\u2019s marble top for the ambo and tabernacles comes from the old church.<\/p>\n
Above the sanctuary is a dome\/cupola that features glass windows to let natural light in and complements the different light colors of the stained-glass windows.<\/p>\n
The colors of the star in the middle also tie in with those of the rose windows. The dome was added based on survey feedback that the new church should be neither too bright nor too dark, allowing natural light to enter.<\/p>\n
The chapel is set to accommodate 98 people and will be used for daily Mass and smaller events such as weddings and funerals. Additionally, the pews in the chapel are restored from the old church. The chapel\u2019s main entrance will be located on the East side of the parking lot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Celebrating the power of faith and prayer \u2013 along with the raps of a staff on the front…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[179,181,23,100,180,38031,121,123,122],"class_list":["post-216425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-community","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-pushly-alerts","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}