The Catholic feast of St. Albert the Great, patron of the parish was November 15. Saint Albert the Great parish celebrated this Feast Day as a Solemnity on Saturday and Sunday, November 16 and 17. This year’s celebration is special due to the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the parish. To celebrate this landmark anniversary year, the annual renewal of Ministers took place at all of the weekend Masses. In addition, the parishioners received a pamphlet that highlighted the time, talent and treasure that is St. Albert the Great Parish over the last sixty years and Building Faith for a New Generation.
The parishioners were invited to view a YouTube presentation on the history and vision of the parish over the last 60 years. In the introduction of the video, Pastor Fr. Edward Estok says, “The point of remembering is to fuel the movement forward. If we stop or stand still we are off mission. We are a pilgrim people; we are called to keep moving forward.” Fr. Estok continues thoughtfully, “We reflect upon, ‘how did we get to where we are today and how is it that this current generation (of St. Albert the Great) can dig deep and reflect upon the gift of grace, and our personal gifts, and community gifts and resources to make the journey (forward) possible; even better than possible” as a community of faith.
On June 10, 1959, The Diocese of Cleveland under the direction of Archbishop Hoban, designated newly purchased seven and a half acres of farmland in North Royalton as the home of a new parish, St. Albert the Great. The new parish of about 500 households was an offshoot of the 100 year-old mission parish of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary located on Broadview Road just north of SR82. The village boundaries would, more-or-less mark the new parish boundaries. In 1959 the area was farmland, “the sticks”, but as more veterans used their GI bill to move from the city to the suburbs like Parma and the outlier areas Archbishop Hoban was spot on in anticipating growth.
The new parish of St. Albert the Great was under the pastorship of Father Anthony Winters. In the first two years, 1961, the parish built a school staffed by the Sisters of the Humility of Mary for grades 1 through 8. The first graduating class was in 1962. The first worship space; a lower level church, now the church hall, was completed in 1964.
In 1977 Fr. Winters passed the torch of leadership to Fr. John Viall. Fr. Viall shepherded the parish growth with a completion of the school gymnasium in 1978, and the long-awaited church was completed in 1981. The school that has always been so important to the parish underwent a growth spurt just like North Royalton itself with a new third grade wing in 1992. The parish continued its building in 1995 with an additional space for 500 seats to the rear of the church that included more meeting rooms in the basement and an elevator for handicapped accessibility. A Junior High wing of the school was constructed in 1999. Under Fr. Viall the parish added a beautiful Eucharistic Adoration Chapel in 2005. The chapel is a place for intimate 24/7 adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. The separate, sacred space encourages the particular devotion of silent meditation and companionship that dates back centuries to the middle ages.
In 2009 Fr. Viall retired and Fr. Edward Estok was installed as the third pastor for St. Albert the Great. The parish school and ministries continued to grow. In 2013, the parish school became the largest Catholic Elementary School in the Diocese of Cleveland; continuing the mission of providing an excellent foundation for students to go on to become thoughtful, faithful, competent, successful adults.
Inside the church, that was beautifully refurbished in 2014, there is a picture that depicts St.Albert the Great looking fondly at a model of the parish church and school he is holding gently in his hand. It is no mere chance that he is the patron of the parish and especially the school. In 1959, The United States was behind the Soviets in a space race to the moon. Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy encouraged renewed push for science in schools and universities. What better patron for a brand new “space aged” parish than the 13th century scientist, philosopher, and dabbling alchemist: Albertus Magnus, St. Albert the Great. Albert was a teacher, excited about science in the 1200’s. Albert encouraged the study of science to uncover the secrets the Creator used to make all creation. What better patron to have for a school whose students were unknowingly on the threshold of space travel.
This year, its 60th year, St. Albert the Great parish looks forward to building space for the needs of the parish and its 100 ministries of faith, community, and charity. St. Albert the Great is located at 6667 Wallings Rd, North Royalton. Tel:440.237.6760. The website is https://saint-albert.org. There is a YouTube presentation that shows pictures and has interviews of the parish and the people that make St. Albert the Great a great community of faith.
By LINDA KWARCIANY
Contributing Writer