On the Second Sunday of Advent, December 5, His Excellency, the Most Reverend Thomas G. Doran, Bishop of Rockford, celebrated a Pontifical Low Mass at St. Mary's Oratory, of which Canon Brian A.T. Bovee serves as Rector. This Liturgy was offered on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the first Mass celebrated at St. Mary's church in December of the year 1885.
Hundreds of faithful attended this beautiful ceremony and the reception which followed. A delegation of religious from the Order of St. Augustine of the Province of Our Lady of Good Counsel, who had served at St. Mary's for more than 50 years, were also in attendance and presented greetings and remarks on behalf of the Reverend Father Provincial.
The 125 year history of St. Mary's has been full of memorable events. The second-oldest church in the city of Rockford, St. Mary's survived a devastating fire in the early 1960's. Over the years countless souls have received the sacraments of the Church at St. Mary's, while thousands of students attended the parochial school until its closure in 1974. On the first Sunday of Advent in 1997, the Most Reverend Thomas G. Doran, Bishop of Rockford, entrusted St. Mary's to the care of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.
The Most Reverend Bishop erected St. Mary's first as a Shrine and then as an Oratory of the Institute. Under the leadership of the Institute the faithful of St. Mary's have contributed generously since 1997 to the preservation of this beautiful Marian sanctuary and to the restoration of its splendid stained glass windows. The Institute is profoundly grateful to His Excellency, Bishop Doran, for his paternal guidance and continual support of its apostolate at Saint Mary's over the past thirteen years. Deeply dedicated to the future of this historic church, the Institute is committed to serving at St. Mary's according to its specific mission and proper identity within the Church, while striving to carry on the pastoral endeavors and spiritual work accomplished by so many exemplary clergy, religious, and lay faithful over 125 years.