May 8th, 2026 - Special Edition
- Pompeii Rising
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Dear Friends of Our Lady of Pompeii,
Last night was outstanding. For those who were unable to be there in person, I'll recap a few of the highlights and updates.
We received a check for over a million dollars. We will call the anonymous person "Bartolo Longo."
Fr. Gardner does us the honor of unveiling the reinvigorated painting of the sacred image of Our Lady of Pompeii. Our Lord and Lady's crowns are now adorned with Swarovski crystals and the new deep hues are vastly richer.
Seeing the before and after side by side really illustrates the improvements.
More good news: a home that will serve as the new rectory was just donated! A backyard gate will give access directly to the church property. The carriage house in the back can serve as a classroom.
Total expenses have increased due to extensive repairs and necessary changes.
All of these increases are more than covered by the recent $1.3M gift.
As always, with good news comes bad. The contractors need two additional months to get us in to the church. This means instead of 12 months of construction, we're extending the contract to 14.
The first Mass will be in early November.
We're going to take this opportunity to launch a fundraising campaign that keeps us from borrowing money.
I've mentioned before, but would like to restate for our new friends that the church will look like a clean slate when Mass is offered for the first time in a few months. The idea is to create grand scheme so that all improvements serve a master design that is complementary instead of piece meal and non-cohesive.
I'll have much more to say in May's newsletter.
Our Lady of Pompeii, pray for us.
St. Michael, pray for us.
Fr. Thomas
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