Our Lady of Lourdes Parish was founded in June 1917 with 120 Polish-immigrant families who desired to have a Catholic church on the west side of the Mississippi River in Little Falls. There are currently 900 members in the parish. The following questions were answered by the pastor, Father Joe Herzing.
Interior picture of Our Lady of Lourdes in Little Falls, Minnesota.
Q: What is the most interesting facet of your church building?
A: Some may say it is our onion-shaped copper steeples on the bell tower, but most would point to the jewel-and-gold-inlaid icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa. The founding pastor, Father John Musial, visited Europe right after the construction of our church. He brought two images of the Blessed Virgin Mary home with him.
One is an oil painting replica of the Assumption by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, which hangs behind the main altar that he brought from Rome; the other is the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, which he brought from Poland from the same journey.
Q: What is the most popular event or tradition at your parish?
A: Our most popular event, hands-down, in our church is our annual parish bazaar. It has been happening (in one way or another) since the inception of our parish 100 years ago and has been a two-day event for many years. It is the main fundraiser for our parish and draws people from all around. Since about 2000, we have had the dunk tank, and it is a crowd favorite. This year the dunk tank will feature John Belinski, the mayor of the West Side.
Q: What is an interesting historical fact or anecdote about your parish?
A: We have a parishioner still living — Florence Adams — who was almost certainly at the first Mass of Our Lady of Lourdes, at the Antlers Hotel in 1917, and then was present at the first Mass at the new church in 1922.
Meet the parochial vicar Father Matthew Langager
Father Matthew Langager
Father Matthew Langager, parochial vicar at Our Lady of Lourdes, is featured since Father Herzing was previously featured in 2015 with the profile of Holy Family Parish in Belle Prairie. Father Langager grew up in Moorhead, Minnesota, until eighth grade when his family moved to Big Lake, where he attended high school. Then he attended St. Cloud State University and earned a degree in geography. He entered seminary in the fall of 2010, studied philosophy at St. Paul Seminary and then theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas while in formation at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Father Langager was ordained June 18, 2016, by Bishop Donald Kettler at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Since July 1, 2016, he has served as the parochial vicar alongside the pastor, Father Joe Herzing, in the parishes of Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Mary (both in Little Falls) and Holy Family.
Q: What inspired you to become a priest?
A: I was inspired to become a priest through learning about our Catholic faith more deeply. Through this, Christ increased in me a desire to conform my life to the objective truth and charity of our faith. This conformity to Christ entailed me sharing our faith with others. God’s will was not always apparent to me, nor was it easy to follow. Thanks to the help of good friends, especially Fathers Tony Oelrich, Aaron Kuhn and now Mitch Bechtold, I became more comfortable with the idea of becoming a priest.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your daily life as a priest?
A: I enjoy bringing people into closer union with Christ especially through the sacrament of the Eucharist. If the fruit is bringing others in closer union with Christ, then the labor from which the fruit is born is prayer. Prayer is an essential part of my daily life as a priest; if a priest is not close to Christ it is very difficult to bring others to encounter him.
Q: What was the theme of a favorite homily that you preached?
A: The theme of one of my favorite homilies was on the Solemnity of Christ the King. I explained that there are two principal ways in which one becomes a king. One is conquest through war, the other is heredity, that is, through a blood line. Christ has already won the war for us through his conquest of death and sin by his resurrection. Through his blood poured out for us, and our reception of his blood in the Eucharist, his blood runs through our veins, we become his family, and we become partakers in his kingship.
Author: The Visitor
The Visitor is the official newpaper for the Diocese of Saint Cloud.
