MONROE – This is a place where parishioners come together regardless of their cultural and language differences.
Michael V. Martina / The Herald
This is a place where a priest embraces those differences.
On Wednesday, this church was a place where babies lay in their parents’ arms and heard everyone sing and pray their love of God.
Here at St. Mary of the Valley Church in Monroe, about 200 people devoted their prayers Wednesday night to celebrating the life of Pope John Paul II, who died Saturday and, like the people of this parish, was known for reaching out to people beyond their cultures, languages, races, countries and wealth.
“To come together as a family is an important part of healing for the loss we experienced,” said the Rev. Michael OBrien, who led the special Mass in English and Spanish.
As a band played Latin music, one after another, people laid white and yellow carnations – the colors representative of the pope – below a framed painting of the pontiff.
John Paul valued cultural diversity, spoke eight languages and tried to talk to people in their native languages, Obrien said.
The language barrier among parishioners often makes it hard for him to keep services brief and concise, OBrien said. But it’s worth the effort, he said.
“We’re one community of faith,” he said.
About 60 percent of the 900 families who attend the church are Hispanic, said Yolanda Trujillo, administrative assistant at the church. Almost all staff members are bilingual to meet the needs of parishioners, she said.
“Our door is wide open for anyone who wants to come,” she said. “That’s what the church is all about. It’s universal.”
Rosario Olson, 70, of Startup remembered John Paul as a leader who was “open to any human.”
Olson, who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1958, said the Monroe church has been a hub for Hispanic worshippers from Everett, Gold Bar, Marysville, Mill Creek, Snohomish and Sultan.
That’s a good thing for the church, even though bilingual services sometimes take up too much time, said Rose Nicoletti of Snohomish, who has attended St. Mary for about four years.
“You need to serve the community. It’s good everybody can go to the church,” Nicoletti, 48, said.
Nicoletti, who normally goes to Sunday services at the church, joined the special Mass on Wednesday.
“Because the pope was fantastic,” she said. “He had a huge impact on everyone’s life.”
Her daughters, Elizabeth and Anne, had a chance to see and hear the pope at a youth camp in Denver in the early 1990s, Nicoletti said.
“I was amazed that he was so kind and related to the crowd,” said Elizabeth Nicoletti, now 27, as she remembered her encounter with the pope.
The pope told thousands of people in English to live their lives following the Lord, not to be selfish and to be good to others, she said.
Rose Nicoletti said the experience helped her daughters strengthen their faith and stay Catholics, she said.
“He really made an impact on young people,” Nicoletti said.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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