After 29 years of calling St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) in St. Paul home, the ministry to Hmong Catholics is joining Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood effective July 1, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said in a June 3 letter to both communities.
Benefits include having a pastor at Presentation of Mary — Father Toulee Peter Ly — who speaks Hmong, as well as a parish school, lower maintenance costs and additional opportunities for adult faith formation and music ministry, the archbishop said.
“It was anticipated, moreover, that the move would provide Presentation Parish with both an influx of new parishioners and a greater ability to bring the Good News of Jesus to those who live within its parish boundaries, many of whom are Hmong,” he said.
Information posted on Presentation of Mary’s website said Archbishop Hebda first approached Father Ly, who grew up in the SVDP Hmong community, with the idea and a question in January 2023: could the two communities create a united parish family?
“The proposal wasn’t urgent, but it presented a mutually beneficial opportunity,” the posting said. Numerous discussions and faith sharing opportunities followed at both sites, including a late November 2023 invitation to the Hmong community to join Presentation of Mary’s Epiphany Mass Jan. 7, 2024. The “Come and See” event was designed for the two communities to pray together and socialize afterward.
“After months of getting to know each other, the communities unanimously decided to come together,” the posting said.
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MINISTRY PERSONNEL PLANS
AT PRESENTATION OF MARY
- Father Toulee Peter Ly, pastor
- Deacon Michael Powers
- Deacon Nao Kao Yang, a crucial part of the SVDP Hmong community since his ordination in 1997.
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The archbishop, meanwhile, consulted with the Presbyteral Council on March 12 regarding his recommendation and possible future use of St. Vincent de Paul church, which has been a satellite campus of Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Based on all the input he received, Archbishop Hebda said in his June 3 letter, he adopted the recommendation that the Hmong ministry be transferred to Presentation of Mary.
“I am so grateful to the members of the Hmong community and the parishioners at Presentation of Mary for their work in making this development possible,” Archbishop Hebda said in the letter. “I realize that it can be difficult to move from one’s longtime spiritual home to a new parish, or to welcome another group into one’s parish. Yet I am reminded that our true home is in heaven, and I share your belief that the move to Presentation of Mary holds the promise of helping even more souls reach that heavenly home.”
Father Ly and Father Matthew Northenscold, who has been sacramental minister to the Hmong community for the last two years, wrote a letter to parishioners and community members June 8, on the feast of the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary, announcing Archbishop Hebda’s blessing for the “two communities to come together as one family at Presentation of Mary.”
The two priests said as they waited for word from the archbishop, members in the Twin Cities of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy (Diocese) of Chicago, offered to purchase St. Vincent de Paul church for their faith community.
The Cathedral accepted the offer with a closing date of June 13, the priests said. The eparchy is an Eastern Catholic Church from India united with the Roman Catholic Church in faith and in union with the pope, but with a different liturgical tradition and a different bishop and priests.
“Though the suddenness of this news is not ideal, we do look at the blessings the Good Lord has provided,” Fathers Ly and Northenscold said. “The Saint Vincent de Paul Hmong Catholic Community gains a new and bigger home with a priest who speaks their language, and parishioners who are ready to receive them. The Syro-Malabar community also gains a church to call home.”
Archbishop Hebda added in his letter that with the encouragement of the rector of the Cathedral — Father John Ubel — the Cathedral will present the majority of the proceeds from the sale of St. Vincent de Paul church to Presentation of Mary, with the understanding the gift will be used to sustain Hmong ministry at its new home.
A closing celebration for the St. Vincent de Paul community will be held at a 9 a.m. bilingual Mass June 23 with Archbishop Hebda, followed by a formal program and meal in Wellisch Hall in the church’s lower level, the priests said. A welcome celebration will be held at Presentation of Mary at a 9:30 a.m. bilingual Mass June 30, followed by the parish’s Funday festival.
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MASS CHANGES AT
PRESENTATION OF MARY
- Bilingual Masses (Hmong and English) will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. June 30 and July 28. Sunday Masses between those two dates will be in English.
- Beginning Aug. 4, each Sunday will include two Masses, at 9 a.m. in English and 11:45 a.m. in English and Hmong. However, a full Hmong Mass will be celebrated on the first Sundays of each month, instead of the bilingual Mass.
- Mass details for Holy Days of Obligation will be determined as those dates approach.
