I know I have said in this blog that I have sworn off any more "projects," but I have already failed to stick to my guns! The St. Theresa Parish Council has approved my idea of a "new project" in our "old cemetery." It consists of gathering many of the old broken headstones from the woods around the edges and scattered around the cemetery and piecing them together in the exact shape of the second log church that stood where the wooden cross now stands (see photo below) before they are lost or misplaced forever. This will preserve the pieces, remind the congregation of how small the second church was and make sure the memory of those is unmarked graves are kept alive - even partially.
This is similar to one of my last projects when I was pastor (1980-1983) of Holy Name of Mary Church in Calvary, Kentucky, (founded in 1797) before I was called to Louisville to be pastor of our Cathedral. They, too, had broken stones from the early and mid 1800s scattered around their old cemetery. Some had even been thrown into a nearby creek. The photo below shows what the preservation project looks like after 41 years.
Below is a sketch of what we hope to do in the "old cemetery" of St. Theresa in Rhodelia. Once the broken headstone pieces are gathered and cleaned, they will be laid out in a 20' X 30' pattern, the exact size of the second log cabin St. Theresa Church that stood where the wooden cross stands today. 
This project will not only help preserve the memory of those who are now buried in unknown graves, preserve important pieces of our history, show those living today the very spot where their predecessors used to worship, but also give us a "holy spot" to honor them by having outdoor Masses, Prayer Services and historic lectures.
The Parish Council of St. Theresa Church also approved my idea of having an outdoor Dedication Mass for all those in the old cemetery, especially those in unmarked graves, as well as the poor man who hanged himself in the old log cabin church on that very spot which caused them to move out of it early because they considered it "desecrated." We look at suicide today differently from how they did in the mid 1800s. I am pretty sure the poor man did not receive a decent Catholic funeral or even a "private Mass." No one even knows where he was buried, but certainly not in the "consecrated ground" of the old cemetery.
This historic monument will be next to another historic monument (the white sign on the left in the photo above) a sign over the grave of Matilda Hurd Chisley, the enslaved parishioner and grandmother of Father Augustus Tolton (son of Martha Jane Chisley Tolton, also an enslaved parishioner of St. Theresa Parish, who was sent away to Missouri at age 17) who became the first black priest ordained for the United States and who is in line for sainthood. Below are two photos of some of the group of 30 Catholic Bishops who visited her grave and laid a wreath back in June while they met in Louisville for their annual meeting. Auxiliary Bishop Perry of Chicago, in the black suit with the gold chain in the very center of the photo looking down, is in charge of promoting the the canonization of Matilda's grandson Father Augustus Tolton.
I have already raised most of the money for this particular project, but if you are moved to send a donation to help finish this project and help make additional improvements to this historic parish cemetery, where the Catholic faith was passed on to the family of the Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, which could likely become a religious attraction once he is canonized, you can send it to:
St. Theresa of Avila Church
Old Cemetery Restoration Project
4245 Rhodelia Road
Payneville, Kentucky 40157
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