By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
They don’t wear name badges to identify themselves as you encounter them while walking up the stairs of Holy Rosary Church in Galveston. Nevertheless, the two men have a commanding and relaxed presence about them which indicates they are most likely very familiar with the church.
As I watched and spoke with the two, I sensed their commitment to their faith to their community and their breadth of knowledge of their church’s history.
They reach out to the people who are coming into the church and help visitors and parishioners know where to donate to the community food bank. They greet each person, adult or child, by name.
Steven Marsh told me he and his Christian brother, Larnell Mitchell, are sacristans. This means they take care of the sacred spaces within the church building.
They grew up together in Galveston and Holy Rosary Church. Both were baptized, received their First Holy Communion and were confirmed at Holy Rosary Church.
Both men point to where their elementary school once stood. The property on 31st Street at one time hosted a convent, a school and a rectory and the church. Now only a church and a parking lot remain. The school was torn down after Hurricane Ike, the two informed me.
Throughout most of their lives, Holy Rosary was a parish within the Galveston-Houston Archdiocese. Post hurricane Ike, the individual parishes in Galveston and Bolivar were consolidated into one parish and renamed Holy Family Parish. Thus, each of the six remaining church buildings on the island and the peninsula is now referred to as a church rather than a parish.
Marsh reminisced about his youthful years at Holy Rosary.
“The nuns looked like penguins,” he said with a smile. “We were altar boys back then, when the Mass was in Latin, and the priests conducted Mass with their backs to the people.
When Marsh and Mitchell finished junior high, they went to different high schools. Steven went to Ball High School and Larnell went to O’Connell High School.
One of the men pointed to the statue of the Virgin Mary and told me that she used to be in the middle of the church, but there was a fire in the back, and she was moved to the right side of the altar.
Steven speaks of his cousin who grew up to become a priest.
“My cousin is the only one from this church who went into the priesthood.”
Behind the altar, in the sacristy, hang photos of the Rev. Ivan Marsh including one that shows when the Galveston-raised priest met Pope St. John Paul II.
Mitchell and Marsh are some of the senior parishioners who worship at Holy Rosary Church and are helping others hold onto the history and traditions that have kept the church filling up Sunday after Sunday with regular attendees and visitors.
Holy Rosary is listed as one of the first Black Catholic parishes in Texas, and in front of the church is a Texas Historical Commission marker that summarizes the church’s history.
Soon, you’ll also be able to learn more of that history right here in The Post Newspaper. This story is the first in a series that will explore the history of Holy Rosary Church.
