By Yadira Betances Muldoon
MethuenLife Writer
September is a month of thanksgiving and celebration as members of Our Lady of Good Counsel mark the 25th anniversary of its founding.
“We look at our past with gratitude and prayers,” said Father Gregory Vozzo, pastor at Our Lady of Good Counsel.
The parish was formed in 2000 after the Archdiocese of Boston merged St. Theresa Church on Plymouth Street in Methuen and St. Augustine Church on Tower Hill in Lawrence. The parish incorporates its Marist roots from St. Theresa and Augustinian from St. Augustine. Our Lady of Good Counsel was first led by Augustinian friars and later replaced by Diocesan priests.
The parish uses both churches for worship services with a 4pm Mass on Saturdays and an 8am Mass on Sundays, both at St. Theresa, followed by the liturgy at St. Augustine on Sundays at 10:30am.
Father Gregory said about 270 people attend Mass on the weekends.
He noted that the parish is growing with new members.
As they celebrate this 25th anniversary milestone, one goal is to strengthen the partnership with the Collaborative of St. Lucy and St. Monica and be more involved in community events in the city such as Methuen Days and events at Methuen Memorial Music Hall.
“After all, the church is about truth, goodness and beauty and we don’t want to neglect any of those things because it enriches the whole person,” Father Gregory said.
Our Lady of Good Counsel offers a men’s club, Men of St. Joseph, as well as Women of Faith for the ladies, a prayer shawl ministry.
Mass in Spanish out of St. Augustine Church led by the Franciscan friars of Holy Rosary Shrine.
Our Lady of Good Counsel was 5 years old when Arleen Potvin Bradley joined the parish.
“I appreciate the efforts they made to make one parish out of two … I understand where they come from and see a nice mixture of both,” Bradley said.
