The new sacristy cabinet at Our Lady of the Annunciation Church was inspired by its pastor’s visit to a church in South Carolina.ALBEMARLE — The sacristy at Our Lady of the Annunciation Church recently received a beautiful upgrade thanks to a project initiated by its pastor, Father Peter Fitzgibbons.
Last year, Father Fitzgibbons officiated at the wedding of a parishioner’s daughter at a South Carolina church where he saw a beautiful and organized sacristy cabinet that left him a bit envious.
“I realize that they probably did not have a lot of money back when they put ours in,” he said of the original 1971 sacristy cabinet at Our Lady of the Annunciation, “but it did not give the respect it should have for the items that it contained – the blessed vestments, consecrated ciborium and chalices.”
Father Fitzgibbons brought back photos of the cabinet, talked it over with staff and mentioned it to parishioners, who quickly stepped up to donate. He then turned to King Richard’s Liturgical Design & Contracting in Roswell, Georgia, who had crafted a Baptismal font for the church in 2006.
Working from those photos and Father Fitzgibbons’ suggestions, the company designed and crafted a cabinet from solid white oak. The piece is 7.3 feet high, 7 feet wide and 30 inches deep and includes space to hang vestments, a 4-foot-wide section of drawers, and storage designed to accommodate the sacred pieces it holds. King Richard’s team assembled the pieces on site in June, and it is already making a difference in the daily life of the parish by better organizing the sacristy.
While it’s not a highly visible space, Father Fitzgibbons said the cabinet is a piece of sacred art fitting for a room set apart for the priest to prepare the sacred vessels.
“Churches are supposed to be places of beauty considering what they contain,” he said. “That is the most beautiful thing in the world – Jesus Christ.”
— Trish Stukbauer