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July 2, 2020*UPDATE: The annual parish carnival on July 25 has been cancelled due to an increase in the number of people with COVID-19. There will still be a 7 p.m. Mass at Holy Trinity on Bl. Stanley Rother's Feast Day, July 28.
OKARCHE – Holy Trinity Catholic Church will celebrate native son Blessed Stanley Rother with a special memorial Mass on his feast day, July 28, and the annual parish carnival July 25.
Stanley Francis Rother was born March 27, 1935, in Okarche, where he attended Holy Trinity Catholic Church and School. As a young priest, he went to serve the Oklahoma diocese's mission in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, during a time of civil war. The Catholic Church was caught in the middle of the war and Rother was killed in his rectory July 28, 1981.
On Sept. 23, 2017, Blessed Stanley – the first martyr for the United States – became the first U.S.-born priest to be beatified.
The memorial Mass will be at 7 p.m. at Holy Trinity, 211 W. Missouri, which can accommodate about 150 worshipers with the coronavirus distancing guidelines. Overflow seating will be available in the parish hall.
Nancy Schudalla, administrative assistant, said the church is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays for people who want to pray at Blessed Stanley’s home parish.
The annual carnival hosted by the Knights of Columbus will take place July 25 following the 5 p.m. vigil Mass.
Grand Knight Jeremy Schwarz said the carnival – a decades-long tradition that was moved in recent years to coincide with Blessed Stanley’s feast day – will be scaled down this year due to coronavirus precautions.
The Knights are planning a few children’s games, but no inflatables, along with hamburgers and beer.
“It will be nice for the community to get out and see each other,” Schwarz said.
Proceeds from the carnival will benefit The Center of Family Love and Holy Trinity Catholic School.
For more information on Blessed Stanley or the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine, go online to stanleyrother.org or rothershrine.org.
K.S. McNutt is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
