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By Mary Beth Marino
Eighty-three year-old Nellie Nichols is the oldest parishioner at
the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. But she is much more than that!
This five-foot-four senior citizen has class! Decked out in her
Sunday best and slightly rouged cheeks, she relayed her simple, but
faith-filled story.
“I was born in Fulton County, Ga. On December 7, 1900. This
was the house I grew up in and have occupied for 35 years,” Nellie said.
“I was married in 1918 and lived happily with my husband
Clarance until he was killed in an auto accident in 1937. We had a son,
Clarance Edgar, who died at 10 months. He died of measles pneumonia,” she
recalled in a painful tone.
Nellie’s conversion to Catholicism is unique.
“Every time I passed the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception,
I felt a strange and powerful “pulling” that I ignored and fought for
five years,” Nellie said.
“Finally, I got up the courage to enter the Church and knew
instantly it was what I had been searching for all my life.”
“The Holy Spirit brought me to the Catholic Church,” she
stated proudly.
Nellie was indeed drawn and confirmed in hr faith. She said she
had no knowledge of Catholicism and was the only member in her family that was
Catholic.
“Being from the South, it was all ‘Baptist
Country’,” she said.
“But if anyone teased me, my Mother would take up for
me!” Nellie said.
During the interview, Nellie brought out her Bible which listed
all the important dates of her life; Baptism, Communion, Confirmation, and her
invitation to attend the dedication of the rebuilt Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception!
“I was just heartsick when the Church caught fire,” she
said. “When the Archbishop was trying to make the decision about whether
it would be rebuilt or not, I prayed and prayed the Church would be saved! And
my prayers were answered…they always are in one way or another,” she
claimed.
Nellie will not go near the Church until the dedication. She said
she wants to be surprised! “I can’t wait until the first Mass on May
25,” she said.
When asked what she liked best about the Church, she stated it was
the prettiest Church in Atlanta. She also said she loved the pipe organ,
“as long as it wasn’t played too loud!”
The quotable and spirited woman shows an honest and profound love
for her Church to the extent of calling it “her home.”
But her story doesn’t
end here. She joined the Altar Society (of which she is still a member) and had
worked on the altar linens for six years. “I remember Father Arthur Murray
teasing me before they found the corpse of Father O’Reilly,” Nellie
laughed.
“He always told me to listen for Father O’Reilly when I
went downstairs to do the laundry. I was amazed when I heard it was true that
Father O’Reilly really was buried there!”
Nellie also remembers one of her favorite priests, Father James
Jones. He still remembers Nellie on Mother’s Day, with a card and a
year’s remembrance of Masses.
He used to come to Nellie’s house for dinner for his favorite
Southern dishes of collards, ham hocks and fried green tomatoes. Nellie stated
humbly that Father James thought her collards the best in town!
This delightful white-faired, spirit-filled parishioner of the
Shrine, will not miss the dedication slated for May 25, nor the Sunday Mass on
the 27th.
As the oldest parishioner at the parish, it would only seem
appropriate that she be honored with a reserved seat on both occasions!
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