By Paula Day

Members of the month-old mission in east Gwinnett County have voted to make their Catholic community the first in the United States to be named for St. Marguerite d'Youville. She is the recently canonized foundress of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart.

After the 9 a.m. Mass December 6, the founding families of the mission selected the Canadian-born saint, canonized in 1990, to be their patroness. Final approval of the name must be given by Archbishop James P. Lyke, OFM.

The voting wasn't even close in what one parishioner wryly remarked was "one of the few chances in the Church to vote democratically on something." Members took the balloting seriously. Cyndi Conley was not able to be there on Sunday and gave a note to Cathy Wells giving her permission to cast her proxy vote.

In the end, St. Marguerite d'Youville received 73 votes, almost twice that received by the runner-up. St. Bartholomew, St. Anastasia, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and Holy Rosary were also on the ballot, top contenders from a longer list parishioners had whittled down the previous Sunday.

The saint was born Marie Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais in Quebec in 1701. She married in 1722 and had six children, four of whom died in infancy. The family lived in poverty and her husband died in 1730.

St. Marguerite raised her two sons who later became priests. She welcomed a blind woman in to her home and in 1731, she and three other women consecrated their lives to the service of the poor. The congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, familiarly called the Grey Nuns, received official recognition in 1755. When she died in 1771 in Montreal, Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais was known as the "mother of the poor."

The mission is an offshoot of St. John Neumann parish in Lilburn whose 3,700 households make it one of the larger parishes in the Atlanta archdiocese. On "Founders Day" November 29, 139 families became the official founding families. The new mission presently calls an office building home. The building is sub-leased from Trust Company Bank. Located at the intersection of Huff Drive and Highway 29, the 9,000-square-foot space has been partially remodeled to create a sanctuary. Further renovation to create classrooms is planned.

The 395 chairs in the sanctuary were filled for the December 6 Mass. Usher John Bartles said 96 chairs had been added the previous Sunday. The mission now boasts nearly 400 members counting the youngest tots. Father James Fennessy, pastor of St. John Neumann, and Father Don Caron, parochial vicar, carry out priestly ministry in the new mission; Deacon Tim Kirksey is assigned to work in the area.

A nursery will open after the first of the year and a religious education program for children ages three to first grade will begin January 10. In order not to disrupt programs already in progress, religious education for older children will begin in the fall, according to Father Caron.

Marge Kutz, an eight-year member of St. John Neumann, now belongs to the mission. Living in the area between St. Lawrence in Lawrenceville and St. John Neumann, she says the new church is five minutes closer.

"I'm very excited," she said. "I've learned a lot. There are many different factors involved in starting a parish -- finding a place, starting ministries. It's a gradual process, but this has been well organized." Plans began last spring to form the mission, according to Mrs. Kutz.

The selection of the name was not completely out of the blue. "The boss is pushing this one," commented one ballot counter. Sister Dawn Gear and Sister Rita Raffaele are Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart of the Yardley, PA province, and principal and vice principal at St. John Neumann Regional School.

"After I was told her name had been submitted," Sister Gear explained, "I gave an account of her history and her charisma. I believe that had an influence (in the choice)." The two Religious came when the regional school opened in 1986 and Sister Gear expressed delight at the choice calling it "the highlight of our work here."

She herself frequently opened meetings with a prayer invoking the foundress' intercession during St. Marguerite d'Youville's canonization process. "I believe that may have had an impact," she added.

Grey Nuns also hold positions at St. Joseph's Hospital, Christ the King parish, in the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Province of Atlanta and are involved in art ministry and ministry to the elderly in the Atlanta archdiocese.

Sister Jeanne Varrier, archivist for the Grey Nuns, said the Gwinnett County mission would be the first church in this country to be named for their foundress.