BY ERIKA ANDERSON

Staff Writer

MILLEDGEVILLE--Located in the heart of historic Milledgeville, Sacred Heart Church is a simple parish that has been a source of strength and faith for its members since it was built over 120 years ago.

Situated on the corner of Hancock and Jefferson Streets, a historic marker proclaiming Sacred Heart a landmark stands prominently outside of the church.

The first Mass was celebrated in Milledgeville in 1845 in the Treanor family apartment of the Newell Hotel. The parish was incorporated into the Diocese of Savannah in 1850.

In 1873 Bishop William Gross of Savannah visited Milledgeville, which was then the state capital, and addressed more than 500 people on the steps of the Statehouse. He went on to raise $4,000 to build the church on the property that was the former location of the Lafayette Hotel.

The church was completed in April 1874 and contained handmade pressed glass that had been in the Lafayette Hotel. Fifty-seven people were listed as parishioners in 1878.

Father Robert Kennedy was the first pastor of the church from 1889 until 1894 and then the parish was administered by the Jesuit Fathers of Pio Nono College, Macon until 1901.

A parish school was opened while Msgr. John Toomey was pastor in 1950 and staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, but remained open only six years.

The parish hall was also built during the tenure of Msgr. Toomey from 1943-1956. In 1985 the hall was dedicated to its most famous parishioner, the late Flannery O'Connor, renowned author, who started attending the parish at age 12, left after college and returned a few years later, remaining in Milledgeville until her death in 1964.

The church held a centennial celebration on Nov. 3, 1974 under pastor Father Dennis Dullea, as Atlanta Archbishop Thomas Donnellan and Savannah Bishop Raymond Lessard blessed and rededicated the building.

A new religious education building was dedicated on September 10, 1989 while Father Hugh Marren was pastor of Sacred Heart. The building will be paid in full on Aug. 1, 1999.

Father Michael McWhorter, current pastor of the 270-family parish, has been there since 1996. Deacon John Shoemaker said that the church has benefited from the background of Father McWhorter, who was raised in a Protestant family before becoming a Catholic.

"Father Mike is an excellent guy," he said. "He has a sense of liturgy and a sense of worship that we've never seen in this church."

Milledgeville, which was the capital of Georgia from 1804-1868, also is the site of two colleges, of the Central State Mental Hospital and several prisons. Father McWhorter, along with Deacon Shoemaker and parishioners, has the responsibility of ministering to the students, patients and prisoners of the various institutions of the city.

"I think our most unique aspect is that we have more potential for ministry than most other parishes have within their boundaries," Deacon Shoemaker said.

Mass is celebrated weekly at Central State Hospital and new efforts to minister to the students at Georgia College State University and Georgia Military College are being made.

"One of our challenges is to minister to these people," Deacon Shoemaker said. "We know those kids need something and frankly we have failed in the past."

The deacon said that there are students involved in the RENEW 2000 core group at the parish and he is excited about their participation.

"I am amazed at the willingness and enthusiasm of the young people involved," he said.

Sacred Heart may be gaining young people, but for many of the parishioners, like Elizabeth Horne, who has been a parishioner for over 75 years, Sacred Heart has always been a part of their lives.

"I love the church and I love everything in it," she said. "I think that it's small enough that we all know one another and all love one another and you can feel that presence. It's just a wonderful group of people and a wonderful place to belong to."

The people who make up the parish at Sacred Heart are a diverse group.

"You talk about a League of Nations--you should come look at our church," Horne said.

Louise Florencourt, a descendant of the Treanor family and a relative of Flannery O'Connor, agrees that the parish includes many ethnic groups.

"It really is the church universal," she said. "I bet just about every continent is represented."

Deacon Shoemaker said that the parish is about 50 percent Anglo, 20 percent Filipino, 20 percent Hispanic and five percent African-American.

"There is so much ethnic diversity here in a place you would expect to find absolutely none," he said.

About five years ago, many doctors and nurses from the Philippines were contracted to work at Central State Hospital for three years, the deacon said. A large number decided to stay in Milledgeville.

Horne said that the diversity of the people comes from the openness of the parish.

"One thing people in Milledgeville have always known is that the Catholic Church is open to everyone," she said.

The majority of the parishioners of Sacred Heart are extremely active. Horne calls it a "busy little parish."

The church has a religious education program that has about 80 children enrolled, an OCIA program with five adults preparing to become Catholic, a youth group, a St. Vincent de Paul parish council, a Council of Catholic Women and a Legion of Mary group. The church also has an adult and young people's choir as well as a folk group.

Another ministry of the church is a group called the rosary makers, which meets each month to make rosaries to send to various missions around the world.

Celeste Balmes is the president and founder of the rosary makers. She said that she saw an ad in Our Sunday Visitor, announcing a need for people to make rosaries.

"I saw the ad in November 1996 and I was making them by myself, but then I said 'I know some ladies at the church who would love to do this...,' so I put an ad in the bulletin," she said. "We got together for the first time in March 1997 and it's been going great ever since."

Balmes said that the group of about 10 parishioners has already made over 200 rosaries and sent them to missions in India, Pakistan, South Africa and Cuba.

"We've received quite a few letters from people saying how thankful they are and how they are teaching people to pray the rosary," she said. "We're doing works for Mary, which in turn is for Jesus and we just love it. It's also a good way for us to get together and visit while we're making rosaries."

The parish also has one of the most active Knights of Columbus organizations in the archdiocese.

Sal D'Ambrosio, the charter grand knight of the Sacred Heart Knights and current state secretary of the Georgia Knights of Columbus said that they have been blessed with men who are very committed to Sacred Heart.

"We have a good central core of men who are extremely dedicated," he said. "We try to do a lot of work for the church and for the community."

D'Ambrosio also said that for the past few years the Sacred Heart Knights have ranked in first and second place in the state in collecting money for the Retarded Citizens of Georgia.

Having been a parishioner for over 17 years, D'Ambrosio believes that the church has an advantage by its location so far outside of Atlanta.

"It's quiet and peaceful," he said. "There's no hustle and bustle of the big city and yet we have a very active community."

He also said that Sacred Heart is "really just a hometown parish."

"We could walk into church and talk to everyone in the parish," he said. "It's the togetherness of a small community--we're a family...We're very, very close."