ST. LOUIS — Three south St. Louis churches, merging together as one, officially have a new name.
Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Joan of Arc and St. Mary Magdalen will be known as St. Lucy Parish.
According to the St. Louis Review, a weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, over the past several months, parishioners suggested dozens of possible new names.
From there, parishioners voted on a top 10 and then a top three.
Those three names were submitted to Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski, who approved the name St. Lucy. St. Lucy, which means light.
Rozanski issued a decree announcing the name Dec. 1.
The territory stays the same. Here is a map of the area it serves.
This consolidation is a part of the "All Things New" restructuring plan.
Society of St. Vincent de Paul works with most parishes within the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
It has chapters with Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Mary Magdalen and St. Joan of Arc.
Its mission remains focused on serving those in need amid the changes.
The organization helps people in various ways from rent and utility assistance to feeding folks through their pantries.
Society of St. Vincent de Paul has about 3,000 volunteers, also known as Vincentians, in the St. Louis Archdiocese. The nonprofit's manager of member support, Steve Rupp, said volunteers do an average of 200 home visits every day.
In 2023, Rupp said to prepare for the merger, the organization visited other cities to see what worked best when their churches followed a similar plan.
"So, we've gotten all of our volunteers together that are going to be in a particular merger and they go out to dinner, they go to mass together, they grow in friendship together in order to be able to continue to serve that area," Rupp shared.
This gave guidance to their volunteers to make sure they can work together, in order for their work to stay the same.
"Our responsibility is to continue to serve the neighbors in need," Rupp pointed out.
A decision will be made in early 2025 to see where the main worship space will be.
The parish is planning a “Be the Light” celebration Dec. 13-15 in honor of St. Lucy’s feast day.