On Friday night inside St. Raymond-St. Elizabeth Maronite Catholic Church cafeteria in Crestwood, Scott Shipley fills his plate with fried shrimp, coleslaw and falafel.
Falafel, a fried ball of ground chickpeas and spices, is a new food for Shipley, a parishioner at Our Lady of Providence in Crestwood. In his excavation, Msgr. John Nahal stopped by to chat. When he discovered that Shipley had missed the tahini dipping sauce, he brought it himself.
“It was so beautiful. It’s something you don’t get in other parishes,” Shipley said. “I saw it on the menu, so I had to try it – I’d never had it before.”
Fish fries are a perennial staple of Lenten Fridays in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Here, volunteers served Lebanese mjadra (a dish of lentils, rice and caramelized onions), falafel, hummus and pita bread along with traditional American fare of fried and baked cod, shrimp, macaroni and cheese, french fries, green beans and coleslaw.
Parishioner Tony Hamad has been hard at work since 8 am, making mjadra, falafel and hummus and seasoning the fish with his own spice blend. Lebanese recipes were passed down through the generations from her great-grandmother.
“So they’re a hundred years old, at least,” said Hamad, who moved to the United States from Lebanon in 2001. “And everything is from scratch.”
February 23 marks St. Raymond-St. Elizabeth’s first fish fry since the beginning of a Maronite partnership between St. Raymond’s Maronite Cathedral and St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish in 2020. The Maronite Church, an Eastern Catholic Church with roots in the Middle East, is responsible for the administration of the parish, but both Roman Rite and Eastern Rite liturgies and sacraments are regularly celebrated. Pastor Msgr. Nahal and the two co-pastors have the bi-ritual ability to celebrate the same liturgy; they also serve the Downtown location of St. Raymond’s Maronite Cathedral.
The Maronite Rite, named for St. Maron, is in full agreement with the Holy See and the pope. A Maronite may attend a Roman Rite Mass and receive Holy Communion, and a Roman Catholic may do the same at a Maronite liturgy.
Pastoring a flock of both Roman and Maronite Catholics was “the best spiritual experience I’ve had,” said Msgr. Nahal said. “St. John Paul II said, ‘The Church must breathe from the same lungs,’ the East and the West … and now we see the same rituals, the same Churches, how beautiful they are.”
Not many priests have the opportunity to celebrate the Roman Catholic Mass one day and the Maronite Divine Liturgy the next, he said. “I see how the Church, the Body of Jesus Christ, is complete in the West and the East. And there is richness in both traditions.”
Associate pastor Father Tony Simon was ordained as a priest for the US Maronite Catholic Church on Dec.
“I was inspired by the Romans (parishioners), their dedication to this church,” said Father Simon. “We welcome them, and they welcomed us… I think it’s been a blessing to be exposed to both, open up to areas we hadn’t been exposed to before, for both sides.”
Across the cafeteria, Teddy Garagiola and Linda Hill stand side by side at the checkout desk, taking money and chatting with customers. Hill was a lifelong parishioner of St. Raymond, while Garagiola became a parishioner at St. Elizabeth for almost 50 years.
While some parishioners of St. Elizabeth was apprehensive about the new Maronite partnership, Garagiola was grateful, he said. The future of the parish became uncertain in the minds of many parishioners after the closing of St. Elizabeth School in 2003, and in 2012, the Parish School of Religion merged with the nearby St. Justin Martyr. Many families with children began attending St. Justin Martyr or other nearby parishes. But now, Garagiola noted, the parish is full of young families again.
“A lot of kids — I just love that,” she said, indicating the strollers dotted between the fish fry tables. “We’ve been without school for a long time, so that’s great.”
said Msgr. Nahal was attentive to the wishes of Roman rite parishioners, he said, continuing the 8 am daily Mass and regular devotions including the Our Mother of Perpetual Help prayer and eucharistic adoration.
He also enjoyed the opportunity to experience the Maronite liturgy; recently, for the feast of St. Maron, he and many other Roman rite parishioners went to the celebration at St. Raymond’s Cathedral in Downtown St. Louis. Both communities come together for opportunities such as Monday night Bible study and men’s and women’s groups.
“We are two small parishes that really need each other,” he said. “Now we’re together, we’re pretty strong.”
For many longtime parishioners of St. Raymond’s Maronite Cathedral, St. Raymond-St. Elizabeth provides additional opportunities for the Divine Liturgy and community, especially since the majority of parishioners are spread to the west and south St. Louis County, Hill said.
“There are no more neighbors like when I was a child. My grandparents lived two blocks from the church Downtown. Everyone lives around that church,” he said. “Now there are no patrons (who live) Downtown.”
Hill was already familiar with the Roman Rite; her children attend Our Lady of Lourdes School in University City, and she often attends Mass there on weekdays and travels Downtown for the Maronite Divine Liturgy on Sundays.
“Everything feels familiar, and it’s my home,” he said. “…You still get the same awe at the Body of Christ.”
While the fried fish continues in the cafeteria, the priests (and many parishioners who have finished their meal) go upstairs to the church at 6 pm for the prayers of the Stations of the Cross and Maronite Adoration of the Cross.
Traditional prayers — and pans of mjadra and falafel alongside fried fish and mac and cheese — are opportunities for Roman and Maronite parishioners to meet one another.
“It’s amazing how God brings people together,” said Father Simon. “God brings people together. And some of the opportunities, experienced by both groups of parishioners — and priests — would never have happened but for the generosity of the archdiocese and the friendly spirit of both parties coming together.”
>> Fish Fries
Raymond-St. Elizabeth fish fries will be held from 4-8 pm March 1, March 8, March 15 and March 22 at St. Raymond-St. Elizabeth Maronite Catholic Church cafeteria, 1420 Sappington Road in Crestwood. The prayers of the Stations of the Cross and Maronite Adoration of the Cross are held at 6 pm in the church. On March 29, Good Friday, the fish fry will be held from 4-8 pm at The Cedars hall on the campus of St. Raymond’s Maronite Cathedral, 931 Lebanon Drive in Downtown St. Louis.
To learn more about St. Raymond-St. Elizabeth Maronite Catholic Church and check out the fish fry menu, visit stelizabethhungary.org.
To view the fish fries map of St. Louis Review around the archdiocese, or submit your parish’s fish fry information, visit archstl.org/ st-louis-review/ lenten-fish-fries.
