By DIANE SCHLINDWEIN
      Managing Editor

VIRDEN — Sometimes it takes a family to bring a project to fruition. That’s just what happened when Sacred Heart Parish (Virden) secretary Marcella Rosier, her niece Claire McGrath, and nephew Father Daniel McGrath worked together to come up with a T-shirt that would honor two new saints, celebrate the Year of Hope, and raise money for diocesan seminarians.

Initially, Rosier was looking for a T-shirt that would somehow celebrate the Year of Hope that is happening right now in the Church. Later she came up with the idea of creating a shirt that featured not only the Year of Hope but also the recent canonization of two saints who are especially important to young people: Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati.

Rosier talked to her niece about her ideas and Claire McGrath, who works with the parish youth, said, “I happen to know an artist” and suggested that her brother could design a shirt. The two women were excited to get started on the project, which they hoped would benefit the seminarians and get young people involved, too. Of course, they ran all their ideas by their pastor, Father James Palakudy, SAC, for his permission before they proceeded with the project, and worked with people in the Curia offices.

Father McGrath agreed to help and says he followed the leads of Rosier and his younger sister. “My aunt and my sister had been toying with the idea of a mountain to represent Pier Giorgio and a monstrance to represent Carlo Acutis,” he said. After they thought of that, it was easy enough to draw up a couple of drafts of each one and then a final draft, he added.

“Because the pictures are just lines, it did not take long at all once I thought of the basic design for each one. I drew them separately and Marcella was able to set them together on the computer. I think Marcella’s portion of the project took far longer than my drawings did.” A local print shop, Inkorporated Designs, is producing the shirts.

The shirts come in one color — navy blue — which works well with the artwork, Father McGrath said. “We knew the monstrance would be yellow or gold, and with the mountain probably being white if it were a darker background, so we thought navy would be good. As a side benefit, the blue, yellow, and white color scheme is the same as our diocesan colors, though the blue is a different hue.”

Advertisements for the shirts have been running in the parish bulletin, on the parish website, and in the last several issues of Catholic Times. The first orders were placed the day after the canonizations took place and more shirt orders will be placed as orders come in, said Rosier. The shirts come in a wide variety of sizes from youth up to adult 5 XL.

Rosier believes that after purchasing the shirts and all the printing costs, each adult shirt sold will hopefully mean $8 will go to seminarians. “Also, we’ve had a few monetary donations as well,” she added. She said that the youth from the parish are also helping with the sales and the packaging.

Father McGrath says he was happy to provide the artwork for the T-shirt and is pleased the proceeds of the sales are going to help seminarians. “I think the financial support gives the donors a good sense of investment in the seminarians,” he said. “Those men who are in seminary are real people, and sometimes I think people who have never had contact with them — like myself before I even met one — don’t really know they are out there.” 

Rosier says orders are still being taken for the shirts. To order, go to the Sacred Heart Parish website at www.sacredheartvirden.com to order online or print out an order form.