Re: 'Grateful for all that it has meant,' Sept. 17.

On Sunday, my family and I bade goodbye to a great soul, St. Brigid's Church and Parish.

It was cast as a celebration. The church was packed. Neighbours, dignitaries, tourists and media came to watch, some to help and others to be there or to be seen to be there.

You expect that at celebrations, but it happens at funerals too: People come out from the woodwork; people you don't see for years; and you won't again, until the next funeral.

It was beautiful but tough.

As Archbishop Terrence Prendergast prepared to deconsecrate elements of the church, long-time parishioners and recent supporters got up and left. It was out of protest but it was also too much to bear.

My youngest son, a student at St. Brigid's school with his brother and sister, asked me why we were staying instead of going with them.

I said this is where the archbishop closes the church: It starts with the baptistery, where we were baptized; next, to the confessionals, where we confessed; then, to the stations, where we suffered together; and then finally, to the sanctuary where we celebrated together as altar boys, readers and ecumenical ministers.

I thought we needed to be there and see it through to the end. In truth, it was like life being ripped bit by bit out of me.

My son asked me why they are closing St. Brigid's. A better and more complete answer was deserved, but I thought only of one. I told him, "money." There were too many in the pews to tell him it was for a lack of people.

The decree was read to close the parish and divide it between Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica or Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish.

It was done.

I felt awful. I turned to my wife, Rebecca, to get out as quickly as possible but she was crying too. "I wasn't prepared," she said. "I wasn't prepared for this. I didn't think it would mean so much to me."

People are the real cost of the closing of St. Brigid's Parish. To the communities of Lowertown, New Edinburgh, Lindenlea, Rockcliffe Park and Manor Park, it's not just a Catholic church. St. Brigid's Parish had a catholic impact. May her children, St. Brigid's School, the Shepherds of Good Hope, the Sister Eleanor Fund and St. Brigid's Camp live on and not forget their humble origin.

Patrick Murray,

Ottawa