San Jose Mercury News Covers the Dedication of our Lady of Refuge Parish

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First Mass at Our Lady of Refuge packs in 1,000 tri-cultural pilgrims
By Joe Rodriguez
jrodriguez@mercurynews.com
Posted:   02/19/2012 07:13:27 PM PST

As more than 1,000 people packed into their new church Sunday afternoon, Pedro Vargas proudly welcomed people in Spanish and handed out songbooks for the first Mass at Our Lady of Refuge in one of San Jose's most Latino, Asian, immigrant, working-class and Catholic neighborhoods. Full story and pictures.

New San Jose parish built on faith, persistence
Julia Prodis Sulek
jsulek@mercurynews.com
Posted:   02/17/2012 04:15:13 PM PST

 When Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church celebrates its first Mass on Sunday, opening its wide double doors and stained-glass sanctuary to one of East San Jose's poorest neighborhoods, seats will be reserved up front for three elderly nuns and a gray-haired monk.

They've been praying for this day since the mid-1990s, when they first held Mass on a dirt lot in the midst of the crime-ridden Santee neighborhood near Story and McLaughlin roads. They set up an altar in front of the communal laundry room, opening umbrellas to block the sun and rain. Full story and pictures.