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with love we remember....

​

Msgr. Henry C. Gracz

Born: September 27, 1939
Ordained: May 8, 1965
Died: February 5, 2024

Vespers

Funeral Mass


Vespers:
Friday, February 23, at 7 PM

Funeral Mass - A Celebration of Life:
Saturday, February 24, at 11 AM

Live Streaming:
We will stream both services on our website and Facebook.If you cannot physically attend the services, rest assured that you will still be there with us.

The services will be recorded and posted to Facebook afterwards if you cannot join us live. We will keep these videos up in perpetuity for anyone who wants to go back and watch the services again. 


Seating:
For the funeral Mass on Saturday, we are expecting upwards of 800 attendees. This includes roughly 150 priests from the dioceses of Atlanta and Buffalo. Because of the high volume of people, we encourage all parishioners to arrive between 10-10:15 AM to ensure your best chance at seating in the sanctuary. We will have overflow seating in the parish hall and in the tent outside.

We ask for your prayers that on the morning of the funeral, every soul in our church will feel valued and loved no matter where they are sitting or standing. We know in our hearts that Fr. Henry will be present with each of us, whether we're sitting in a pew, standing in a corner, or watching on a screen.

Let's come together as a family after the Mass to enjoy a reception in the tent. Our Shrine community was always so important to Fr. Henry; we know he will be smiling from above as we share food, hugs, and condolences with each other. 


Transportation: 
We strongly encourage Shrine members to Uber, take MARTA, or carpool with your friends.

We are asking all parishioners to enter through the front church doors on Central Avenue. The office entrance on MLK will be used for clergy so they can change into proper vestments before the Mass.
(The handicap ramp on MLK will still be available for our disabled parishioners.) 



Parking:
Follow your GPS to the address “75 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Atlanta 30303.” This will take you to the 75 Underground Garage located on the right side of MLK, diagonally across from our church. (Our usual Sunday garage.)

Tell the parking attendant you are here for Fr. Henry’s service. You will be given a parking ticket. Please bring your ticket with you into the church, where an usher will give you a validation sticker.

If the 75 Garage fills to capacity, the attendants from Legacy Parking will direct you to the 95 Garage next door. Validation stickers also work for this garage.


Uber:
Enter the address “185 Central Avenue, Atlanta 30303.” This is the address for the Fulton County Justice Center directly across from The Shrine on Central Avenue. Your Uber can drop you off anywhere on Central Avenue and you can walk to the front doors of our church.

MARTA:
Take the train to Five Points station. Exit on Peachtree Street. Cross Peachtree toward the Fairfield Inn & Suites (on Upper Alabama St). Walk East on Upper Alabama  and cross over Pryor Street.
Turn right on Central Ave when Upper Alabama dead ends. The Catholic Shrine will be at the next intersection, Martin Luther King Jr Dr.



Personal Cards, Letters, and Remembrances:
We have started collecting all of your beautiful cards and letters that have been sent to the office. We are going to put all of these cards into a basket that will be carried up to the altar during the Preparation of Gifts at the funeral Mass. If you would like to write a letter of gratitude or remembrance to Fr. Henry, please mail it to our office, bring it with you this Sunday (2/18), or bring it with you to the funeral Mass. This is a chance for each of us to say goodbye in a personal way.

After the service, the cards will be given to Fr. Henry’s sister, Joan.

We also invite you to share your stories, photos, and other remembrances with the community at Fr. Henry's memorial page
 


Donations:
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cancer Home in Fr. Henry's name.

We also know Fr. Henry was very proud of The Shrine reaching its 175th anniversary last year.
We believe he would be honored by gifts to our 175 Fund.

Above all, please honor Fr. Henry by sharing your love with someone who needs it, especially the poor and marginalized.

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