by Keith Kelly

A 103-year-old cornerstone, believed lost after fire leveled the areas first, permanent St. Patrick's R.C. Church in 1927, was located on the grounds of neighboring Sts. Philip and James last week and returned to its home parish.

The cornerstone, bearing a June 7, 1874 inscription, actually sufaced three years ago at Sts. Philip and James in St. James but was considered nothing more than a curiosity piece of unkown origin.  Workmen, who were ready to raze the old barn-like garage there, moved the stone aside and it was all but forgotten.

Last week a resident tipped off Rev. John R. Mott, pastor of St. Patrick's, that the historic marker might be found at Sts. Philip and James.

Father Mott telephoned the pastor of the St. James parish, Rev. Richard Hendel, who failed at first to make any connection between the marker lying in the grass and the cornerstone of the old church.

But when he checked the date of the stone the following day he said, "I was sure that had to be it." He packed the heavy stone into his car and delivered it to a surprised Father Mott.

"I knew nothing about the cornerstone," said Father Mott, who arrived in the Village of the Branch-based parish in September, 1976. "When Father Hendel said he did not know anything about it, I figured that was it."

The wandering church stone will be in motion again as part of a 1 p.m. processional Mass to be celebrated Sunday by Bishop John McGann to commemorate the 25th anniversary of St. Patrick's as a parish.

Although the person who originally saved the stone is lost to time, an examination of St. Patrick's history yields a key to the historic marker's travels.

At the time of the 1927 blaze, St. Patrick's was located on the Cemetery grounds off Mount Pleasant Road and functioned as a mission parish for Sts. Philip and James.  (Although the parish traces its roots back to a Mass offered in a Hauppauge homestead in 1835, it was not established with official parish status, with its own permanently assigned priests until 1952).

One theory is that shortly after the fire a parishioner transported the concrete stone from the cemetery church grounds to the main church in St. James, where it was stored undetected for 50 years.

The cornerstone will remain on display in the lobby of St. Patrick's Church for several weeks, according to Father Mott.  Eventually the marker will be incorporated into a permanent display at the foot of the parish flagpole off East Main Street.

As a postscript to the story, Father Mott said he plans to celebrate a Mass November 2, All Souls Day, on the site of the old church in the center of the cemetery.

And now about the quest for the Holy Grail...

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