Of all the malls and shopping centers in Bergen County, one has had an usual little sanctuary tucked away inside for decades.
Inside the Bergen Town Center Mall, near a Marshall's department store, up the stairs and down a long hallway, is St. Therese's Chapel -- or simply, the Chapel on the Mall.
But after 50 years, the chapel is closing. Mall management wants to use the space for something else.
So the service Wednesday had a special meaning, not just because it was Ash Wednesday but because it would be one of the last in the space.
Members came in waves to to pray and say goodbye. The noon Mass was packed, with several forced to stand.
"It's a sad day," said Mary Rogers.
Priest Eugene Joseph Bettinger said "it's not a convenient time to begin [the season of Lent] and it's certainly not a convenient time to close a chapel, but it would not be any more inconvenient to wait for the Easter season, when we need to look for another place now."
Local
The chapel was initially located in the basement for 37 years before moving upstairs in the mall. Now congregants are hoping that wherever they go is even better.
The space has cost $2,000 a month to rent, and Bettinger is looking for something comparable in another mall. Everything he's looked at so far is just too expensive.
As the Mass drew to a close Wednesday, the reality sunk in.
"I'm almost ready to cry," said Rogers.
But the priest reminded congregants, as he doled out ashes and said, "Repent and believe in the gospel," that they'll find a new home.
