It is truly a great blessing to witness the consecration of a new altar or, for the matter, a new Church! From time to time EWTN rebroadcasts the dedication of the FSSP Church in Missouri where Archbishop Burke officiated. The service ran about 3 hours and has been condensed down into 1 hour. Personally, I am looking forward to that event in our parish when we eventually move to our new church. It was built in 1850 by the Methodists, closed and sold to a local hardware store owner in the 1960s with the request that the building only be sold to a group that would continue to use it for worship, regardless of the denomination. Once we complete the restoration (probably sometime next year), Bishop Gregory John Mansour will come to Watervliet to "knock" on the door 3 times, be admitted, consecrate the building as a Catholic Church by blessing the walls with chrism, sprinkling the Church with Holy Water and, as you witnessed, spreading chrism on the future altar and offering up incense. After so many years of working towards that goal, it will be a very emotional moment to finally see the fruit of our labors, consecrated and dedicated to our patron saint, St. Ann.