Nearly a year after St.
Casimir Catholic Church closed, its Lithuanian parishioners are struggling to sell tickets to their annual fundraiser concert for Lithuanian Children’s Relief. “I’m really heartbroken. I can’t hide it,†said Maryte Bizinkauskas, who served as St. Casimir’s cantor and who is organizing the event. The 7th Annual Evening of Wine, Music, and Song will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday at the Fontbonne Academy auditorium, 930 Brook Road, Milton. Bizinkauskas said she’s sold about 150 tickets, half the number of tickets sold when the event was held at the historic St. Casimir Church in the city’s northeast corner. The Archdiocese of Boston closed the church, built by Lithuanian immigrants, in June. “When you go to being so involved in your parish, to ‘No thanks, we don’t need you anymore,’ It’s tough,†Bizinkauskas said. Many parishioners would walk to the concert at the neighborhood church, she said.
Since the church closed, its parishioners have been fragmented, with some attending St. Michael’s Church in Avon and others attending St. Peter Lithuanian Church in South Boston, Bizinkauskas said.