LOWELL | As the Rev. Peter Muha lifted the copper box from its hidden recess behind the bell tower's cornerstone and prepared to open it, the children of St. Edward's School let out a collective "aaaah."

Fifty years ago, the leaders of the St. Edward Catholic Church filled a time capsule for future generations, and last month, that generation took a peek at what was inside.

"You hope there's money," said the pastor as he lifted the lid and enjoyed the appreciative chuckles from the students as well as a crowd of adults that gathered after morning Mass for the ceremony.

Inside, as expected, were the records of construction of the parish buildings at 216 S. Nichols St., including convent and rectory buildings as well as the church itself.

The church was built on 10 acres of land purchased for $1,000 an acre. There were 284 families in the parish at the time.

Lowell businessman William Langen sat on the finance subcommittee for the building project. He said he never expected to be witnessing the opening of the time capsule.

It was an exciting time in 1958, he said, recalling, "Lowell was very small...this (church property) was the cattle grazing area" of what had been a farm.

"Bill, why didn't you put a $50 stock certificate in there?" the Rev. Muha jokingly asked Langen.

Other St. Edward's parishioners in attendance who recalled the erection of the church, rectory and convent were Richard Schmal, Dorothy Huseman and Margery Herlitz.

The time capsule included one of the church bulletins from 1958 which, interestingly, offered an article, titled "How to Correct Children" on its cover.

Noting that the bulletin indicated two hours for concessions on Saturdays, the Rev. Muha said, "Wow. That's a lot of confessions," much to the enjoyment of the crowd.

A poem entitled, "Just for a Minute," a pamphlet from then Bishop Andrew Grutka's pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, and a number of local newspapers rounded out the contents.

The schoolchildren and adults enjoyed seeing newspaper photographs of the church groundbreaking and construction, as well as grocery store ads. Two pounds of apples for 25 cents?

After the contents of the box were displayed for he golden anniversary celebration, the Rev. Muha said, the contents will be returned to the box and added to by the current generation.

"In 50 years from now, you can come to open it up again," the priest told the children, adding, "That's a really cool thing."

The contents were displayed at each of the Sept. 27 and 28 masses. About 20 people who were married, baptized, confirmed or otherwise participated in one of the sacraments during 1958 and 1959 were recognized during the three masses and enjoyed a fellowship hour afterwards with current parishioners.