St. Raymond's Church (Bronx, New York)

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St. Raymond's Church

View of St. Raymond sign.jpg

St. Raymond's Church facing East Tremont Ave.
General information
Town or city Westchester Village, The Bronx, New York City, New York
Country United States
Construction started 1908 (for school); [1]
Completed 1845 (for first church); [1]
1898 (for present church); [1]
1909 (for school) [1]
Client Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York
Design and construction
Architect George H. Streeton of Brooklyn, New York
Side of St. Raymond.jpg

St. Raymond's Church is a parish church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at Castle Hill Avenue at Tremont Avenue, The Bronx, New York City. The parish was established in 1842. It was dedicated on the feast of St. Raymond Nonnatus, on August 31, 1845, thus getting its name. There is a stained glass window, on the right side if you are looking at the sanctuary, of St. Raymond Nonnatus and the men who took him hostage.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York Archdiocese of the Catholic Church

The Roman CatholicArchdiocese of New York is a Latin Catholic archdiocese in New York State. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York City and the counties of Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester in New York. The Archdiocese of New York is the second-largest diocese in the United States, encompassing 296 parishes that serve around 2.8 million Catholics in addition to hundreds of Catholic schools, hospitals and charities. The Archdiocese also operates the well-known St. Joseph's Seminary, commonly referred to as Dunwoodie. The Archdiocese of New York is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province of New York which includes the suffragan dioceses of Albany, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Ogdensburg, Rochester, Rockville Centre and Syracuse.

The Bronx Borough in New York City and county in New York, United States

The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, in the U.S. state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; northeast and east of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of Queens, across the East River. Since 1914, the borough has had the same boundaries as Bronx County, the third-most densely populated county in the United States.

New York City Largest city in the United States

The City of New York, usually called either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States and thus also in the state of New York. With an estimated 2017 population of 8,622,698 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 20,320,876 people in its 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 23,876,155 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.

Contents

Parish

The parish of St. Raymond's predates the creation of The Bronx, when the area was still part of southern Westchester County, New York. Bishop John Dubois of New York had a deed executed on 2 December 1835 at a cost of $160 for the 125 foot by 26 foot plot of land situated about two miles north of Fort Schuyler, New York. A church and/or school were intended to be constructed that year on the plot of land, however, nothing was erected. [1]

Westchester County, New York County in New York, United States

Westchester County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is the second-most populous county on the mainland of New York, after the Bronx, and the most populous county in the state north of New York City. According to the 2010 Census, the county had a population of 949,113, estimated to have increased by 3.3% to 980,244 by 2017. Situated in the Hudson Valley, Westchester covers an area of 450 square miles (1,200 km2), consisting of six cities, 19 towns, and 23 villages. Established in 1683, Westchester was named after the city of Chester, England. The county seat is the city of White Plains, while the most populous municipality in the county is the city of Yonkers, with an estimated 200,807 residents in 2016.

John Dubois Roman Catholic Bishop of New York

John Dubois, S.S., served as the third bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York. He was the first non-Irish born Bishop of New York.

In 1842, Bishop John Hughes purchased the acre that the current St. Raymond's Church is located on, and converted an old wooden barn into a temporary church. In 1847 an adjoining acre was purchased. The land purchased coincided with the 1840 founding of St. John's College in the village of Fordham, the future Fordham University. In 1842 Fr. Felix Vilanis, Superior at St. John's, was appointed to attend to the people of Westchester and the villages along the Sound. He built the first church and had it dedicated 31 August 1845. [1] After the Mass, Bishop Hughes blessed the cemetery which had been laid out adjoining the church.

John Hughes (archbishop of New York) Catholic bishop

John Joseph Hughes was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He was the fourth Bishop and first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, serving between 1842 and his death in 1864, and founded Fordham University in 1841.

Fordham, Bronx Neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City

Fordham is a group of neighborhoods located in the western Bronx, New York City. These neighborhoods are part of Bronx Community Board 5 and Bronx Community Board 7. Fordham is roughly bordered by Fordham Road to the north, Southern Boulevard to the east, East 183rd Street to the south, and Jerome Avenue to the west. The neighborhood's primary thoroughfare is Fordham Road; its main subway line is the IND Concourse Line, operating under the Grand Concourse, with the IRT Jerome Avenue Line on its western border. ZIP codes include 10453, 10457, 10458 and 10468.

Fordham University American university

Fordham University is a private research university in New York City. Founded by the Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841, it is the oldest Catholic university in the northeastern United States, the third-oldest university in New York, and the only Jesuit university in New York City.

By 1850, St. Raymond's was responsible for had nine mission churches in the Bronx. Due to a shortage of priests and poor roads it was not possible to say Mass at each mission chapel every week, so the priests rode circuit visiting each in turn. [2]

In 1865 the Catholic Protectory, an orphanage organized for the protection of destitute Catholic children purchased 114 acres of nearby farmland with several barns. A school and dormitories were built. Under the direction of the Brothers of Christian Schools and the Sisters of Charity, the children were given an education and taught a trade. The boys learned shoemaking, baking, carpentry, blacksmithing, wheelwrighting, farming, and gardening. The girls learned to embroider, cook and make gloves. The institution was an integral part of the parish until it was sold in 1938. [3]

De La Salle Brothers Roman Catholic religious teaching congregation

The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools is a Catholic religious teaching congregation, founded in France by a priest named Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (1651–1719), and now based in Rome. The Brothers use the post-nominal abbreviation FSC to denote their membership of the order, and the honorific title Brother, abbreviated Br.. The Lasallian Christian Brothers are not the same order as the Irish Christian Brothers.

Sisters of Charity of New York

The Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul of New York, most often known simply as the Sisters of Charity of New York, is a religious congregation of sisters in the Catholic Church whose primary missions are education and nursing and who are dedicated in particular to the service of the poor.

Among the notable pastors were the Rev. William O'Reilly, pastor in the late 1840s, who was the brother of the second Bishop of Hartford, and later rector of Our Lady of the Isle in Newport, Rhode Island and Vicar General of the Diocese of Hartford. The Rev. I. A. Kensella (pastor from 1857 to 1875) left around $18,000 in his will for the erection of a new church. The forward-thinking Rev. Michael B. McEvoy (pastor from 1875 to 1885), bought the Underhill Farm on Throgg's Neck and had it consecrated for burial purpose as St. Raymond's Cemetery, one of the borough's notable cemeteries. [1]

Bernard O'Reilly was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Hartford from 1850 until his death in 1856.

Newport, Rhode Island City in Rhode Island, United States

Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, located approximately 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, 20 miles (32 km) south of Fall River, Massachusetts, 73 miles (117 km) south of Boston, and 180 miles (290 km) northeast of New York City. It is known as a New England summer resort and is famous for its historic mansions and its rich sailing history. It was the location of the first U.S. Open tournaments in both tennis and golf, as well as every challenge to the America's Cup between 1930 and 1983. It is also the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport, which houses the United States Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and an important Navy training center. It was a major 18th-century port city and also contains a high number of buildings from the Colonial era.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford archdiocese

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford is a particular church of the Latin Rite in Hartford, Litchfield and New Haven counties in the U.S. State of Connecticut. The archdiocese includes about 700,000 Catholics, more than 500 priests, 216 parishes and almost 300 deacons. This is roughly one-half the population of the three counties. It also publishes The Catholic Transcript.

Buildings

The original Church became too small and many parishioners had to stand at Mass because it was over capacity. On August 4, 1897, ground was broken for the new Church, designed in the Byzantine Revival-style. The architect of St. Raymond Church was George H. Streeton of Brooklyn who also designed the Cathedral Basilica of St. James in Brooklyn, as well as St. Raphael's Church in Manhattan (1900–1902). The building was dedicated 23 October 1898. [1] In 1932, the old main altar of wood was replaced with one of marble.

In 1908, Cardinal Logue laid the cornerstone of the new school, which opened September 1909. The current elementary school was opened in 1951. The parish also administers St. Raymond's Academy, [4] a high school for girls founded in 1960 and St. Raymond's High School for Boys established in 1962. [5]

Pastors

  1. Rev. Felix Vilanis (1842) [1]
  2. Rev. Higgins (returned to Ireland when his health failed) [1]
  3. Rev, William O'Reilly, brother of the second Bishop of Hartford, and afterward rector of Our Lady of the Isle (Newport, Rhode Island) and Vicar General of the Diocese of Hartford. [1]
  4. Rev. Eugene McGuire (left 1853) [1]
  5. Rev. Richard Kien (1853 until his death on 9 January 1854) [1]
  6. Rev. Michael O'Reilly (4 February 1854 – 1857) [1]
  7. Rev. I. A. Kensella (14 July 1857 - 6 January 1875, who in his will left $1000 for every year he was pastor of this church for the erection of a new church) [1]
  8. Rev. Michael B. McEvoy (appointed February 1875 to 1885, who bought the Underhill Farm on Throggs Neck, now known as St. Raymond's Cemetery and had it consecrated for burial purposes) [1]
  9. Rev. Charles F. O'Keeffe (1885-1888) [1]
  10. Msgr. Edward McKenna, P.R. (b. 18 July 1843 in the parish of Truagh, County Monaghan, Ireland, pastor of St. Raymond's from 1888) [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., Censor, The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg. (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p.392.
  2. ↑ "Church of St. Raymond", NYC AGO
  3. ↑ Bronx Historical Society
  4. ↑ St. Raymond Academy
  5. ↑ St. Raymond High School for Boys

Coordinates: 40°50′30.16″N73°51′13.12″W / 40.8417111°N 73.8536444°W / 40.8417111; -73.8536444

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