Sunday, September 21, 2008

Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Greenpoint




The mailing address for the parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius is 150 Dupont Street, Brooklyn NY 11222, telephone 718-389-4424. Polish Vincentian priests staff the parish. The website is here. Both photos were taken on the Eagle Street side of the parish property, which is mid-block between Manhattan Avenue and McGuinness Blvd. The parish school closed in 1998.



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Thanks to Noirin of Co. Mayo for finding this description within the parade instructions for the 2013 Pulaski Day parade:
SS. CYRIL & METHODIUS PARISH LOCATED IN GREENPOINT, NY, WAS FOUNDED IN 1916 BY A GROUP OF POLISH GENTLEMEN, WHO APPEALED TO BISHOP CHARLES MCDONNELL FOR HELP.
HIS EXCELLENCY ASSIGNED REV. EMIL STRENSKI THE TASK OF STARTING THE NEW PARISH. THE FIRST MASS OF THE NEWLY FORMED PARISH WAS CELEBRATED ON OCTOBER 14TH, 1917. THE PARISH SCHOOL OPENED ITS DOORS THREE YEARS LATER, IN THE FALL OF 1920. THE PARISH IS STILL A VIBRANT PARISH EVEN TO THIS DAY, EVEN THOUGH IT ENCOUNTERED MANY HARD TIMES THROUGH THE YEARS, NAMELY WWI, THE GREAT DEPRESSION, AND WWII, WHICH IN THE END ONLY MADE THE PARISH THAT MUCH STRONGER.
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IN 1939, ST. COLUMBKILLE, A FELLOW GREENPOINT PARISH, FELL ON VERY HARD TIMES DUE TO LACK OF PARISHIONERS AND IT WAS REV. MROZINSKI, THE PASTOR OF S.S. CYRIL & METHODIUS AT THE TIME, WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR MERGING THE TWO PARISHES. THE CURRENT CHURCH STANDS ON THE SITE OF ST. COLUMBKILLE, LOCATED AT 161 EAGLE ST. IN GREENPOINT, BROOKLYN.
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IN 1936, THE PARISH’S SUNDAY SCHOOL WAS ESTABLISHED SO THAT GRAMMAR SCHOOL SPIRITUAL EDUCATION. THE CCD PROGRAM WHICH IS NOW HELD ON FRIDAY’S AND SATURDAY’S IN POLISH IS STILL GOING STRONG AND CONTINUES TO GROW EVERY YEAR. IN ADDITION, THE PARISH HOSTS A POLISH SATURDAY SCHOOL, WHICH ALSO CONTINUES TO GROW IN NUMBERS EACH AND EVERY YEAR. IT OFFERS THE YOUTH OF OUR PARISH AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORY AND CULTURE OF POLAND. IN 1996, THE PRIESTS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE MISSIONS OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL CAME TO OUR PARISH.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

St. Anthony of Padua - St. Alphonsus, Greenpoint



The parish of St. Anthony of Padua was established in 1858. The architect for this second church was the prolific and skilled Patrick Charles Keely. See links at right. Also see the excellent architectural evaluation of this church by Francis Morrone in "An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn."
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The mailing address for this parish is 862 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11222, telephone 718-383-3339. The parish has an informative website, linked here, and a Facebook page.  Two Carmelites of Mary Immaculate from Kerala, India, are the parish priests.
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I must thank Msgr. Sean Ogle and blogger Pat McNamara for explaining that this parish was named by a Conventual Franciscan, Fr. Joseph Brunneman, as linked here. Later, the parish of St. Alphonsus was established nearby, but it was merged with St. Anthony of Padua in 1976. The school closed in 2006. 
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For a summary of Fr. Patrick O'Hare, pastor from 1883 to 1926, please see this Historic Greenpoint link.  The piece is written by the historian Geoffrey Cobb, who yesterday (2.27.2016) made an excellent presentation of Greenpoint history for the New York Irish History Roundtable.



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St. Stanislaus Kostka, Greenpoint



Each weekend nine Masses are celebrated at St. Stanislaus Kostka church, the most of the six Catholic churches in Greenpoint. Also, this parish hosts Greenpoint's sole Catholic elementary school, St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy, with an enrollment of about 240.  The parish apparently teaches 235 more in religious ed. Past numbers were probably much higher. The parish was established in 1896 for Polish immigrants, who continue to arrive in Greenpoint even in the 21st century. From what I heard on the streets of Greenpoint, Polish is second to English. Polish Vincentian Fathers serve in this parish.
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The mailing address of the parish is 607 Humboldt St., Brooklyn, NY 11222, telephone 718-388-0170. The parish website is linked here. The parish Facebook page, kept up-to-date, is linked here.  The school's address is 12 Newell St., telephone 718-383-1970. 
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Another blogger, Andrew, has posted excellent photos of the church here.