The parish of Fourteen Holy Martyrs was established on Central Avenue, Bushwick, in 1887. After its 1976 merger with the parish of St. Martin of Tours, the property was sold to Pilgrim Church, which continues to use the buildings.
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Many thanks to a graduate of the class of 1962 for sending me a correction. He wrote that the building at the left above is a new parish hall, built in the 1960's to replace an older parish hall. He also explained that the church of Fourteen Holy Martyrs was located on the ground floor of the school, pictured below.
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Many thanks also to a former student, who wrote, "I went to that school starting about 1948. At that time the church was in the same building as the school. As the parish got larger, they had to use the other building to hold the overflow. Both buildings were used as a church. I don't know when they started to use the second building as a church."
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The parish was named after a popular Bavarian devotion, that of the Vierzehn Nothelfer. For decades, the Dominican Sisters of Amityville staffed the parish school.
Both views look west on Central Avenue towards Covert Street and a public junior high school. For some years, until about 2002, the Pilgrim Christian Academy educated elementary school children in this building, the former church and parish school. Apparently, the academy has made another attempt to open. One address seems to be 628 Central Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11207.
thank you so much for this pic. of 14 holy martyrs school. My father went to school there in 1940 and this is the only pic i could find.
ReplyDeleteMy father attended 14 Holy Martyrs in the 40's or 50's. Was there church services there as well? I am trying to find out if my father made his Sacraments there also. And if his family attended mass. Who can I contact
ReplyDeleteI graduated from 14 Holy Martyrs in 1961. The church was located on the ground floor of the building. Masses were held there for the parish. The Pastor when I attended was Father Sylvester Marsh.
DeleteDr. MARSH CAME TO MY HOME ON MOFFET ST. TO HEAR MY 1ST CONGESSION IN 1953. I HAD THE MEASLES!
DeleteI was in first grade here in 1954, then moved to Long Island. I've had a very intimate experience with Bavaria.
ReplyDeleteI went to this school in the early 60s. I love. I remember one friend I had Diane Hagan. At that time I was Barbara Byrnes. I lived at 154 Moffat St. Down the Street from. P.S 113
ReplyDeleteI went to this school from kindergarten to 4th grade, which would have been around 1965 to 1969
ReplyDeleteI graduated from elementary school in 1962. Before moving to Queens Village, I was assigned to Franklin Kay Lane HS. I began my freshman year at Martin Van Buren HS.
ReplyDeleteRoland Braswell III - Attended 14 Holy Martyrs from kindergarten with Ms. M as a Teacher until 5th Grade with Ms. Thompson. We moved to Queens and attended St. Mary Magdalen & St. Pius X. Graduated from Bishop Loughlin, 1976. Reunited with a old classmate - John Smith
ReplyDeleteRoland Braswell III - Attended 14 Holy Martyrs from kindergarten with Ms. M as a Teacher until 5th Grade with Ms. Thompson. We moved to Queens and attended St. Mary Magdalen & St. Pius X. Graduated from Bishop Loughlin, 1976. Reunited with a old classmate - John Smith
ReplyDeleteHello Roland,
DeleteMy name is Robert Dunn. I vaguely remember you. I believe we were friends. When I read you reunited with John Smith. It was confirmation becuase I remember John. I moved to Jersey before entering 5th grade. Also, I remember Ms. M. She would hold a book over your head and hit the book. I can remember a couple of classmates as well. They are as follows: Ola White, Sherry Hall, Kevin Jackson and Michael Harris. I remember Michael getting slapped for talking during a fire drill. He had twin sisters. Does any of this ring any bells for you?
One other thing Roland. I remember a kid we called Robert Dodo. We could look out the window and see the construction of the "Twin Towers" He told us his dad worked on the construction crew.
DeleteI attended 14 Holy Martyrs from 1954 to 1962. The pastor in my earliest years was Rev. Sylvester Marsh. The church was located under the school, a bit below street level and the sanctuary was dominated by an enormous and beautiful mosaic of the 14 Holy Martyrs. To the left side of the altar was a life-sized statue of St. Francis of Assisi. At the foot of the statue was a skull and on the mosaic among the 14 Holy Martyrs was St. George slaying a ferocious and demonic dragon. One of the curates, Rev. Thomas O’Brien, taught me the Latin responses and all the rubrics during mass in order to be an altar boy, a privilege that I held for more than 8 years. I remember countless masses being transfixed by St. George and the dragon and St. Francis and the skull! On the walls higher up to the left and right of the altar were inscribed the names of the 14 Holy Martyrs. At the end of each Sunday mass the celebrant and altar boys knelt at the foot of the altar and the celebrant called out the name of each of the 14 Holy Martyrs individually and after each one the congregation would reply “Pray for us”. Other curates there at the time were Rev. Reichert, Rev. Joseph Dolan, Rev. Thomas Paravanani, Rev. Peter Mahoney (a very special priest who had an enormous impact on my life, as I will explain later), Rev. Martin and Rev. Luke Cunningham. Father Cunningham was a musically gifted priest: I remember him every year teaching the 8th graders an opera chorus that they would sing at graduation. Two of them really stand out: the Soldiers’ Chorus from Gounod’s opera “Faust” (in French) and “Va, pensiero”, the chorus of the Hebrew slaves from Verdi’s “Nabucco” (in Italian).
ReplyDeleteSucceeding Father Marsh as pastor was Rev. Joseph Heitz, a very dynamic pastor with a strong German accent. It was he who initiated the tearing down of the ancient and rickety old parish hall and replaced it with a stunningly modern and well equipped new hall with an auditorium, professional stage (where many wonderful variety shows were staged with parish talent usually directed by the gifted Lawrence Petrie) as well as classrooms and a large cafeteria.
As stated in a previous blog, the school was run by the Dominicans of Amityville. My 8th grade teachers (1961-1962) were Sister Catherine James, Sister Michael Thomas and Sister Vivian. The principal was the formidable Sister Alphonsus Marie. They were strict, but they were marvelous teachers and we received an excellent education. So inspired was I by these wonderful nuns and being dazzled by the gifts of Father Mahoney, whom the diocese assigned the task of learning Spanish to minister to the nascent Hispanic community, I eventually became a teacher of French, Italian, Latin and Spanish and taught these languages for 40 years. I owe the good sisters and priests (especially Father Mahoney) a tremendous debt of gratitude for their example, education and guidance. The years have gone by in a flash and I think back 59 years to my graduation from 8th grade and want to say “Thank you” (also merci, grazie, gratias and gracias) to all these wonderful and unsung heroes who set us on the path to our futures. What sublime and wonderful memories!!!
Does anyone know where the church records for this parish are kept,?
ReplyDeletescarentz@verizon.net
The records are at St. Martin of Tours, 1288 Hancock St, Brooklyn NY 11221, phone 718-443-8484.
ReplyDeleteYou may see this FAQ sheet from the diocese of Brooklyn
[url]https://dioceseofbrooklyn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Genealogical-FAQs-1.pdf[/url]
Funny I had the same Sisters along with Sister Mary Martin and Sister Rose Agnes along with a Lay teacher in 7th grade all I do remember was she had a 16 inch wood ruler named Suzy and a paddle with holes in it. It was a great school and a fun place to go to school
ReplyDeleteBrooklyn Jimmy
Hope this does not come up as a duplicate, I had the same Sisters, which include Sister Catherine James, Sister Michael Thomas, Sister Mary Martin and Sister Rose Agnes along with Father O'Brian and Father Mahoney. Also had a lay teacher but I don't remember her name, but she had a ruler named Suzy and a drilled ping pond paddle. It was a great school and a fun time in my life.
ReplyDeleteBrooklyn Jimmy
I was a student from K 9/1965 to 4 grade 12/1969. We moved to St. Albans in Queens and transferred to St. Catherine's of Sienna and graduated 6/1974. Yes, the ground floor was the church and the school was above.
ReplyDelete