Regina Pacis, a Minor Basilica

Regina Pacis church in Bensonhurst has received the title of Minor Basilica.  The Tablet has printed two excellent articles about this dedication and the church.  The photos are magnificent.
I have linked the articles here and here.
Please also read my post below from 2010.

St. Jerome, Flatbush

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

St. Jerome's church stands at the busy intersection of Newkirk and Nostrand Avenues, Flatbush,  The parish mailing address is 2900 Newkirk Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11226, telephone 718-462-0223.  In the first photo, please note the entrance to the Lower Church near the stairway from the #2 and #5 subway trains. Through that door yesterday I chanced upon a 1 p.m. Saturday Mass, with the congregation vigorously singing the liturgical responses and hymns. 
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The parish website, which includes the Mass schedule and Bulletin, is linked here.  There are six Sunday Masses: one in Spanish, one in Creole, one Creole/French, and three in English.
Edit in January, 2015: The weekly bulletin is available here or through the parish website.  The bulletin is more current than the website.

As the neighborhood is largely Caribbean, French, Kreyòl, and Spanish are heard at Mass, together with English  and Church Latin.  The celebrants above used much incense over the gifts, the altar, each celebrant, and the congregation.  Some Preface responses were in French, but the Sanctus was a joyful, strong, moving song in (I believe) Creole.  The "Per ipsum" was in French, the reply the moving Amen which I might describe imprecisely as "from Lilies of the Field." English was the language of the recited Our Father, and Latin that of the awesome Agnus Dei.
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St. Therese of Lisieux, East Flatbush

The parish of St. Therese of Lisieux stands of the south side of Avenue D in East Flatbush, with the school on the left (east) of the photo and the church to the right (west).  The school extends south on East 45th Street, and the church and rectory extend south on Troy Avenue.
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The rectory address is 1281 Troy Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11203, telephone 718-451-1500.  The parish website is linked here.  The parish was established in 1926, and the school opened in 1941.

A portrait honors Venerable Pierre Toussaint (1766-1853).  The relic below the portrait is some earth from his grave.

As shown above, the parish school is now the site of St. Catherine of Genoa - St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Academy.  The academy's address is 4410 Avenue D, Brooklyn NY 11203, telephone 718-629-9330.  Its website is linked here.
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Along Avenue D, the B8 bus serves the church and academy on its way from 18th Avenue to Brownsville.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, near Bergen Beach

The remarkable church of St. Bernard of Clairvaux is located at 2055 East 69th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11234, telephone 718-763-5533.  The parish website is linked here. Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.  The parish was founded in 1961, and the cornerstone of this church carries the date 1989.

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A biography of St. Bernard (1090-1153) may be found here.

Facing the church is the parish school, at 2030 East 69th Street, Brooklyn NY 11234, telephone 718-241-6040.  Its website is linked here.

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The church and school are near the eastern terminals of bus routes B3 (Avenue U) and B41 (Flatbush Avenue bus branching to E. 71 Street).

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An article in the web-based Brooklyn Daily Eagle 9.25.2014 highlights Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, administrator of St. Bernard parish.

Sacred Sites Open House Weekend May 19-20

This article  from the internet's Brooklyn Eagle may be of interest.  Five churches and synagogues will host an open house May 19-20.  Among them will be the Maronite Catholic Cathedral in Brooklyn Heights.

St. Aloysius and borderline parishes

A correspondent wrote about St. Aloysius and other parishes along the Brooklyn-Queens border.  I have been judging the borough of the parish by the location of the front door of the church, but some parishes boundaries seem to include both Brooklyn and Queens.  It was probably in the 1980's that the strict geography of parish boundaries lost importance. Some parishes used to publish their exact canonical borders.  I have seen the borders mentioned in a St. Thomas Aquinas, Flatlands, bulletin, and posted on the foyer wall of St. Vincent de Paul, Elmont.
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I wonder which parishes along the Brooklyn-Queens border (but with the church building in Queens) include Brooklyn residents in their care, that is, in the previously-strict boundaries.  These parishes may exist near Ozone Park, Eldert Lane, Ridgewood, and Bushwick.

Most Precious Blood, Bay 47th St, Bath Beach

Most Precious Blood Church is located on Bay 46th Street between Bath Avenue and Harway Avenue.  The mailing address for Most Precious Blood parish is 70 Bay 47th Street, Brooklyn NY 11214, telephone 718-372-8022. In August, 2016, there is a problem with the website.
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Above, looking alongside the church to the rectory and convent on Bay 47th Street.  This is four short blocks west of the Bay 50th Street station of the D train. 
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Bishop Thomas Malloy established the parish in 1927. This attractive church building has a cornerstone dated 1975. In 2009, the Bishop DiMarzio ordered the closing of the parish elementary school.
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Catholic academies, list of March, 2012

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio has followed up the alignment decree effective May 17, 2011, with a second decree effective March 26, 2012.  The decrees assign the parish staff (apparently only the ordained) to the spiritual care of the students in the newly-formed Catholic academies, formerly parish elementary schools.  For further explanation, please read the new decree here.
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The first alignment decree signed by Bishop DiMarzio and effective May 17, 2011 is linked here.
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Below, I use the new decree to provide a list of academies in Brooklyn.  I begin with those that have only one parish aligned with the academy and therefore more resemble a parish school.

The decree is a list of some Catholic Academies (that is, parish or regional elementary schools renamed as Catholic Academies with a two-level board in charge). With each academy on the list are the parishes whose priests are responsible for the pastoral care of the students in the academies. It seems to be largely aimed at the provision of Mass and the sacrament of Reconciliation. Please read the document.
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My interest is in the geographical assignment of parishes to academies. These are the Brooklyn schools on the list:
St. Brigid Catholic Academy, Bushwick, aligned with St. Brigid parish, its school being the academy.
St. Saviour Catholic Academy, Park Slope, aligned with St. Saviour parish, its school being the academy.
St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Academy, Bushwick, aligned with St. Joseph Patron (site of academy).
Pope John Paul II Family Academy, Bushwick, aligned with St. Barbara parish, whose school is the site of the academy.
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St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy, Greenpoint, aligned with St. Stanislaus Kostka parish (site of academy), Sts. Cyril and Methodius, St. Anthony - St. Alphonsus, and Our Lady of Consolation parishes.
Sts. Joseph and Dominic, Williamsburg, aligned with Most Holy Trinity (site of academy), Our Lady of Pompeii, Sts. Peter and Paul, and Transfiguration.
Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy, Williamsburg, aligned with Divine Mercy parish (3 parishes in 1), Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and Annunciation.
Holy Angels Catholic Academy, Bay Ridge, aligned with Holy Angels parish and St. Andrew the Apostle parish.
Midwood Catholic Academy, Midwood, aligned with St. Thomas Aquinas parish (the site of the academy), St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Columba, and Our Lady Help of Christians.
St. Mary, Mother of Jesus - St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Academy, Bensonhurst, aligned with St. Mary, Mother of Jesus parish (site of academy), St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, St. Finbar, St. Dominic, and Most Precious Blood parishes.
Our Lady of Trust, Canarsie, aligned with St. Jude parish, Our Lady of Miracles (two sites of the academy), St. Laurence (Van Siclen and Flatlands Aves.), and Holy Family (Canarsie).
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St. Catherine of Genoa - St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Academy, East Flatbush, aligned with St. Therese (site of academy), St. Catherine, and Our Lady of Refuge.
Salve Regina Catholic Academy, East New York, aligned with St. Michael (site of academy), St. Malachy (merged into St. Michael), Mary Mother of the Church (a combination of three parishes), Our Lady of the Presentation/Our Lady of Loreto, St. Rita, St. Sylvester, and St. Fortunata.
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Academy, aligned with St. Francis of Assisi parish (site of academy), St. Teresa of Avila, and St. Joseph (Pacific Street).
St. Gregory the Great Catholic Academy, aligned with Holy Cross (Flatbush, current site of academy), St. Matthew (which includes the church of St. Gregory the Great, Crown Heights), and Holy Innocents.
St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Academy, Windsor Terrace, aligned with Holy Name of Jesus (site of academy), and Immaculate Heart of Mary parish.
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Maybe someplace else there is an explanation of who will prepare the students for first Confession, first Communion, and Confirmation.  Will students of the Catholic Academies be prepared by the staff of the Academy, and where will they "make" these sacraments?  Or will the students have to attend additional classes in their own parishes? I suspect that this problem is not new and that the most appropriate answers are local, with consultation of the parents and staff.

Sacred Heart, Fort Greene

Sacred Heart church stands on Clermont Avenue between Park Avenue (to the left and south) and Flushing Avenue (to the right, with the Navy Yard).  The parish was established in 1871 and this church completed in 1877.  About 2008 Bishop Dimarzio renamed the parish Mary of Nazareth parish, with the absorption of St. Michael - St. Edward parish, later closed.    His decree dated 11.12.2010 suppressed the parish of St. Lucy - St. Patrick and merged it into the parish of Mary of Nazareth, 41 Adelphi Street, but St. Lucy - St. Patrick continues to show up on the diocesan list of parishes.   When I took these photos of Sacred Heart church in April, 2012, I could find no exterior Mass schedule, but the diocesan website shows a Thursday 7:30 p.m. Mass in Spanish and a Sunday bilingual Mass at 10:30 a.m.  The diocesan website also lists Mass four times a week at St. Patrick's church, Kent and Willoughby Avenues.

The rectory at the right is at 41 Adelphi Street, Brooklyn, New York 11205, telephone 718-625-5115.

The large school bears the name Sacred Heart Institute from an earlier era.  From 1973 to 1985 it was Fort Greene Catholic.  Now, the closest door has two signs, Greenhill School and Sacred Heart Religious Instruction Center.  The 2011 edition of the Official Catholic Directory states that there were 125 students in religious education.

According to this document on Wallabout Cultural Resources, Thomas F. Houghton designed the church, the rectory, and the institute.
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On 5.8.2014, a reader wrote (see comment below) that she would like photos of the interior of the church.  She also remarked about the organ.  The New York organ project offers a description of the church and its organ, linked here.
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St. Vincent de Paul, Williamsburg

The above photos, taken April 4, 2012, may be enlarged by clicking on each.  Obviously, the buyer of the St. Vincent de Paul property has moved quickly towards gutting and some demolition.  The top photo looks from North 6th Street towards the parish school on North 7th Street, a 1950's building vacant for a few years.  The second building seems to indicate that the senior center used by Catholic Charities, perhaps a former convent, was not sold.  (Yes? No?)  The third photo shows the gutted rectory.
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(Update, October, 2012: I much appreciate this comment from Howard Weber:
The Catholic Charities building referred to as a former convent was actually at one time the residence (friary) of the Franciscan Brothers who staffed St. Francis Prep at 186 North 6th Street ( across the street from St Vincent De Paul) from 1952-1974.

If you look at the cornerstone of that it would appear it was built expressly for that purpose.)

(Update, August, 2013: I much appreciate this comment from Terri White:
I believe that the school located on North 7th street was actually built in the 1960's as I was in the first graduating class in 1969. The original school was on Driggs Avenue and North 6th street and was adjacent to the original St Francis Prep boys high school which is now Boricua College. The convent was also adjacent to St Francis prep on north 6th street just before the row of houses. Terri White.)

A friend mailed me a clipping from the Greenline newspaper, dated March 1-31, 2012, page 4, with the headline, "St. Vincent de Paul Church to Become Apts.; Historic Edifice Will Remain Intact."  The developer The North Flats, according to the story, has applied to the Buildings Department to turn the church into 33 apartments, and the parish house into ten apartments.  The adjacent vacant school on North 7th Street and the parking lot were also part of the purchase.  Please read the notes below in view of this latest news.  I must note that there are similarities with the conversion of the buildings of St. Peter's parish some years ago (at Warren and Hicks Streets, Cobble Hill).
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On December 6, 2011, the Brooklyn Paper linked here reported that the church of St. Vincent de Paul has been sold to a developer.  In recent days, the diocese has removed the bell and stained glass windows for storage in East New York.  The article is not clear about the other buildings adjacent to the church, to the left in the photo below and the school on the adjoining block behind.  It says that zoning restricts development to residential buildings no taller than fifty feet.
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On December 20, 2011, BrooklynEagle.com reported here that the sale price was $13.7 million and the size of the property 37,500 square feet (0.86 acre).  The buyer "plans a new residential project."
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On April 4, 2011, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio issued a decree linked here, stating that the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel could no longer afford to maintain the church of St. Vincent de Paul on North 6th Street and that said church could be sold for profane use after June 30, 2011, except for sordid purposes.
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The photos below date from March, 2010.

For a few years, Armenian Catholics used this church and rectory.  Please see the link here. The ecclesiastical jurisdiction is the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg.

This building on North 6th Street (photo of March 2010) was in the process of being gutted or leveled when I saw the shovel and dump trucks at work 4.5.2012.  Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy has superseded Northside Catholic Academy.
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Sts. Simon and Jude, Gravesend

The church of Sts. Simon and Jude is located on Avenue T between Van Sicklen Street and Lake Street, a block west of McDonald Avenue and the Culver Line F train.  The rectory address is 185 Van Sicklen Street, Brooklyn, New York 11223, telephone 718-375-6642.

The parish smartly provides parish bulletins in an outdoor holder, in addition to posting outdoors the Mass schedule.

The parish's Faith Formation program is located at 294 Avenue T, across from the church, telephone 718-372-0733.  
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Google hosts the parish website, and as of 9.2.2016 the staff page has Latin gibberish (typical of a Google joke when a text is missing) where biographies should be.

St. Bernadette, Dyker Heights

The church of St. Bernadette is located on the northwest corner of 13th Avenue (Dyker Heights Boulevard) and 83rd Street.  The mailing address is 8201 13th Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11228, telephone 718-837-3400.  The parish website is linked here.
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Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.  Hymns sound from the belfry. About 3:55 p.m. this particular Friday people several blocks away could hear "Veni, Creator Spiritus."

On the arch is an English translation of Mary's reply on March 25, 1858, when Bernadette Soubirous asked her identity.  For more on the life of St. Bernadette, please see this link, among many others.

St. Bernadette parish elementary school is at 1313 83rd Street, Brooklyn NY 11228, telephone 718-236-1560.  The school website is linked here.  The parish opened the school in 1953, and the administration and faculty include several Religious Teachers Filippini, Maestre Pie Filippini, founded in Italy about 1692 by St. Lucy Filippini.

Five more Catholic Academies

These items are gleaned from a diocesan press release issued 1.30.2012. The surprise on the list is that St. Gregory the Great School is listed as Flatbush, at Holy Cross, 2520 Church Avenue.  Current N-8 enrollments (that is, enrollments inflated by nursery-level students) are also given.
Parish schools becoming Catholic academies are:
St. Brigid, Wycoff Heights, 207 students.
St. Francis of Assisi, Lefferts Prospect Gardens, 351 students.
St. Frances Cabrini (at St. Joseph Patron, Suydam Street), 280 students.
St. Gregory the Great (at 2520 Church Avenue to allow repairs at 991 St. John's Place), 232 students.
St. Saviour Elementary, Park Slope, 401 students.  Note that the parish also has St. Saviour HS.
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St. Teresa of Avila, Sterling Place

Effective November 1, 2018, the parish of St. Teresa of Avila has been merged into the parish of the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph. 
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The church of St. Teresa of Avila is located on the northeast corner of Classon Avenue and Sterling Place.  Its postal address is 563 Sterling Place, Brooklyn NY 11238, telephone 718-622-6500.

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

Yes, the cornerstone of this church was laid in 1874.  For more of the church history, please see this link.

The parish had two school buildings, one here on the southeast corner of Sterling Place and Classon Avenue.

               

On the north side of St. John's Place are the auditorium, the second school, and senior apartments.  The B45 bus connecting downtown Brooklyn with Crown Heights provides frequent service, eastbound on St. John's Place, westbound on Sterling Place.
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The school in the above photo, at 541 St. John's Place, as of December, 2018, houses a training center for court officers in the New York State Court system. "The facility will contain five new classrooms, a conference room, offices and a multipurpose gym," according to an announcement by the Supreme Court Officers Association. By January, 2024, the Court Officers Academy is in three buildings. The third and smallest is a dormitory for trainees who would have difficulty reaching this location on an early morning drive.

The training facility is named after New York State Court Officers Capt. William Thompson, Sgt. Thomas Jurgens, and Sgt. Michael Wallace, who died on 9.11.2001.
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I received this inquiry in February, 2013:

Both my parents graduated from St. Teresa's school in the 1920 - 1930 era . (mother Kathleen Campbell - father - Howard Nicols).  My grandmother lived across the street at 568 Sterling Place.  I grew up on Carroll St. in St. Ignatius parish and attended St. Francis of Assisi school.

 I had a yearbook type magazine about growing up in St. Theresa's parish in particular, and in Brooklyn in general.  I lent this to a friend and never got it back.  Do you know of this book and where, if possible, I can get a copy.

Any help would be appreciated.  Gail Nicols Tumulty  gtumulty(at)comcast.net
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I wasn't able to post a comment on your site because none of those profiles seem to apply to me, and I wasn't sure what to do....

Wonderful, wonderful website!  Occasionally I look around the internet for pictures or stories about St. Teresa of Avila church and school, and that is how I came about your site. 

I graduated from St. Teresa of Avila in June 1958 and my mother in February 1927 when the girls school (Sterling and Classon) was only three stories plus the basement.  My mother's brother graduated from the boys school (St. John's and Classon) probably the next year. 

I tried to respond to Gail who left the inquiry earlier this month about a “yearbook type magazine” and the e-mail was returned to me.  I had copied and pasted it, of course changing the (at) to @  so it was accurate.  Can you please check and see if the e-mail address she provided just this month is the same as what appears on your site. 

I don’t know where she can get another book, other than Googling it or writing to the author or alumni association, etc., but I might have to what she’s referring, and I also have the St. T’s 1924 Golden Jubilee book and the 1949 Diamond Jubilee book.  If there was something in particular she wanted, I could scan it and e-mail it to her.

Many thanks for your efforts!  Great job!

Helen Sauer Mirande

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From the editor:

Posting a comment on this blog has become a bit complicated.  It does work, but with these hurdles:

1) I have chosen to require that Blogger (Google's free tool) send me the comments first for approval.  That has weeded out some spam, for example, a car repair firm in Brooklyn!

2) Blogger now requires some identification from the person placing the comment. Again, that keeps down trolls.

3) Blogger continues to hide the email address of the person commenting, making it difficult to reply to any inquiry!

These safety precautions are reasonable, but they somewhat hinder conversation.

St. Joseph Co-cathedral, Pacific Street

St. Joseph parish, Prospect Heights, is located at 856 Pacific Street, Brooklyn NY 11238, telephone 718-638-1071.  The website is linked here. The parish was established in 1850 by Archbishop John Hughes of New York.  The diocese of Brooklyn was created in late 1853.  "Diocese of Immigrants" shows an older church here with one steeple.  The cornerstone of this church is dated 1912.

The above interior photo was taken in early 2012, before the extensive renovations.

This banner appears adjacent to the apse, along the Dean Street side of the church.  Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

The former school, built around 1920, is a senior residence at 683 Dean Street.  The church apse may be seen to the east.

This view southeast from Atlantic Avenue shows both the church and the school.  In 2012, construction continues on the 22-acre Atlantic Yards project, of which Vanderbilt Avenue (crossing this photo) is the eastern end.
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The bulletin reported attendance at three Sunday Masses on 8.14.2016 as about 375.

St. Benedict, Fulton Street

A reader favored me with an inquiry about St. Benedict, a German national parish which existed for 120 years (1853-1973) on the south side of Fulton Street west of Ralph Avenue.  When the church at 1916 Fulton Street was sold in 1973, it continued as a place of Christian worship, now the Mount Sinai Cathedral.  The parish school on Herkimer Street is now a Head Start Center.  
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Credit for information: Arcadia Book, "Brooklyn: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle post cards, 1902-1905."
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A photo of the church that was St. Benedict's appears on the Facebook page of Mt Sinai Cathedral, linked here.  It is an excellent photo and can be enlarged by clicking on it.
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Above is a view looking north from a train on Atlantic Avenue, taken in January, 2012.  The school faces Herkimer Street. The church faces Fulton Street. Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

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Page 38 of "Diocese of Immigrants" has photos of eight German parishes, but not St. Benedict.
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The first pastor, Fr. Maurus Ramsauer, was a Benedictine.