Regina Pacis minus St. Rosalia, May, 2017

On May 2, 2017, the bishop of Brooklyn decreed that the church of Saint Rosalia at 6301 Fourteenth Avenue is relegated for profane, not sordid, use, ultimately putting it up for sale with that restriction.
The decree is linked HERE, but sometimes these links to official documents become stale.
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The mailing address for the parish the Basilica of Regina Pacis is 1230 65th Street, Brooklyn NY 11219, telephone 718-236-0909. The neighborhood is the northern part of Bensonhurst.
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The people of the parish of St. Rosalia (founded in 1902 as an Italian national parish, not a territorial parish) made a vow in 1942 to build a votive shrine, the magnificent Regina Pacis church, if their servicemen came home safe from the war and peace was established. In broad summary, that seems to be why this parish had two or three names. The history of the votive shrine from 1942 onward is given on the parish website. I have been unable to learn the parish history for the first forty years, especially whether there was more than one building for Sunday worship. This is not a merged parish. It is a parish that took on a supplementary name, Regina Pacis. Now, in 2017, the name Saint Rosalia has been dropped.

Clicking on any photo will enlarge it. I took the eight photos on this page in 2010.

Above is the now-closed church on 14th Avenue. In 2010, three weekend Masses were offered here: Saturday 5 p.m. in English, Saturday 7:30 p.m. in Chinese, Sunday 9 a.m. in Italian. In 2016, I can find little reference in the parish bulletin to services at Saint Rosalia. In 2017, the church was canonically closed.

Above is the Regina Pacis Votive Shrine on 65th Street near 12th Avenue, Bensonhurst. I note that the Sunday Mass schedule includes five Masses in English, plus one each in Chinese, Italian, and Spanish.

The parish website once had descriptions and photos of the artwork surrounding the congregation, but I have been unable to find these helpful descriptions on the new website.

The above view looks west on 65th Street towards 12th Avenue.
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Some Catholic parishes with beautiful churches do not host weddings of couples who are not active attendees of the parish itself. The Regina Pacis website implies a ready willingness to assist the celebration of Catholic marriage.

The above view looks along 65th Street towards 12th Avenue. This building is signed Regina Pacis Youth Center and Catholic Migration Office. However, it seems the upper floors may have had classrooms. To the right is the rectory and then the Regina Pacis Votive Shrine. A former parish school building extends the short block on 12th Avenue from 65th Street to 66th Street.
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A helpful reader pointed out that the parish also included St. Theresa's Chapel on 12th Avenue at 66th Street.  A link to the news article with that information is HERE. Father Angelo Rafael Cioffi became pastor in 1923 and purchased the land for the school, chapel, and new rectory two blocks west of St. Rosalia's church.  In the mid-twentieth century, Sunday Mass attendance was much higher than today, and pastors often had to add more worship spaces, churches, and chapels.  I am guessing that in 1950, Mass was celebrated in three or four locations, the old church on 14th Avenue, the new shrine church upstairs, the same church downstairs, and maybe at St. Theresa's chapel. It would be interesting to see a Sunday bulletin or Mass schedule for that era. 
The same helpful reader showed me this link to a website about church organs.  The address given for St. Theresa's chapel appears to be in error.

Photos from other sources

Skilled photographers have added many pictures of the churches and schools of Brooklyn to the immense collection on flickr.com
For example, when one goes to the Flickr group pool "Catholic School Architecture" and searches within this group for "brooklyn," the result is astounding.
Please see the link HERE.
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I particularly applaud the work of Matthew X. Kiernan, who has added many photos to that group. Please see his photo stream HERE. He has uploaded more than 14,000 photos, and they are searchable. Type the name of the parish in the search box, and you will probably find better photos than what I have offered on my blogs.

St. Laurence, Flatlands & Van Siclen Aves.

I have not yet visited St. Laurence parish church on the northeast corner of Flatlands Avenue and Van Sicklen Avenue in East New York, near Spring Creek Towers and the Gateway Shopping Center.  The parish website is linked HERE.  For Mass schedule, parish office phone and address, please see the parish website.
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Flatlands Avenue extends five miles across southeast Brooklyn.  At Flatbush Avenue, it passes the parish of St. Thomas Aquinas.  In Canarsie, it passes Our Lady of Miracles and Holy Family. The church of St. Laurence is a mile east of Holy Family.
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John J. O'Malley, architect

In my visits to Brooklyn parishes, I have seldom encountered a sign or plaque giving the name of the architect who designed the church.  Fortunately, the Tablet has now run an article about the prolific architect John J. O'Malley, 1915-1970.  Please see the article HERE.  The occasion was his 100th birthday, with Mr. O'Malley's descendants visiting Cathedral College in Douglaston, which he designed.
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Much of Mr. O'Malley's work is evident in circular churches and chapels in Queens.  A Wikipedia article lists his extensive accomplishments, including apparently some renovations or extensions. It appears that his brand-new churches (contrasted with renovations) date from 1950 until his death in 1970.  Archbishop Molloy died in 1956, Bishop McEntegart retired in 1968, and Bishop Mugavero replaced him.  
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Many thanks to The Tablet and the O'Malley family for publicizing his life and work!
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According to the Wikipedia article, he designed the following churches in the borough of Brooklyn:
St. Sylvester, Grant Avenue, City Line, obviously built in the O'Malley era.
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St. Athanasius, Bay Parkway, 1963.  Note the unobstructed view of the altar and the bright, colorful interior and windows.
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St. Gabriel,  Linwood St. and New Lots Ave., obviously built in the O'Malley era.  The parish cluster is now called Mary, Mother of the Church.  This interior photo shows his style, with unobstructed view.  The parish has a Saturday vigil Mass and three Masses on Sunday.
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St. Mary Mother of Jesus, 1968, replacing a church destroyed by fire. A Tablet article dated 6.13.14 describes the fire and the beautiful new church, circular and wheelchair-accessible.
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St. Finbar, Bath Beach, but the church was built before 1912.  Mr. O'Malley may have designed the former school across the street.
--- Sts. Simon and Jude, listed as Bayside (Queens), but I think Gravesend (Brooklyn). There is a resemblance to the Douglaston seminary frontage.
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And other parish buildings:
St. Nicholas High School, Catherine St., Williamsburg, now renovated and in use by Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy.
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St. Vincent Ferrer elementary school, Flatbush, now used for other purposes.
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St. Bernard parish school, near Bergen Beach.  This page names John O'Malley's firm as architect of the school, which opened in 1963 and continues in 2015 as a Catholic academy. Across the street is a circular church, but the parish history does not give a date.  It may have been built after Mr. O'Malley's sudden death in 1970.

St. Thomas Aquinas, Park Slope

The photos and text below are from when I visited this parish in 2010.  Much has changed since then. The church is red brick, not painted off-white as in my photo.  The interior is more colorful. Please see The Tablet article of June 18, 2015, for a complete description of the extensive renovations.  The article includes an excellent slide show.

St. Thomas Aquinas church is located on the northeast corner of Fourth Avenue (to the left) and Ninth Street (with bus B61 at the right). Its mailing address is 249 Ninth Street, Brooklyn NY 11215, telephone 718-768-9471. In 2008, Holy Family parish on 14th Street was merged with St. Thomas Aquinas.

The parish was established in 1884. If I read the history on the website correctly, this church was dedicated in 1886.

These clips for men's caps and hats appeared in many churches in the last century.

A helpful folder available inside the church offers suggestions for prayer. "The doors of our church are open all day as a symbol that all are welcomed to enter and pray!" St. Thomas Aquinas is depicted with a scroll on which is written "Joy is the noblest human act."
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Regarding that axiom, an interesting link is here.

This building at Fourth Avenue and Eighth Street was the parish school from 1919 to 2005. It is now rented to the New York City Board of Education. There are at least several public school buildings with crosses in our city. The Brentwood Josephites taught in this parish since 1884.
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In Brooklyn there are two parishes named St. Thomas Aquinas. The other one is in Flatlands, established almost at the same time, but before Flatlands was part of the city of Brooklyn.





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St. Augustine, Sixth Avenue

St. Augustine's church was built in 1888, under the design of the Profitt brothers.

The above view shows the Sterling Place (south) end of the former parish school buildings, which run through to Park Place.  Sisters of St. Joseph taught elementary grades at this end of the building.  
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Tragically, on December 16, 1960, teachers and students saw an airliner descend along Stirling Place (left to right in this photo) before it crashed near Seventh Avenue. 
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From the 1930's until the 1970's, De La Salle Christian Brothers lived in the building where the bay window indicates their chapel.  They taught at St. Augustine's Diocesan High School, now housing a public middle school.  Both the Brothers and the high school used the address 64 Park Place.  A link to that school's alumni organization is here.  One alumnus of the school was Governor Hugh Carey.
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Before the Brothers moved here from St. James Cathedral School in the 1930's, the house was the Sisters' convent.  They moved across the street to the corner of Park Place and Sixth Avenue.

In August of 2016, an alumnus of both the elementary school and high school gave me two links that explain further development of the property.  It seems that part of the property will see 62 condos built within the existing buildings.

The links are HERE and Brooklyn Eagle 4.12.2016.

St. Nicholas Ukrainian church

In my walks about Park Slope, I neglected a church of the Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Stamford, St. Nicholas at 256 19th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215.  The onion-domed church with a high stoop is on the south side of 19th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The parish appears to have been established in 1911.

Book: Sacred Havens of Brooklyn

Congratulations to author Terri Cook for her extraordinary book, "Sacred Havens of Brooklyn," published by The History Press in 2013.  As she includes synagogues, mosques, and Christian churches of many denominations, her 224-page book results from much more investigation, observation, and walking than I have done for this blog.
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At least 72 Catholic parishes are included, often with interesting facts that I did not learn from my other readings. She has divided Brooklyn into three parts, and then into neighborhood chapters, with the result that the Catholic parishes are presented in the context of neighborhood ethnicity and other houses of worship.
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The book offers a wealth of descriptive text. You may discover errors, and the phrasing or vocabulary is sometimes inexact.  For example, she uses the word "sanctuary" for the church interior, a Protestant usage, where that word in Catholic usage describes only the limited space near the altar, ambo, and tabernacle, once "inside the communion rail."
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The author has visited the interior of almost all the churches she describes, whereas I have turned away from locked doors.  Therefore, her book is more descriptive than this blog.
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Google's Blogger allows revisions, something difficult in a printed book.  I am going to have to mine this volume for possible edits of my descriptions of parishes.

St. Vincent de Paul, Williamsburg

This post concerns the sale and conversion of three properties of the former parish of St. Vincent de Paul running through from North 6th Street to North 7th Street, Williamsburg.  To the west is Bedford Avenue, with a thronged subway station of the L train.  To the east is Driggs Avenue, with a secondary entrance to the same station.  The photos and narrative are generally in reverse chronological order.  The church was designed by Patrick Keely and dedicated on October 17, 1869, according to several sources, including a report by Fr. Sylvester Malone printed in the Brooklyn Eagle of October 12, 1890.
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It seems that in 2014 lodging in the church was in the form of rental apartments.  The February 12, 2015, issue of Time Out New York has a quarter page story of an actual renter, under the title "Property peep show: Cathedral condo."  I have not been able t find a link to the article and its photos.
Back on May 28, 2014, ny.curbed.com ran a story, linked here.
The Awl on June 30, 2014, ran this critique.

The former rectory has been converted to apartments and is inhabited.

The above photo shows new construction at the north end (apex) of the church.  Acqua Santa restaurant, at 556 Driggs Avenue, is not part of the property.

Clicking on any photo will enlarge it.  The 49th Street address given for the owner is a mailbox store in Borough Park. It would appear that one project, conversion of the rectory into apartments, is complete.  The conversion of the church is under way, and the drawing in the above photo details the preservation of the facade on North 6th Street.  The skylights in the church roof seem new. Some work has been done on the former school on North Seventh Street, but there appears to be a hiatus in renovation.  Entrances to the Bedford Avenue subway station are only a half-block away.

The next two photos were taken in 2012.

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 1960's school on North 6th Street (photo of March 2010) was in the process of being gutted when I saw the shovel and dump trucks at work 4.5.2012.  Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy has superseded Northside Catholic Academy.  In November, 2013, scaffolding and some debris obscured this side of the building.

Holy Family, Greenpoint

IMPORTANT NOTE:  In November, 2019, I am unable to ascertain the role of this church. Some changes have happened.
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This parish was established in 1905, and the cornerstone of the church above reads 1911. It seems that Slovak Franciscan Friars cared for the faithful here during the parish's early era. 
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When I took the above photo about 5:15 p.m. on a weekday in 2008, many cyclists seemed to be heading home on an established fast bike lane, unlike the worse traffic of parallel Manhattan Avenue.  The church is on North 15th Street at Nassau Avenue.
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In 2011, the bishop of Brooklyn merged this parish with the parish of St. Anthony of Padua, which earlier had absorbed the parish of St. Alphonsus.  Since early 2015, it is San Damiano Mission.
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Above, the rectory at 21 Nassau Avenue.

The parish school, which closed in 1970, is now a day care center operated by the diocesan Catholic Charities.

St. Cecilia, Greenpoint

The church of St. Cecilia is now one of three worship sites within the new Divine Mercy parish, established in 2011. An office is maintained at 84 Herbert Street, but the principal office and rectory is at 219 Conselyea Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211.

Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy is less than a mile south of St. Cecilia's.

Clicking on any photo will enlarge it.  The above photo was taken about a half-hour before the arrival of Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.

St. Cecilia's parish, Greenpoint, has been merged into a new parish of Divine Mercy, which has three worship sites: Saint Francis of Paola (daily Mass, Sunday Vigil, and two Sunday Masses), St. Cecilia (daily Mass and one Sunday Mass), and St. Nicholas (two Sunday Masses).

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St. Cecilia's buildings take up almost the entire rectangle of the block bounded by North Henry, Herbert, Monitor, and Richardson Streets, the exception being a few private houses to the right in this photo. The parish was established in 1871. One year, it seems, almost 1,700 students were educated in the parish school, which closed in June, 2008. 

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St. Cecilia's website is linked here.  It is helpful to click on the word Bulletin, because that has been presenting an updated schedule of Masses, lists of the parish staff, and telephone numbers.  The St. Cecilia website offers both recent and older information and photos.

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This blog includes an older post from 2012, which I hesitate to delete: Divine Mercy triple merger.  Also, there is this post from 2009, St. Nicholas.

The cornerstone of this five-story school on Monitor Street, corner Richardson, bears the date 1906.  Brother Albert Matthew, who began his teaching career here about 1928, related how the classrooms used gas lamps at that late date. 

It is now the summer of 2016 and the above work has been done. Several buildings have been turned into rental apartments. The largest building, of course, is the former school (above) on Monitor Street. The second largest building is the former convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph, also on Monitor Street.  Adjacent to the school, but on Richardson Street is a building that may have been used by a school employee and family.  At 2 North Henry Street, but now using a Richardson Street number on the conversion permits, is the former house of the De La Salle Christian Brothers, which has been turned into either two or four apartments. The grand total is a large number of apartments in renovated parish structures, which were rented on a 49-year lease to the developers, that is, not sold by St. Cecilia's parish.

Between the school and former convent is a new flagpole and this memorial.
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For decades, the Sisters of St. Joseph and the De La Salle Christian Brothers staffed the parish school.  Sad to relate, Brother Andrew Gerard Duncanson, teacher at St. Cecilia's Boys' department 1962-1964 and principal there 1967-1969, passed away in Providence, Rhode Island, 8/28/2011, where he worked at La Salle Academy.

Holy Name, Windsor Terrace

The address of Holy Name of Jesus church is 245 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn NY 11215, telephone 718-768-3071. The parish website is linked here. Prospect Park West is in front of the church, with Prospect Avenue alongside the church.  The Mass schedule above was photographed in April, 2013.

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The parish Facebook page is linked HERE.

Clicking on any photo will enlarge it. In 2013, the church property was being renovated, as described in this link.  An altar designed by James Renwick is being moved from the closed church of St. Vincent de Paul, Williamsburg, to this church.
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The parish school at 241 Prospect Park West has been renamed St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Academy, website linked here.

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For almost a century, Sisters of St. Joseph staffed this parish school, and the Xaverian Brothers taught her for several decades. An excellent guide titled "Weekend Walks in Brooklyn" was authored by Robert J. Regalbuto, who graduated from this school in 1964. He says the school was built in 1923 and the Gothic Revival church dates to 1878.
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The three organizations with offices in the former convent apparently deal with diocesan finances.  The name "Rocklyn" hints at a joint venture with the diocese of Rockville Centre, but the few notices I have come across are in Brooklyn.  There are also diocesan corporations named Rocklyn Properties and Rocklyn Ecclesiastica.  Futures in Education is linked here.  It seems to work with the Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens, but both seem to raise funds for diocesan operations.  Futures in Education submitted an IRS form 990 in 2011 showing a balance of $5.8 million.

Church of the Virgin Mary, Park Slope

The Melkite Church of the Virgin Mary stands on the southwest corner of Eighth Avenue and Second Street in Park Slope.  Its address is 216 Eighth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215, telephone 718-788-5454.  The parish website is linked here, and I learned more by downloading a Newsletter from the tab on the left.  This parish belongs to the Melkite Catholic Eparchy of Newton, Massachusetts.

Resurrection Coptic Catholic Church, Park Slope

Resurrection Coptic Catholic Church is located on the south side of 14th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.  In the adjacent garden is a statue of Mary, with the Latin inscription, Ave Maria, Ora pro nobis, "Hail, Mary, pray for us."  The address is 328 14th Street, Brooklyn NY 11215.
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I am uncertain how to express the canonical and juridical relationship of this parish to the diocese of Brooklyn.  It is clearly part of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, Egypt, Eastern Catholics who in January, 2013, elected a new patriarch.  Other internet descriptions of Coptic Catholics relate that this parish is one of three in the United States.  It was established in the former St. Stanislaus Martyr church about 1985.
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The church has a cornerstone of 1891.  Apparently a Scandinavian national parish, in 1979 St. Stanislaus Martyr was merged into nearby Holy Family parish, which itself became part of St. Thomas Aquinas parish, Ninth Street.  Sunset Park and Bay Ridge used to have a more Swedish and Norwegian population than at present. Please distinguish between two different saints named Stanislaus: St. Stanislaus Martyr, killed in Krakow in 1079 (the patron of this parish when dedicated) and St. Stanislaus Kostka, a Jesuit novice who died in Rome in 1568. The parish of St. Stanislaus Kostka is in Greenpoint. 
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The diocese of Brooklyn has a fair number of repeated names of parishes. In the borough of Queens, there is also a parish of St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr in Ozone Park and another parish of St. Stanislaus Kostka in Maspeth. Likewise, there is another Resurrection parish in Gerritsen Beach.

St. Blaise, Kingston Avenue

Because today, February 3, is the feast of St. Blaise, a bishop-martyr in Armenia, I looked around for a photo of the church of St. Blaise that was merged into that of St. Francis of Assisi in 1980.  The parish of St. Blaise was established in 1908 as an Italian national parish.  The photo at this link shows the breaking of ground for a new building in 1954.
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The Brooklyn Library Digital Collection offers many photographs, but the links seem to "time out."  You then have to reenter the search word, in this case the word blaise.
The church was at 520 Kingston Avenue between Maple and Woodward Midwood Streets. I wonder whether the Horeb Seventh Day Adventist church seen there on Google Street View is the 1954 church of St. Blaise.
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Yes. Today, 10.21.2018, Deacon John Lynch confirmed that the 1954 church of St. Blaise is the Horeb SDA.

St. Fortunata, East New York

St. Fortunata church stands on Crescent Street at the intersection with Linden Boulevard.  Its postal address is 2609 Linden Boulevard, Brooklyn NY 11208, telephone 718-647-2632.  The large school buildings take up much of the block to the east, but they now house a charter school.  St. Fortunata parish was established in 1934, and the school closed in 2008.  On January 31, 2013, the pastor here also became administrator of St. Sylvester parish, a mile north.
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The parish website is linked HERE.

Our Lady of Good Counsel, Putnam Ave.

The parish of Our Lady of Good Counsel is located at 915 Putnam Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11221, telephone 718-455-6864 The bishop has merged this parish with that of St. John the Baptist, a mile away on Lewis Avenue, and one pastor serves both churches. 

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The website of the combined parishes is linked here.  St. John the Baptist's phone number is 718-455-6864.

Along the north side of Putnam Avenue is the church, a garden (with a statue of Mary and an Ankh) and the parish office.  Behind the garden can be seen a parish building that faces Madison Street.

The above photos show the north side of Putnam Avenue.

The photos below show the south side of Madison Street, that is, behind the church.

At 800 Madison Street, a new corridor connects what appears to be two former elementary schools of the parish.  The building to the left (east) shows the date 1893.  I could not find a construction date on the building to the right. Presumably a convent was someplace here. Present use of the building is for some 70 apartments of "single room occupancy" with permanent tenants, possibly under the management of a division of Catholic Charities.

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

The property of this parish lies mid-block between Ralph Avenue and Patchen Avenue, named after Ralph Patchen, a farmer who owned 150 acres closer to the waterfront in the early 1800's.

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