3/14/21

Dear St. Joseph Parish Family,

This Tuesday, the 16th, is the 187th anniversary of the dedication of St. Joseph Church (3/16/1834). Our parish was created in 1829 when Greenwich Village was incorporated into New York City (it was a real village then!), and construction on our church building began in the summer of 1833. Fr. James Cummiskey, the pastor at that time, had only $50 on hand when he started construction! Somehow he financed the project and the construction went quickly: by March 16th, 1834 the church building was completed and dedicated. John Doran designed the church in the Greek Revival style that was popular at that time, and much cheaper than gothic! Newspaper reports from the time mention in particular the church's magnificent high altar, which has since been removed. 

The high Mass for the dedication of the church was celebrated by the bishop of New York, Bishop John Dubois, and present too was William Quarter, at that time a deacon but he would later become the bishop of Chicago. Also present as a sub-deacon for the dedication Mass was John McCloskey who would later become the pastor of St. Joseph's, and then the first American-born bishop of New York and the first American Cardinal. Also in 1834: Brooklyn was incorporated as a city (it wouldn't be a part of NYC until 1898) and in July New York University held its first commencement, graduating 9 students. 

This week we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Patrick, the patron of the Archdiocese of New York, and the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the patron of our parish. It's quite a week!

For the Solemnity of St. Joseph, we'll have a high Vigil Mass on Thursday night at 7 pm. We'll have our normal daily Mass that Friday at 12:10 pm and the Stations of the Cross that night at 7 pm, but we'll include special St. Joseph prayers. Make sure to pray for the intercession of St. Joseph – his prayers are very powerful, and he is our patron. Especially in this year of St. Joseph, we should trust in his protection.