+ OUR LADY OF GRACE PARISH - Penndel, Pennsylvania +

Our Lady of Grace Parish History

In the early years of the twentieth century Catholics in the Penndel area attended Mass at St. Mark’s in Bristol or St. Andrew’s in Newtown. Both parishes apparently had a hand in establishing a parish in Penndel (known then as Eden). Sunday school was held in the Keating home at 100 W. Woodland Ave. The Keating history book says that in 1905 Father Bunce of St. Mark’s obtained permission from Archbishop Ryan for Patrick Keating, Joseph Lenike and William Rumpf, Sr., to raise funds to purchase the former St. James Episcopal church on Bellevue Ave. near Lincoln Hwy. This was accomplished in 1906 for the sum of $662.50. A 1910 newspaper clipping (source unmarked) says that in 1906 Father Kiernan of Newtown established a mission in Eden. It then goes on to give the story of Father Bunce, as above, and says the chapel was dedicated by Msgr. Fisher on May 19, 1907. That chapel later became Brelsford’s General Store (later McCarthy’s), and now the property is part of the parking lot for Cooperative Furniture.

Father John Schroeffel, a priest of the Holy Ghost Congregation, was sent to offer Mass in the new chapel, but as a missionary, not as pastor. The first baptism recorded was of John Wheeler of Hulmeville on May 17, 1908. The minutes of the Diocesan Consultors meeting of December 3, 1907 recorded a request for boundaries for the new parish of Our Lady of Grace. Apparently this was done in 1908, the year which has always been considered the official beginning of the parish. Yet the first pastor, Father Miles Keegan, was not assigned until May 1909. He immediately made plans for a larger church on the present grounds of the parish, two acres of land donated by the South Langhorne Improvement Co. This building ( which many call the first church) cost $12,000 with seating for 400 people. The cornerstone was laid by Auxiliary Bishop Prendergast on Sunday, June 12, 1910.

Fr. William Henkell became pastor in 1915 and Father Richard Phelan succeeded him in 1922. Father Phelan started the parish school and also the parish cemetery on Old Lincoln Hwy., in Langhorne. Father (later Monsignor) Thomas Corrigan became administrator in 1958 and pastor in 1962. The parish at that time included not just the present boundaries (the four Boroughs of Penndel, Hulmeville, Langhorne Manor and Langhorne, and a large part of Middletown Twp. and Newportville) but also part of Bensalem. Father Corrigan realized that the old church, which many people were so fond of, had to be torn down to make room for a larger church.

In 1961 a new rectory was built and work was begun on the present church which seats between 1400 and 1500 people. The church was dedicated September 8, 1962. When Msgr. Corrigan retired in 1984, Father Robert Conner was made pastor. There are at present about 3000 families, almost 10,000 individuals in the parish, which covers about eleven square miles.

The parish school was opened in 1923 at Bellevue Ave. and Crescent St., across from our parking lot, with the Sisters of The Immaculate Heart of Mary teaching eight grades in four rooms. The present school on Hulmeville Ave. was built in 1949 and the wing was added in 1958. Four rooms were added in 1995. The 1997 enrollment for grades K to 8 and 572. A similar number of public school students attend weekly religious instructions.

The above was submitted to the Penndel Centennial Committee for publication during the centennial celebration in 1999. (Actual date is June 22.) Here are some additional notes which may be of interest.

1. Pat Keating was the father of Mary Keating of 100 W. Woodland Ave. Just before she died in 1994 Mary told me Fr. Keegan lived in the house at 36 W. Woodland (2 houses from Keating’s) until he built the first rectory. She showed me a history of the Keating Family where the story of the purchase of the former St. James Episcopal Church was recorded. See also in our history file the copy of the document of the sale of that property. The general store which followed the church was referred to as Brelsford’s and later McCarthy’s in Bridget Wingert’s article in the Advance (Sept. 8, 1983). There is a reference to O’Hara’s store in Ann Snyder’s Sept. 9, 1971 article in the Catholic Standard.

2. Bill Rumpf, Sr., was the previous owner of the convent. That 1910 article referred to the location of the church property as Hulmeville Pike and Creston St. (now Bellevue Ave and Crescent St.). That same article refers to “Eden” even though another source (perhaps the Courrier Times) one time listed the names for this area as: 1882 Eden, 1899 Attleboro, 1911 South Langhorne, 1947 Penndel. May the name persisted even though it was changed, or maybe it was changed back to Eden, or maybe the newspaper was wrong. The rent book found in the convent with the date of 1908 also calls it Eden.

3. There are several baptisms recorded by Fr. Schroeffel, who signs himself “pastor.” The minutes of the Diocesan Consultors meeting says a request was made for boundaries but no name is mentioned. (They are brief handwritten notes.) It would seem that the parish was decided on in November 1907; boundaries in Dec. or Jan; and officially established in 1908. Yet Fr. Schroeffel’s name continues in the baptismal register until May 1909. Fr. Keegan’s first entry is June, 1909. Apparently Fr. Schroeffel was an administrator until June of 1909.

4. Ann Snyder’s article in the Catholic Standard says the old stone church held 250 people, but that was probably a quote of someone’s memory. The 1910 article is probably more correct. It says: “The church will be 72 x 42 feet and will seat 400. The sanctuary will be 27 x 18 feet.”

Compiled by Rev. Robert J. Conner

1997

PASTORS OF OUR LADY OF GRACE AND HISTORY BACKGROUND

PREFACE:

OLG was first a Mission (1907-08), attended by the Holy Ghost Fathers. The former Episcopal Church on Bellevue Avenue near Lincoln Highway (now the parking lot for Cooperative Furniture) was purchased in 1906.

Fr. John Schroeffel, S.S.Sp. performed the first Baptism – (John Wheeler, May 17, 1908), but he was not appointed as pastor.

The Parish was established in 1908, but the first pastor did not arrive until May 1909.

            First Pastor         Father Miles Keegan                             1909-1915
            Second Pastor Father William Henkell                          1915-1922
            Third Pastor        Father Richard P. Phelan                    April 1961
                                                                                         ( Died   Dec. 16, 1961)
            Fourth Pastor     Father (later Msgr.)
                                          Thomas J. Corrigan, Administrator Sept. 27, 1958
                                                                                 Pastor                 1962-1984
            Fifth Pastor        Father Robert J. Conner                      1984-1999
             Sixth Pastor        Father William B. Dooner                     1999 – current

PERTINENT INFORMATION REGARDING THE BACKGROUND OF OLG:

When the Parish was established in 1908, it was given the name Our Lady of Grace.

The building of the present church began September 10, 1961, and was dedicated on September 8, 1962.

The Architects/Builders of the Church and Rectory were FOLEY & McMANUS.

The stained glass windows in the church were designed and constructed by BYRNES STUDIO – Doylestown, PA. Each of the windows have a prayer or saying dedicated to Our Blessed Mother, Mary. For example, “Queen of All Saints, Queen of Virgins” – these prayers were taken from the Litany of the Blessed Virgin – also known as the Litany of Loretto.

The large stained glass window in the rear of the choir loft is a picture of Our Lady of Grace.

In the Chapel (or crying room), the windows are a little different. The side window portrays the “Baptism of Jesus.”

The front window – a picture of a Baptism and “The Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple.”

The stained glass panels in the Chapel – the picture of Jesus – commemorates the 25^th Anniversary of Msgr. Corrigan.

The stained glass picture of St. Patrick – commemorates the 50^th Anniversary of Fr. Phelan.

The Sacristy windows – one is St. John Vianney (Patron Saint of Priests); the other is a picture of Jesus.

The back Sacristy windows – one is of Saint Gabriel (not angel Gabriel), the other is of St. Aloysius.

The marble used in the construction of the church in the sanctuary area came from Italy.

In the main altar it has sealed in it’s surface two true relics of martyred Saints - FAUSTUS and JOVIAN.

The main aisle of the church is 120 feet long.

The total amount of pews in the church is 140. The main aisle pews hold 12 people comfortably, while the side aisle pews hold approximately 8 people comfortably. When the church is filled to capacity it could hold approximately 1,450 people. It is air-conditioned and also handicapped accessible.

On the left side of the church (the Blessed Mother side) is a glass contained called an ambry – this hold the holy oils that are used for Baptism, Confirmation and Anointing of the Sick. These oils are blessed annually on Holy Thursday only at the Basilica Cathedral in Philadelphia, and each Pastor or Associate Pastor bring them back to the Parish to be used throughout the year.