Holy Rosary Church (Manhattan) - Parish History

Parish History

The parish was established in 1884 for the Germans and the Irish of the newly developed neighborhood by the Rev. Joseph A. Byron under the direction of John Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop of New York at the time, to the east of Third Avenue near the East River. The area had been served by St. Paul's Church on East 117th Street and by St. Cecilia's on East 106th Street. Since both older parishes were some distance from the newer settlement along the river, it was inevitable that the rapidly developing area would see the founding of two ethnic churches: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on 115th St. for the Italians and Our Lady of the Holy Rosary on East 119th St. for the Germans and the Irish.

The new parish was placed under the advocation of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. A 35-year-old New Yorker, the Rev. Joseph A. Byron, was appointed as first pastor with neither a church nor a rectory. He conducted a door-to-door census of his prospective parishioners seeking their support for his plan to create a church of their own. In March 1884, he purchased four lots on East 119th Street, between First and Pleasant Avenues, where the present parish buildings stand.

Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Augustine Corrigan presided over the dedication of the new church on Rosary Sunday, October 5, 1884. The address previously listed in older records for the same church building was 442 E 119th Street.

Rev. Byron and his two assistants, Rev. Charles A. Meridith and Rev. James T. McGovern, lived in a rented house at 365 Pleasant Avenue until the completion of the present rectory. On March 29, 1893, the Rev. Byron, 44, died from a cold caught during the building of the new rectory. Rev. Francis H. Wall, DD, another native New Yorker, assumed the pastorship of Holy Rosary in 1894. He encouraged the establishment of Rosary Society, Sacred Heart League, Holy Name Society, St. Vincent de Paul and Young Men's Lyceum.

The year 1898 saw the rise of the present stone church that Archbishop Corrigan dedicated on Feb. 11, 1900. Sports became part of parish life, and the Boys Club was set up in 1903. When Rt. Rev. Msgr. William J. Guinan, DD succeeded Rev. Wall in 1909, he established a training course for CCD teachers. Rev. Thomas F. Kane became pastor in 1916. He got the support of the Pallotine Sisters who had begun in 1908 St. John's Settlement at 361-371 Pleasant Avenue. Staffed at the time by nine Sisters, it counted 42 girls and 35 boys as its wards.

From 1918 to 1925, two separate parishes existed in the same building. Rev. Kane and his two Irish assistants maintained the regular parish upstairs while Rt. Rev. Msgr. Gaetano Arcese, PA, assisted by several Italian priests, maintained the Italian one downstairs.

The increasing Italian population in East Harlem had made it necessary to provide a priest at Holy Rosary who spoke their language. Rt. Rev. Msgr. Arcese was chosen to minister to them in the lower church. Msgr. Arcese, a native of Alpino, Italy, came to the United States at 17 years of age and studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, the famed seminary of the Archdiocese of New York. He was named monsignor in 1937 and as prothonotary apostolic and ecclesiastical superior to the Pallotine nuns in 1943. He arranged for the training of the nuns at Fordham University and for their teaching accreditation. He likewise moved St. John's Settlement, a children's home, to smaller quarters. In 1949, he opened the Holy Rosary School to an initial enrollment of 160 pupils with the help of two Sisters.

Upon the death of Msgr. Arcese in 1953, Rt. Rev. Msgr. Bonaventure Filitti, PA, from St. Patrick's Old Cathedral replaced him. The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Filitti added a wing to the parochial school and embellished the interior of the church and the rectory. Two years later he was transferred to Our Lady of Grace Parish in the Bronx.

Rev. Salvatore Cantatore, who had served as curate for six years under Rt. Msgr. Arcese, was installed pastor in 1956. One of the significant developments taking shape during this period was the influx of Spanish-speaking immigrants around East Harlem. The first to serve their specific needs was Rev. Robert Banome who, prior to his priestly ordination, had worked in Puerto Rico. From 1968 to 1969 the pastor was Rev. Msgr. Raphael Lombardi, PA. In 1975, the School of Mt. Carmel under Rev. Terzo Pavis, a Pallotine and pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, was merged with the Holy Rosary School under Rev. Msgr. Pavis.

In 1975, masses were said in English, in Spanish and in Italian. There were evening devotions to Our Lady of Miraculous Medal, Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Anthony. Various organizations flourished, including Senior and Junior Legions of Mary, Holy Name, St. Anne and Sacred Heart societies, Senior and Junior Sodalities of Our Lady, St. Therese and St. Aloysius, Fathers and Mothers Clubs, St. Vincent de Paul, Boys and Girls CYOs, Boy and Girl Scouts, drum and bugle corps, choir, altar boys and ushers. There was a CYO Center next to the rectory. School enrollment rose to 727 and the number of faculty members to 16.

In 1976, Rev. Ronald Ciaravolo was appointed pastor. Renovation and painting of the church marked his term. Two years later, the Parish was entrusted by the late Terence Cardinal Cooke to Rev. Nicanor L. Lana, OSA, Ph.D., former rector of the University of San Agustin in Iloilo City, Philippines, administered at the time by Augustinian friars affiliated to the Augustinian Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus of the Philippines. When Rev. Lana was recalled by his religious superiors to head the Augustinian house in Neguri, Bilbao, Spain, Rev. Angel S. Dulanto, OSA, succeeded him. Rev. Gilbert Luis R. Centina III, 0SA was nominated pastor by the Augustinian Father Provincial Carlos F. Moran, OSA and Council on Sept. 20, 2006. He was appointed pastor of Holy Rosary Church by Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York, on Dec. 1, 2006. At present, four other Augustinian friars assist Rev. Centina as parochial vicars: Rev. Basilio S. Alava, OSA, Rev. Abel G. Alvarez, OSA, Rev. Angel S. Dulanto and Rev. Jose H. Herrero, OSA.