Dołącz do nas, aby uczcić 125 rocznicę powstania polskiej parafii  w Baltimore Maryland, założoną przez polskich emigrantów w 1887 roku.

09 grudnia / niedziela
11:30 - Uroczysta Msza jubileuszowa
12:30 - Koncert Jubileuszowy w Kościele
13:00 - Bankiet w Sali Szkoły
408 South Chester Street, Baltimore, MD 21231
Założona przez polskich emigrantów w 1887 roku

Please join us to celebrate the 125th Anniversary of
the Holy Rosary Parish in Baltimore Maryland
Established by Polish Emigrants in 1887

December 9 / Sunday
11:30 a.m. - Solemn Jubilee Mass
12:30 p.m. - Jubilee Concert at the Church
1:00 p.m. - Banquet at the School Hall
408 South Chester Street, Baltimore, MD 21231

History of Holy Rosary Church

History of Holy Rosary Parish

The early 1870's brought groups of Polish immigrants to Baltimore. They arrived at the Broadway pier in Fells Point. By 1877, a large community of Poles had formed in the Fells Points section of the city. In that year they organized the St. Stanislaus Kostka Society, whose goal was to secure funds in order to build a church. By 1880, the first Polish parish in Baltimore city was organized and the first Polish church was built under the patronage of St. Stanislaus Kostka.

By the late 1880's the population of Polish immigrants was growing rapidly and conflict arose between the St. Stanislaus Society and the pastor of St. Stanislaus Church. Both of these factors led to the establishment of the second Polish parish, Our Lady of the Rosary ( Matka Boska Rożańcowa) in 1887. A protestant church building located on Bethel St. and Eastern Avenue was purchased and renovated for Catholic liturgical use. Father Piotr (Peter) Chowaniec, a priest from Poland, became the first pastor. On December 8, 1887, Father Peter celebrated the parish's first Mass. In 1889, acreage was purchased outside the city in Dundalk for a parish cemetery. Not long after that, a parish elementary school was opened and the Felician Sisters were invited to staff the school. Eventually, a four storey school was built across from the church on Eastern Avenue as well as a three storey convent. In 1892 Father Peter died under suspicious causes while still young in years.

Father Mieczyslaw Barabasz was assigned as the second pastor. He was a highly educated man and was editor of the clerical newspaper "Przyjaciel Domu " (Friend of the Home). He expanded the church in order to accommodate its rapidly growing congregation. Unfortunately, he had many problems with factions in the parish and with the St. Stanislaus Kostka Society. The Society, which had been instrumental in founding the two Polish parishes, also led a revolt leading several hundred families into schism. Subsequently, they established the independent parish of Our Lady of Unceasing Help which is located on Broadway. This church would later join the Polish National Catholic Church movement. Fr. Barabasz passed away before his time in 1914.

The third pastor was Father Stanislaus Wachowiak. A native from the parish, and the first American born pastor, he was appointed just one year after his ordination. Father Wachowiak, later Monsignor, spent the rest of his priest life as pastor until his retirement in 1968. Father Wachowiak had the vision needed to recognize the need to relocate the parish site several blocks east in order to accommodate its continuing growth. In 1927, the cornerstone was laid for the largest Catholic Church in the Baltimore Archdiocese. The present Romanesque-style church seats 2,000. The church is uniquely wide without any support columns or pillars.

Holy Rosary parish peaked at about 2,500 families, approximately 8,000 souls, in the 1920s and 1930s. Enrollment in the school was over 1,500 children. As many as six priests and 50 nuns were assigned to the parish. For a time, Holy Rosary was not only the largest Polish parish (among six) in Baltimore, but also the largest parish in the Archdiocese.

After Monsignor Wachowiak's well-deserved retirement in 1968, Father Chester Mieczkowski was appointed the fourth pastor. Father Mieczkowski had been an assistant to Monsignor Wachowiak for many years. Later on, Father Mieczkowski was also designated a domestic prelate, or Monsignor.

After World War II, a gradual decline became evident in the parish. In the 1960s and 1970s, the older generation began to pass on and many younger families sought homes in newer sections of the city and in the suburbs. The school began to decline in enrollment, as there were fewer families with children living in the neighborhood. The school finally closed its doors in 1997.

In 1991, Monsignor Mieczkowski retired and Father Ronald Pytel, a native son of the parish was appointed the fifth pastor.

Currently much of the Fells Point, Upper Fells Point and adjacent Canton neighborhoods are undergoing what is called gentrification. Young, often single, professional people who work downtown are moving into these neighborhoods and renovating old row houses. There is also a boom of new apartment and condominium housing, which is changing the face of the area. There is a challenge of re-evangelization of young adult baptized Catholics that are not practicing their faith.

Presently, most Holy Rosary parishioners live outside of the vicinity in other parts of the city and suburbs. A recent study has indicated that Holy Rosary's registered parishioners live in 50 different cities and towns outside of Baltimore. Some live even in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia.

After World War 11 and early in the 1950s, there were an influx of Polish immigrants (displaced persons) which helped to stabilize the need for services in the Polish language. After the imposition of martial law in Poland, another influx of Poles came in the early 1980s. Until this day, a small number of Poles continues to arrive in Baltimore as a result of relocating from other cities for employment reasons. (...)

History of Holy Rosary Parish http://www.holyrosarypl.org/en/our-church/history/

Our church

Even though the parish was founded on December 8, 1887, the building that we find ourselves in dates back to April 24, 1927 when the cornerstone was laid during the pastorate of Monsignor Stanislaus Wachowiak. It was dedicated on April 15, 1928 with 3,000 people in the church and hundreds more standing on the sidewalk outside. 47 homes were demolished for the construction of the church and rectory which was designed by the architects Baldwin and Radziszewski. Total cost for the church was $ 600,000

The building is of Romanesque design and is constructed of woodstock granite. The church has a seating capacity of 2,000people. It was featured in architectural magazines of the day because of the steel arches used in the ceiling which allowed for no pillars to hold up the roof, making the marble-carved altar the main focus of attention. The only pillars are the ones to support the choir loft.The altars were made of Italian and Spanish marble in Pietrasanta, Italy and then transported to Baltimore. The main altar is 20 feet wide and 30 feet high. The marble required for the altars was 49 tons. The mosaics in the church are all of Venetian work. The original statuary of the church, the Rosary Group, st. Joseph and Sacred Heart of Jesus are of Spanish artistry. The main group above the high altar depicts the subject of the miraculous painting, presently in Pompeii, Italy, of the Blessed Mother giving the Rosary to st. Dominic while st. Catherine looks on.
Two huge paintings in the sanctuary depict the Presentation of Mary in the temple on one side, and the coronation as Queen of Heaven and Earth on the other. Additional 15 smaller paintings represent the mysteries of the Rosary so well identifying with the name of the parish. The picture of Christ the King above the sanctuary arch is flanked by 10 holy men and women of Polish Nationality:
St. Stanislaw bishop, st. Stanislaw Kostka, st. Jadwiga (Hedwig), st. Jacek, blessed Wladyslaw, st. Jan Kanty, st. Kinga, st. Andrzej Bobola, st. Wladyslaw- king, and Blessed Andrzej Zuwarek. The painting of st. Wojciech (Adalbert) adorns the Sacred Heart altar, and the painting of st. Kazimserz adorns the st. Joseph altar. The ceiling paintings of the main naive depict the 12 apostles, and the angels hold scrolls with the queenship titles of Our Lady in Polish taken from the litany of the Blessed Mother. The pictures on each side of the organ depict the wedding of Mary and Joseph, and the death of st. Joseph. The organ, which is encased in solid mahogany, was installed by the Moeller Company of Hagerstowm, Maryland. When built, it was said to be the largest, save one, in any church, catholic or non-catholic. It was designed by firmin Swinnen, private concert organist for Pierre S. Du Pont and a graduate of royal conservatory of music in Antwerp Belgium. For those who are interested in organs, this particular one has 3 manuals, 61 stops, 25 couplers, 25 pistons, 3 separate swell boxes and 3,000 pipes. The organ is currently under complete rebuild for about the past year, but we are able to use it as the work progresses. The stained glass windows are of Munich design. The glass was sent from Germany to reading Pennsylvania where the windows were wrought. Finally, in the back of the church, there is baptistry with an altar dedicated to the Souls in Purgatory. There are also shrines to st. Theresa of the Little Flower and st. Anthony. The Stations of the Cross are done in statuary bas-relief and are inscribed in the Polish language. This is indeed a beautiful house of prayer, one that has played a major role in the spiritual life of Polonia in Baltimore. Blessed John Paul II, visited here when he was Cardinal. There is a plaque to commemorate this occasion near the Divine Mercy Shrine. The Shrine to Divine Mercy was dedicated as an Archdiocesan shrine by Bishop John Ricard on April 5, 1993, the first feast day of blessed Faustina Kowalska.

History of Church Building http://www.holyrosarypl.org/en/our-church/building/

For more information call: 410 732-3960
For tickets for banquet call: Christine Grabowski 410-207-4502
www. holyrosarypl.org
http://www.holyrosarypl.org/en/bulletin/125th-Jubilee-Celebration--------_217