St. Elizabeth – Patroness of our Parish
Our church, and thus our parish, began in 1908. The origin of its patronal dedication has a few layers. On one
hand, an initial donation of $5,000 was given to Bishop Monaghan by Elizabeth Andrews who he hand a
conversation with on a transatlantic voyage. Elizabeth was expressing that there was not a Catholic Church in the
United States that born the name of her christened namesake. When Fr. Temple was asked to begin a new parish
on Broom Street, Bishop dedicated it to St. Elizabeth, the first church in the United States dedicated to the first
century saint and cousin to our Blessed Mother.
It was also evident that Fr. Temple himself had a great devotion to St. Elizabeth that seems to pre-date the new
parish. Perhaps the stories are just a perfect marriage or a perfect beginning. The original statue that now
watches over our children on the first floor of the school is from the original church. This is the statue in our
procession today. Fr. Temple left the parish with the ‘Hymn to St. Elizabeth’ as well as his ‘Prayer to St. Elizabeth’
which gives witness to the extent of his devotion.
The first baptism in the church on Broom Street was Elizabeth Duncan on June 14, 1908. The parish grew opening
its elementary school with the Benedictine Sisters in the same first year and grew to educate 600 students in
1930. Later after Msgr. James Grant became the second pastor in 1940, the high school opened to 200 students.
Thirty- nine years after its humble beginning in Wyckoff Hall on South Broom Street, St. Elizabeth dedicated its
resplendent new church on November 9, 1947 filled with images which tell of the devotion to St. Elizabeth as well
as the origin and prayers of its founding community. The church is surrounded with images of saints from
Germany, Italy, Poland and Ireland in marble and images from saints from every corner of the world in stained
glass. St. Elizabeth was founded as the first parish in the city to welcome people from every ethnic group.
Now 64 years since the dedication of the current church, 105 years after its founding, there have been numerous
renovations, the addition of new buildings, comings and goings of priests, and the departure of our dear
Benedictine Sisters. Yet the core of St. Elizabeth Parish – its people- remains devoted and strong. In the program
booklet for the dedication in 1947 it talks about the desire of the parishioners to erect a temple becoming the
infinite majesty of God. “Upon the firm foundations of faith, prayer and sacrifice as well as upon the rocky ground
of the banning estate it has been built to endure throughout the ages…not from limestone and marble alone has
the new church been constructed but by living stones, souls baptized in Christ the Cornerstone.
And so it stands in 2013. Not just the building but the living stones, the souls. Fr. Temple loved St. Elizabeth, but
according to accounts, he was never able to arouse in his people an enthusiasm for her commensurate with his
own devotion. He also loved processions complete with moving musicians. All these years later, he would be
proud of the love that his people shower upon her. The hymn and prayer he composed in her honor are sung and
recited still today with the passion and the enthusiasm he most assuredly envisioned. The strength of all those
living stones who have come after those founding fathers and mothers have kept the Parish of St. Elizabeth and its
schools and people committed to their roots…unpretentious and humble, yet passionate in their faith.
May today be just the first of many celebrations of the Feast of our Patroness, Saint Elizabeth.
I would put Pastors Listing here….