St. Mary's Church (Albany, New York) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St. Mary's Church |
|
|---|---|
West elevation and south profile, 2009
|
|
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Leadership | Pastor: Rev. David Wm. Mickiewicz Pastor Emeritus: Rev. John T. Provost Deacon: Walter Ayres Deacon: Aaron Tremblay |
| Year consecrated | 1870 |
| Status | Active |
| Location | |
| Location | 10 Lodge Street Albany, NY, USA |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Charles C. Nichols, Frederick Brown |
| Architectural style | Italian Romanesque Revival (exterior); Mannerist/French Gothic Revival (interior) |
| Groundbreaking | 1867 |
| Completed | 1867 |
| Construction cost | $100,000 |
| Specifications | |
| Direction of façade | west |
| Height (max) | 175 feet (53 m) |
| Spire(s) | 1 |
| Materials | brick and stone |
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| Added to NRHP | July 14, 1977 |
| NRHP Reference no. | 77000933 |
| Website | |
| Historic St. Mary's Church | |
St. Mary's Church is a Catholic church located on Lodge Street in downtown Albany, New York. It's a brick building with a style called Italian Romanesque Revival on the outside. This means it looks like old Roman buildings with round arches and strong shapes.
Built in the 1860s, it's the third church building for the oldest Catholic community in Albany and all of upstate New York. In 1977, St. Mary's Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This list recognizes important historical places in the United States. It's also part of the Downtown Albany Historic District, which is a group of historic buildings.
The church community started in the late 1700s. The first church was built on this spot in the early 1800s. The city gave the land, which is believed to be where St. Isaac Jogues hid after escaping from captivity in the 1600s. The current building was designed by local architects Nichols & Brown. Its tall tower was added later in 1895. The inside and outside of the church were updated in the late 1900s.
Many important people in the American Catholic Church have visited or were connected to St. Mary's. John McCloskey, who became the first Bishop of Albany and later the first American-born cardinal, used St. Mary's as his main church for a short time. John Neumann, who is now a saint, celebrated a Mass here when he was a new priest. Clarence A. Walworth, a priest who helped make Kateri Tekakwitha a saint, was the pastor of St. Mary's for many years in the late 1800s. He helped shape how the church looks today, both inside and out.
The inside of the church looks different from the outside. It mixes Mannerist and French Gothic styles. After the tower was finished in 1894, the church got electric lights. This made it the first church in Albany to have electricity! In 1912, the original stained glass windows were replaced. Besides these changes, the building has stayed mostly the same since it was built.
Exploring the Church Building
St. Mary's Church and the building next to it, called the rectory (where the priests live), are on a city block in downtown Albany. The church is on the western edge of the Downtown Albany Historic District. The land here gently slopes up to the west and down towards the Hudson River, which is about half a mile (1 km) to the east. The area around the church is busy and urban, with many government buildings, businesses, and other institutions.
Across Lodge Street from the church is the New York Court of Appeals Building, which is where New York State's highest court meets. This building is also on the National Register of Historic Places, just like Albany City Hall to its south. The main Albany County courts building is to the northwest. There's a parking garage to the south, and other businesses to the north and east.
Two other important historical buildings are very close by. The old YMCA building is on Steuben Street, and St. Peter's Episcopal Church is to the southwest. St. Peter's is a National Historic Landmark, which is an even higher level of historical importance. Another National Historic Landmark, the New York State Capitol, is also nearby, across Lafayette Park.
Outside the Church
The church is a two-and-a-half-story building made of brick with marble decorations. It sits on a stone foundation that becomes more visible towards the back because of the sloping ground. The front part of the church sticks out a little, forming the base of the tall, 175-foot (53 m) bell tower. The main part of the church has a steeply pitched gabled roof. At the back, there's a rounded section called an apse.
A stone water table (a stone ledge) separates the foundation from the brick walls. Small windows with bars are in the basement level. At the corners of the building, there are slightly sticking-out stone columns. The tower also has stone blocks called quoins at its corners. A stone cornice (a decorative ledge) also divides the first and second floors on the front of the church.
The first floor has three entrances, each with a round arch that is set back into the wall. The two side entrances have narrow, smooth columns. Above the heavy wooden doors, there's a decorative window called a transom with circular glass pieces. On the second floor, there are round-arched stained glass windows. These windows are also set back and have fancy columns next to them.
On the sides of the church, stone columns form round arches around most of the windows. Inside these arches are narrow stained glass windows. The back window is different, with columns like those on the corners but no arch. At the roofline, there's a decorative denticulated cornice (a ledge with tooth-like blocks) under the overhanging roof eave. A small connecting hallway, called a vestibule, links the church to the rectory on the north side.
The Bell Tower
The church tower has four main sections, or stages. The first stage has the main entrance, which is set deep into the wall. The corners of this stage have stone quoins. On the sides of the tower, there's a single narrow window with a rounded brick arch. Above these windows, and next to a brass light fixture over the main entrance, are stone crosses set into the brick.
A sloped cornice separates the first stage from the next one. This second stage has the bottom of a two-part arched design on both sides. It only has one fancy, narrow double window on the east side. Another cornice separates the third stage. This stage has a four-part window topped by a small rosette-shaped window under a stone arch. On the sides, the rosette becomes a semicircle, just above the roof's peak.
Above the third stage, there's a decorative band called a frieze made of rough-looking stone blocks, and another cornice. This sets off the fourth stage. On all sides of this stage, stone-topped arches open into the belfry (where the bells are). These arches rise from carved stone decorations and are supported by stone columns with a small balustrade (a row of small pillars) at the bottom. At the very top, brick corbels (supporting brackets) on stone bases hold up the wide, overhanging roof. This roof is shaped like a pyramid and is covered in green tiles. An Angel of Judgment statue, blowing a trumpet, sits at the very top.
Inside the Church
When you enter the church, you'll find a baptismal font in the vestibule. It's made of white Carrara marble with a pewter top and a silver basin. Inside, a gallery (a long balcony) runs along the sides and back of the upper story. It's supported by groups of columns in a French Gothic style, which means it has tall, pointed arches. The gallery ends near the chancel (the area around the altar), making it look like there are side sections called transepts. Near the altar, the arches are in the style of the Italian Renaissance, which uses more rounded shapes.
The church pews are made of pine wood and painted to look like oak, with black walnut caps. The communion rail is also made of black walnut with oak spindles. The Stations of the Cross (pictures or carvings showing Jesus's journey to the cross) around the sides are carved and painted reliefs set in wooden frames. Brown metal plaques cover the original German text, explaining each station in English. There are four separate altars around the church, mostly white with gold-colored trim. On one altar, there are carved wooden statues of four saints: Isaac Jogues, Elizabeth Ann Seton, John Neumann, and Kateri Tekakwitha. All of them had some connection to the church during their lives.
Above the gallery, there are statues and paintings that look like other parts of the building. Together, they create the impression of a clerestory (an upper part of a wall with windows). The ceiling has a painted trompe-l'œil design, which means it "fools the eye" into thinking it's three-dimensional.
A Look at St. Mary's History
St. Mary's Church has a long history, going back to the very first Catholic missionary work in the New World. After officially becoming a church in the late 1700s, it built two more church buildings in the 1800s. This was needed to make room for the growing number of people, especially immigrants.
Early Days of Catholicism in Albany (1643–1797)
In 1643, Albany was a small Dutch settlement called Fort Orange. That year, Mohawks brought a French captive with them. He was a Jesuit priest named Isaac Jogues, who had been a missionary to them earlier. A man named Arent van Curler helped Father Jogues escape, hiding him in his barn. This event is the first time the Catholic Church is recorded in Albany. Father Jogues later returned to the Mohawk Valley and was killed by the Mohawks. He and two other missionaries were later made saints by the church, known as the North American Martyrs.
Later, Fort Orange became the English city of Albany. Most citizens were Protestant, but there was a small group of Catholics. By 1794, after American independence, there were enough Catholics to ask the Vatican for permission to buy land for a church. Two years later, the community officially became a church. It was the second Catholic church in New York State, after St. Peter's in New York City.
Before this, the church members had been holding Mass in the homes of wealthy members. The first goal for the new church's leaders was to find land and build a church. In 1797, the city gave the church the land where Father Jogues had hidden. The church has been on this spot ever since. The cornerstone for the first church was laid soon after.
The First Church Building (1798–1828)
The first St. Mary's Church building opened in late 1798. It was a simple brick building, 50 feet (15 m) square, with no belfry and a pyramid-shaped roof with a cross. Inside, it had two balconies. One of these balconies held what is thought to be the first organ ever in an Albany church. This was the first church in New York State named after the Virgin Mary, and the second permanent Catholic church built in the state.
At that time, the church's parish covered almost all of upstate New York, from Poughkeepsie in the south to the Canadian border in the north, and west to Rochester. Its second pastor, Matthew O'Brien, helped St. Mary's become well-known in Albany. His sermons were so good that even Protestant leaders came to hear them.
St. Mary's was part of the Diocese of Baltimore for only three years. In 1801, Pope Pius VII created the Diocese of New York. It took another 15 years for a bishop to be chosen for this new diocese. The church's community slowly grew, reaching 300 people by 1820. New churches were started in other cities, making St. Mary's parish smaller.
It's said that Marquis de Lafayette, a French hero of the Revolutionary War, attended Mass at St. Mary's during his visit to Albany in 1824–25. In 1825, the church took part in ceremonies celebrating the opening of the Erie Canal. The canal brought many Catholic immigrants, especially from Ireland, to Albany and the region. St. Mary's was initially enough for them, but soon new churches were built in other cities, further reducing St. Mary's parish area.
In 1828, the church started its first Sunday school. Later that year, the church asked Bishop John Dubois for help finding nuns to run the school and care for orphans. The Sisters of Charity from Emmitsburg came and soon ran the Sunday school, an orphanage, and a separate parochial school (a church school).
The Second Church Building (1829–1866)
The growing community needed more space, so plans were made to replace the 1798 building. Philip Hooker designed a new building. It was in the Federal style, with brick walls covered in stucco, and a three-stage bell tower.
Many people helped pay for the new church, which cost $12,000. These included Stephen Van Rensselaer III, a former lieutenant governor whose family had owned much of Albany, and Martin Van Buren, who later became President of the United States. Services continued at a nearby school while the new church was being built. To support the larger building, they had to cut into the hillside and extend Steuben Street.
The new church was finished within a year. A few years later, the church got its first bell, weighing 1,300-pound (590 kg), for the tower. In 1836, the new church helped the city during a cholera epidemic. Father Charles Smith, the pastor, worked hard to help the sick. With his help, the nuns opened a separate orphanage for children whose parents died from the disease.
Later in 1836, important figures in American Catholicism visited the church. In June, a new priest, John Neumann, celebrated Mass at St. Mary's. He later became the first Bishop of Philadelphia and was made a saint in 1977. Less than a week later, Bishop Dubois visited to confirm 150 people. He was joined by Father Charles Constantine Pise, the only Catholic priest to ever serve as United States Senate Chaplain.
More immigrants, including some from Germany, came to Albany, bringing more Catholics. In 1837, the city's second Catholic church, St. John's, was founded. St. Mary's parish, which used to cover the whole city, was divided to make room for the new church. The founding of St. Joseph's in 1843 further reduced St. Mary's parish area. A parish that once covered most of the state was now limited to just one Albany neighborhood.
The new bishop, John Hughes, had disagreements with the leaders of St. Mary's and other churches about their money problems. He wanted the churches to be managed directly by the diocese, not by local trustees. The St. Mary's trustees eventually agreed to step down in 1845. Two years later, Pope Pius IX divided the New York diocese into new dioceses for Albany and Buffalo.
McCloskey became the first bishop of the new Albany diocese. For a while, he used St. Mary's as his main church. However, he felt it wasn't big enough, so he started raising money for a proper cathedral. In 1848, construction began on the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, designed by Patrick Keely. McCloskey moved his main church to the new cathedral when it was finished in 1852. Since then, St. Mary's has been important for its history, but not as the main church.
The years around 1850 were challenging for Albany. A fire destroyed 600 buildings in 1848, and two more cholera epidemics hit in 1849 and 1854. An assistant priest at St. Mary's started a local group to help fire victims. The church also faced threats from the nativist, anti-Catholic Know Nothing Party. Several church members spoke out against them.
In 1859, another new church, St. Patrick's, was created from land that used to be part of St. Mary's. During the Civil War in the early 1860s, problems with the church building became clear. Clarence A. Walworth, a priest who became St. Mary's pastor after the war, made building a new church his main goal.
The Third Church and Walworth's Influence (1867–1900)
New York changed its laws for non-profit groups during the Civil War. Walworth used this to reorganize the church in a way that fit Catholic rules better. The new church board included the bishop, a high-ranking priest, and two regular members. The cornerstone for the new building was laid in 1867. The old church's pews were removed, and a fair was held to raise money.
Money came from many places, including politicians, some of whom were Protestant. The architects, Nichols & Brown, were local. Their design used the Romanesque Revival style, focusing on the Italian version. This reflected the influence of Italian immigrants coming to Albany's churches. The design reminds people of churches in Central Italy, especially in cities like Assisi and Perugia, which are also built on sloping hills.
The new church was finished in 1869, costing $100,000. Walworth himself designed the original altar and the baptismal font. The Stations of the Cross had been bought from a church in Germany five years earlier. Bronze plaques with English names covered the original German. Bishop John J. Conroy led the church's consecration (blessing) that year. A year later, a new marble altar was blessed.
Walworth's influence continued even after he stopped being the active pastor. The church was originally planned to have two towers, but they weren't built at first due to lack of money. On a trip to Germany, Walworth saw a church with a single open-belfry tower topped by an angel. He thought this design would be perfect for St. Mary's and paid an architect to design one in the 1870s. A renovation project that started in 1891 ended with the new 175-foot (53 m) tower in 1895.
Walworth paid for the statue of the angel Gabriel on top of the tower himself. Electricity and lighting were also installed, making St. Mary's the first church in Albany with electric lights. The new bishop, Thomas Burke, led the reopening service. The church's interior decorator hired an Italian painter to create works on the ceiling and walls, which could now be seen more easily with the new lights.
Bishop Burke returned two years later for the church's 1897 centennial (100-year) celebration. He was joined by Archbishop Sebastiano Martinelli, the Pope's ambassador to the United States. They celebrated a special Mass. A parade in front of the church ended with fireworks in the evening. It was called "the greatest religious demonstration held thus far in Albany's history."
St. Mary's in the 20th Century (1900–Present)
Walworth died in 1900. In 1912, the church's original stained glass windows were removed and stored.
Pope Benedict XV chose Edmund Gibbons to be the bishop of Albany in 1919. The St. Mary's community was proud because Gibbons had been an altar boy and confirmed at the church. So, he chose St. Mary's for his first confirmation Mass as bishop. In 1924, the church celebrated Rev. John Dillon's 50 years of service by dedicating an altar to St. John the Baptist, his patron saint.
In 1929, Dillon started the Church of St. Philip the Apostle as a smaller mission church. Two years later, he opened a school nearby, run by the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate, to educate the African American community. In its first year, 40 students enrolled.
Dillon died in 1934 and was replaced by Thomas Loughlin. In 1937, a new rectory was built north of the church, with a garage added later. Both buildings were made of brick to match the church.
In 1955, Pope Pius XII gave Loughlin the title of "monsignor"; he was the first pastor of St. Mary's to receive this honor. Four years later, the first annual Red Mass for lawyers and judges was held at St. Mary's. This was because it was close to the government buildings in downtown Albany. In later years, Fulton Sheen, Bishop of Rochester, gave the homily at these Masses.
By the early 1960s, the number of people in the parish had decreased. St. Philip's school and St. Mary's School closed in 1962 due to low enrollment. The St. Mary's school building was sold in 1964.
The later years of the 1900s were spent renovating the church. In 1978, a new altar was added. The church's bells were started again in 1980. In 1982, the paintings inside the church were restored. Outdoor spotlights were installed the next year to light up the tower and the angel statue. The pews and communion rails were restored seven years later. For the church's 200th anniversary in 1997, an electronic organ was installed. Inside, the walls were repainted, and the columns and altar were regilded with gold.
Church Services
Mass is currently celebrated on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays at 7:00 AM. On the weekend, Mass is held at 4:00 PM on Saturday, and at 8:00 AM and 10:30 AM on Sunday.
Confessions are heard on Saturdays from 3:00 PM, before the 4:00 PM vigil Mass.
See also
