St. Mary of Czestochowa Parish (Middletown, Connecticut)

St. Mary of Czestochowa Parish (Polish: Parafia św. Marii Częstochowskiej w Middletown) is a Catholic church parish in Middletown, Connecticut that was founded for Polish immigrants. The St. Mary of Czestochowa Church is a church building at 79 South Main Street in Middletown.

St. Mary of Czestochowa Parish
The Parish Family of Saint Mary of Czestochowa
Location79 South Main Street
Middletown, Connecticut[1]
CountryUnited States
DenominationRoman Catholic
WebsiteParish web site
History
Founded1903 (1903)
Founder(s)Polish immigrants
DedicationSt. Mary of Czestochowa
Administration
DeaneryMiddletown
DioceseNorwich
ProvinceHartford
Clergy
Bishop(s)Most Rev. Michael Richard Cote
Pastor(s)Rev. Richard Sliwinski

The parish was founded in 1903. It is one of the Polish-American Roman Catholic parishes in New England in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich.

History

With 300 Polish families resident in the city, Middletown’s Poles had determined to build a church of their own in 1902. A small group planned the organization of the St. Mary of Czestochowa parish, which gained formal approval from the bishop.

The Saint Kazimierz order of Polish Lancers (an organization which took its name and traditions from the Polish Uhlans) was a local organization that was founded in 1902 and existed until 1940, when it merged into another organization. It "was instrumental" in the founding of the church.[2][3]

On February 28, 2010, the church held a memorial mass for victims of a local disaster, the Kleen Energy plant explosion.[4]

Church buildings

After the founding of the parish in 1903, a church was opened in a building on Hubbard St. in 1905. That building served as the church until 1907, after which it was used as a school.[5]

A more substantial and "beautiful" church building, with stained glass windows, was built next door and served the parish for many years, but was destroyed by fire in 1980. A convent building also existed but was demolished in 1979.[5]

The church is located at 79 South Main Street.[1]

Calvary Cemetery

The Parish owns and maintains Calvary Cemetery which is located at 305 Bow Lane in Middletown. [1]

School

The Saint Mary of Czestochowa School, at 87 South Main Street, is a K-8 elementary school with pre-school[6] founded in 1912. The current building was constructed in 1930[7] It was listed in an inventory of buildings of Middletown by the Greater Middletown Preservation Trust in 1979.[8] Architecturally, the school is a brick, two-story, Renaissance Revival building with some Art Deco details. Kathleen Dutil served as the principal for years until her retirement in 2012. Kathleen Peck resumed her role and stayed principal until 2016. Peck currently serves the school in a vice-principal capacity. Other notable former teachers include Sister Catherine Mary Symanski, Tamara Coburn, and longtime secretary Linda Mikulski. [9] In 2003, The Saint Mary of Czestochowa School merged with Saint John School the other local parochial elementary school to become Saint Pope John Paul II Regional Diocesan Elementary School. [10]

Parish groups

The parish has a local Knights of Columbus chapter, denoted Pope John Paul II Council #14017[11]

Further reading
  • Saint Mary of Czestochowa parish Middletown, Connecticut : 100th anniversary, 1903-2003. Middletown, CT: St. Mary of Czestochowa Church. 2004.
  • The 150th Anniversary of Polish-American Pastoral Ministry. Webster, Massachusetts: St. Joseph Basilica. September 11, 2005.
  • Geller, Herbert F. Ethnic History Series: European Immigrants and the Catholic Church of Connecticut, 1870-1920. The Sunday Post: Dolores Liptak.
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References
  1. http://www.stmarymiddletown.com/parish/
  2. "Ask the Courant". Hartford Courant. April 11, 2005.
  3. "Their Own Stories: Voices from Middletown's Melting Pot". Middlesex County Historical Society.
  4. http://articles.courant.com/2010-02-28/community/hc-middletown-memorial-service.artfeb28_1_middletown-plant-explosion-ronald-crabb-middletown-common-council
  5. Hubbard, Robert; Hubbard, Kathleen (2009). Middletown. Arcadia Publishing.
  6. http://www.stmarymiddletown.com/faqs/
  7. http://www.stmarymiddletown.com/past-present-and-future/
  8. http://www.middletownplanning.com/Committees/DRPB/historicpropertieslist.html
  9. "Middletown, Connecticut Historical and Architectural Resources, Volume 1" (PDF). p. 48 (p.102 of PDF).
  10. "St. Mary and St. John schools in Middletown to combine". The Middletown Press. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  11. http://kofcmiddletown.org/KofC_14017/Welcome.html
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