EASTER IN NYC. ST. PETER’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Today, The Grandma has visited Saint Peter's Church/Our Lady of the Rosary in Manhattan to commemorate Easter.

Saint Peter's Church/Our Lady of the Rosary is a Catholic church in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City.

The current building was constructed from 1836 to 1840 and was designed by John R. Haggerty and Thomas Thomas in the Greek Revival style, with six Ionic columns. The church opened February 25, 1838 with Archbishop John Hughes officiating.

The parish, part of the Archdiocese of New York, is the oldest Catholic parish in New York State, and the building replaced an earlier one built in 1785–86. The original church was used for worship until 1834 when it was replaced by the present structure.

The church was designated a New York City landmark in 1965 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The present church has been declared a landmark by federal, state and city agencies.

Shortly before, and during the Revolution, Father Ferdinand Steinmeyer, a German Jesuit missionary from Philadelphia, would periodically visit the few scattered Catholics in New York City. Gathering them together, he said Mass in the house of a German fellow-countryman in Wall Street, in a loft in Water Street, and wherever else they could find accommodation.

A gift of 1,000 silver pieces from King Charles III of Spain through the prominents figures of the Spanish Diego de Gardoqui and D. Francisco de Murillo i Martinez, Count of El Ojuelo, topped off donations to start the construction of the church.

More information: St. Peter's Church | Our Lady of the Rosary

Catholics constructing the original church initially tried to locate it on Broad Street, then in the heart of New York City. Due to anti-Catholic sentiments, however, New York City officials implored them to change the location to a site at Barclay and Church Streets, then outside the city limits. The builders relented and accepted the present location. The cornerstone of the original church was laid in 1785 and the first Mass celebrated in 1786.

Mexican artist Jose Vallejo painted an icon of the Crucifixion and Nuñez de Haro, archbishop of Mexico City, gave it to St. Peter parish in 1789; it hung above the main altar. Father William O'Brien, the first pastor, is remembered for his tireless service to the citizens of New York during the yellow fever epidemics of 1795 and 1798.

In 1800, the first free Catholic school in New York State was established at St. Peter's.

On March 14, 1805, at St. Peter's Church, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton converted from the Episcopal Church to Catholicism. Thereafter, she often prayed before the painting of the Crucifixion above the main altar. The Catholic Church later canonized her, the first native-born United States citizen so honored.

On December 24, 1806, parishioners celebrated the Christmas Eve vigil inside the church building. This Catholic celebration still infuriated some Protestants who viewed it as an exercise in popish superstition. Protesters tried to disrupt the Mass, and the ensuing melee injured dozens, with one policeman killed.

In October 1836, the cornerstone for a larger St. Peter's Church was laid, and by February 1838 the current structure was built. In addition to Roman Catholic services, from 1899 to 1916 St. Peter's also hosted services in the lower church for Byzantine-rite Syrian and Lebanese Catholics, who during that period did not have their own church.

St. Peter's Church is the very first place Fr. Edward Frederick Sorin, founder of the University of Notre Dame, celebrated Mass upon his arrival in America in 1842.

In August 2015, the St. Peter's parish merged with Our Lady of the Rosary on State Street. St. Peter's is the designated parish church, although Mass and the Sacraments will continue to be celebrated at Our Lady of the Rosary.

St. Peter's houses a pipe organ built in 1927 by the George Kilgen & Sons company of St. Louis, Missouri. The instrument was enlarged from 37 to 41 ranks of pipes in 1931 by the Kilgen Company.

In 2011, Meloni & Farrier Organbuilders completed a restoration, installing solid state combination action and relocating the console to its present location in the rear balcony. As of January 2018, the Director of Music and Organist at Saint Peter's is Marcus Perry Bundy III.

More information: NYCAGO

What matters is not your outward appearance. . .
but your inner disposition.
Cultivate inner beauty,
the gentle gracious kind that God delights in.

Saint Peter