Each photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.
---
Since 2014, Piarist Fathers staff the church.
---
On May 5, 2020, the Bronx Times published an excellent article on the foundation of this parish, with important clarifications. Arthur Scanlan, it was, who chose to name the parish St. Helena because Spellman's mother, deceased five years previously was Ellen. When I walked the neighborhood, I wasn't looking for the green building, the former tavern in which Mass was first offered. A corner of it may be in the photo below! Also, there is a reference to Gustav Schultheiss, the priest of Staten Island origin, whom I met in 1950, in a practice session for an episcopal Mass. He was the antithesis opposite of gruff, putting the servers at ease.
-----
The parish elementary school is at 2050 Benedict Avenue, adjacent to the church. Its website is linked here.
Above is the elementary school as seen from Westchester Avenue. The school entrance is on the other side, Benedict Avenue.
Above, another view from Westchester Avenue.
----
The parish high school, Msgr. Scanlan High School, is about a mile south of the church, at 915 Hutchinson River Parkway, Bronx NY 10465.
-----
The parish elementary school is at 2050 Benedict Avenue, adjacent to the church. Its website is linked here.
----
The parish high school, Msgr. Scanlan High School, is about a mile south of the church, at 915 Hutchinson River Parkway, Bronx NY 10465.
4 comments:
THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH OF SAINT HELENA
Every parish in the world should celebrate its own specific holy days. The following are all celebrated as solemnities in a parish, and they can even replace a Sunday in Ordinary Time: The Patron of the Place (which in our parish is celebrated as the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14), the Title of the Church (which in our parish is St. Helena whose feast day is August 18), and the anniversary of the Dedication of the Church Building (which is May 3, 1942). St. Helena was founded 80 years ago in 1940, and here is a little more information about our beautiful church.
May 3 is the actual anniversary of the Dedication of the Church of St. Helena, on Sunday, May 3, 1942. Interestingly, the calendars of 1942 and 2020 are the same, and it was then also the Fourth Sunday of Easter.
In the month of May 1940, His Excellency the Most Rev. Francis J. Spellman, Archbishop of New York (1889-1967), announced the establishment of a new parish in the Bronx. An apartment development known as Parkchester, to accommodate 50,000 people, had already been started. His great solicitude for the welfare of the 10,000 Catholics who were to live in the new development prompted His Excellency to found the new parish.
The parish was dedicated to St. Helena. Its founding Pastor was the Right Rev. Monsignor Arthur J. Scanlan, S.T.D. (1881-1974), President of St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers. It was a post to which he had been appointed in 1930 after serving twenty years on the Seminary faculty. Msgr. Scanlan named the parish in honor of Archbishop Spellman’s mother Ellen Maria “Nellie” Conway Spellman (1865-1935), who had passed five years previously.
A temporary site was required to fulfill the needs of the infant parish, and the old dance hall, tavern, and bowling alleys on the property known as Loefflers Picnic Park were chosen. The church’s current green Building was the original 1901 tavern building. In these quarters. Msgr. Scanlan and his two assistants Rev. Gustave J. Schultheiss and Rev. Henry J. Vier carried on the spiritual affairs of the church. The following September 11, Sisters of the Order of St. Dominic at Sparkhill, NY inaugurated the parochial school for 600 children, and thus the tavern became a combination church and school.
The ground was broken for the permanent parish church on December 1, 1940, and on December 4th the workmen arrived. The firm of Eggers and Higgins was selected as the Architects and the George Fuller Company was chosen as the builders. The cornerstone was laid on June 8, 1941. Speeches were given by Msgr. Scanlan and his two assistants, the Rev. Charles Giblin and Rev. Francis J. Murphy, and the two trustees of St. Helena, Police Inspector John Burke and Patrick Byrne. On October 4, 1941, Msgr. Scanlan celebrated in the auditorium, the first Mass at St. Helena’s, and on Christmas morning 1941, Mass was offered for the first time in the Upper Church on the altars of his new church.
On April 14, 1942, the three marble altars were finally consecrated when the Most Rev. Stephen J. Donahue, Auxiliary Bishop of New York sealed within the altars the relics of St. Helena and Saints Pia and Amantius.
The architects were faced with the unusual problem of providing adequately for all the elements of a complete parish unit under one roof, with the provision that the exterior of the building must be predominantly a church. The structure as built, comprises a church, a school, a convent with its chapel, and a rectory, all skillfully blended as a unit. While the exterior is essentially modern in the simplicity of its broad brick surfaces, the architectural stylistic tradition of the early Christian era has been adapted, notably in the form and detail of the tower and the general form of the building. The great arched entrance has a sculptured tympanum over the doors. In the main entrance are four massive oak doors eleven feet in height. Above the doors is a semi-circular panel or tympanum of carved limestone. A central figure portrays St. Helena seated, holding in her left hand the cross and in her right hand a replica of the Church of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem in Rome. To the right of the central figure is a kneeling figure representing Emperor Constantine, St. Helena’s son. To the left of the central figure is a kneeling figure with a broken chain at the wrists symbolizing St. Helena’s liberation of the early Christians from the catacombs. Inscribed in the tympanum are the words “Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension,” symbolizing the Holy Places in Jerusalem where St. Helena founded churches. Also inscribed in the tympanum are the hammer and nails which tradition tells us were found by S. Helena along with the True Cross. Finally, inscribed in the tympanum are the words: “In This Sign Thou Shall Conquer,” which were the words emblazoned on the banners of Constantine.
Through the main entrance doors one enters the Narthex or lobby of the church. Circular medallions over the various entrances are dedicated to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
The Baptistry was originally located in a room off of the narthex now occupied by the religious goods room. Adjoining that room is the original office used for church administration, and it later became the parish library. The Baptismal font is of Eldorado marble, and the lining and cover are of hammered iron with applied brass ornament. A frieze of lettering bands the font with the inscription, “He that Believeth and is Baptized Shall be Saved.” The statue of St. John the Baptist in the back of the church was originally in a niche inside the Baptistry.
The interior of the church in plan adheres closely in character to the early Christian traditions of the great Romanesque basilicas built in the 4th and 5th centuries. The basilican type of church is characterized by a decorated flat ceiling. The nave is rectangular in form and flanked by vaulted side aisles separated from the main body of the church by piers and arches. The ceiling is beamed and decorated in the manner of the Italian Renaissance and inscribed with symbols representing Christ, the Blessed Mother, St. Joseph, and St. Helena. The floor of the aisles is of cleft-faced Pennsylvania Bluestone, and on the walls is a seven-foot oak wainscot arranged in vertical panels. There are five recessed double confessionals along the south wall, and the confessional doors form part of the wainscot. The oak pews in the nave accommodate one thousand persons.
The series of colorful stained glass windows tell a complete story, depicting incidents in the life of St. Helena and the 15 Mysteries of the Rosary. The windows have circular medallions near the top and bottom and large rectangular panels near the center. The upper medallions depict saints who are identified with St. Helena, while the lower medallions of the seven south aisle windows depict incidents from the life of St. Helen. The lower medallions of the north side depict St. Helena receiving or being present at the reception of the seven sacraments. Each of the north aisle windows also has a small rectangular panel below the lower medallion in which are symbolized the four Cardinal Virtues and the three Theological Virtues.
The Stations of the Cross are carved in solid oak and have been executed in bold relief to make them visible and understandable without the use of color.
The central portion of the Sanctuary is semi-circular and is flanked on either side by the side altar recesses. The floor is laid out in a pattern using a combination of Gradorado and Adorado marbles. Extreme care was taken in the design and conception of the high altar with the intent that nothing should visually conflict with the impressive central figure of Christ on the Cross. The High Altar and the steps are entirely of Gradorado marble except for the panels in the altar which are Eldorado marble. In the center panel of the altar is carved the lamb of God and below it are seven drops of blood each inscribed with a symbol of the seven sacraments. The tabernacle is of bronze repousse in a special design. The tabernacle has a rear door. The reredos back of the altar is of American black walnut flanked by two richly carved side panels on which are carved 18 symbols as follows: The Hand of God, the Word of God, the Ten Commandments, the Three Fishes symbolizing the Holy Trinity, The Rock of Salvation, the Ark of the Covenant, The Phoenix symbolizing Resurrection, the Pelican symbolizing Atonement, the Anchor symbolizing Faith, the Star of the Epiphany, the Monogram of the Blessed Virgin, the Font symbolizing Baptism, the Dove symbolizing Confirmation, the Whip symbolizing Penance, the Chalice symbolizing the Holy Eucharist, the Stole symbolizing Holy Orders, the Clasped Hands symbolizing Matrimony, and the Vessel of Oil symbolizing Anointing of the Sick.
The large cross is carved in wood and the moldings and terminations of the cross are gilded and burnished. The corpus is carved in limewood from the linden tree. The tester over the altar and praedella has a paneled soffit on which is a gilded dove representing the Holy Spirit.
Above the two side altars are figures in bas-relief portraying the Blessed Virgin on the left side and St. Joseph on the right side. The bas-relief of St. Joseph has been removed from its original location and placed on the wall near the Blessed Mother while the St. Joseph side has been changed into a Shrine of St. Helena featuring a modern red crucifix that contains a circular glass plate which contains a relic of the True Cross, and there is a small wooden statue of St. Helena below it.
The pulpit is of Gradorado marble excepting the top frieze which is Adorado marble bearing the inscription “Be Ye Doers of the Word and not Hearers Only.” A feature of the pulpit is an eagle in bronze repousse. The eagle is the symbol of John the Evangelist who proclaimed Christ as 'the Word of God' at the beginning of his Gospel.
At the rear of the Nave is a gallery seating 150 in which is located the console of the electric organ, which was made in 1969.
Directly below the Nave is the Gymnasium/Auditorium which seats comfortably 1300 persons. It contains a full-size stage.
The school has a separate entrance on Benedict Avenue. There are three administrative offices (one for the principal, one for his secretary, and the third is the copy room which was the original nurse’s office. There are sixteen classrooms and a library. The cafeteria was originally the band room.
The convent is two stories in height and is located above the church. Of special interest is the vaulted chapel which extends up through the two stories. The floor is of oak planks and the stalls, wainscot, altar, and doors are of American Black Walnut. The Stations of the Cross are of carved walnut. The colorful rose window, which is visible from the front of the church represents the crucifixion as the central figure surrounded by four medallions portraying the symbols of the passion. On the first floor were rooms for six sisters and on the second-floor rooms for 13 sisters. There is a double casement window opening into the upper part of the Chapel.
The rectory is connected to the church and has a kitchen, dining room, and administrative offices on the first floor and suites for four priests on the second floor and two priests on the third floor. There are two meeting rooms in the basement.
Archbishop Spellman dedicated the church, and the original program for the dedication of the parish concludes with: “On this third day of May 1942, the work is completed. Today the Vision of St. Helena's has become a shining reality. May God be praised!”
Post a Comment