Our Lady of Refuge school to close.

Our Lady of Refuge School, 2708 Briggs Avenue, just south of East 196 Street, will close in June, 2025. The annoucement from Sister Mary Grace Walsh, Superintendent of Schools, is linked HERE.

The title Refugium Peccatorum has been used since the eighth century, Mary as a powerful intercessor who helps sinners.

The parish dates from 1923. The 1925 construction placed the church inside the school.  Several Bronx and Brooklyn parishes used that remedy for the high cost of land.

Fordham University

See pages 359, 360 and 386 for the foundation of St John's College in 1841 and the transfer of its administration to Jesuits in 1846. Somewhere I have read that the name "Fordham" referred rather to an estate along the Harlem River and that Rose Hill, the 106-acre purchase made by Bishop Hughes in 1839, was at the east end of the estate. See pages 111 and 132 for references to the first diocesan synod, held at St John's College, Fordham, in 1842. In 1905, the Jesuits renamed the college Fordham. Thomas Shelley's book, the Bronx references of which I am here indexing, is rich with footnotes. See footnote #14 on page 360 for a helpful history of Fordham University. Page 421 has a photo of Keating Hall. Page 522 refers to the San Juan Fiesta at Rose Hill in 1956. Page 598 reminds the reader that The Bronx was honored with its own cardinal in 2001, Cardinal Avery Dulles, .S.J., residing at Fordham University.
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In 2008, I wrote the above paragraph. In January, 2017, I had the good fortune to find in the Nassau Library System a copy of "Fordham: A History of the Jesuit University of New York: 1841-2003" by Msgr. Thomas J. Shelley, Emeritus Professor of Church History at Fordham University, the same historian who wrote the Bicentennial History (with the page numbers I have been referring to throughout this blog on Bronx parishes).
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Msgr. Shelley's 500-page history of the university is fascinating, insightful, and full of details and intriguing anecdotes. The author excels in placing university events in the context of New York, political, and church history. The quotes are good: Alban Butler, Church history is largely the story of quarrels between two good men. And Martin Spalding, on religious orders: too much esprit de corps and too little Catholic spirit.
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One must remember that the university chapel was originally (in some form before renovations) the parish church of Our Lady of Mercy.

Our Saviour, Washington Ave. at E. 183 St.

To enlarge any photo, please click on the photo.

See pages 472 and 474 for the parish of Our Savior, East 183 Street and Washington Avenue, in 1911. The present church dates from 1914. The rectory address is 2317 Washington Ave., Bronx NY 10458, telephone 718-295-9600. A website is under construction at this link, and it already shows strengths and information. At that website, the top left tab is particularly useful as it lists past and present bulletins, each available as a pdf file.  Look for the current year (as -14) at the end of the date, then select the month and available issues.  
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The bulletin of January 19, 2014, is the four-page sheet distributed this past Sunday at Mass.  It highlights the Scripture of the Day (John's, "Behold the lamb of God .."), Mass and devotional schedules, one tweet from Pope Francis, several "tweets to God," and the parish itinerary of La Virgen de Altagracia, patroness of the Dominican Republic, and La Virgen de Suyapa, patroness of Honduras.
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In some lists, the name "savior" is spelled "saviour." The 2008 Official Catholic Directory shows no school. The priests are Yarumal Missionaries, M.X.Y., a Society of Apostolic Life founded in Colombia in 1927.
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Note that land in The Bronx was already so scarce that the church is within the school. When the above photo was taken in late 2009, the school floors, presumably above the church, were rented to a public school. Five stained glass windows of the church can be seen by enlarging the photo.
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A grandfather of a friend of mine was a young man in this parish when its pastor, the famous Father Francis P. Duffy, became chaplain of "The Fighting 69th" and went off to the Mexican border during the fight with Pancho Villa (1916?). It is said that the young man was with this regiment there.
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 A comment follows:

franchot Richard said...

I plan on coming to NYC in April or May of this year. The memories of Ol continue to flood my mind and I did have some very nice memories of that school. I especially remember Frank Augart, Raymond Maldonado Patricia MCclave, Tony Spano, Robert Ross, David Smiley, Sister Rose Anthony,Sister Norbert, Sister Jerome, Father Carway, Father Sullivan, Mrs Ritter. I look forward to hopefully seeing some of these people again. I still remember some of the words to the school song, wow!!

January 18, 2012 at 10:49 AM

St. Nicholas of Tolentine, Fordham Road

See page 475 for the 1906 foundation of the parish of St. Nicholas of Tolentine. The church, on the southwest corner of University Avenue and Fordham Road, was dedicated in 1928. The rectory address is 2345 University Ave., Bronx NY 10468, telephone 718-295-6800. According to the AIA Guide, the church was designed by Delaney, O'Connor, and Schultz.  The above view looks north on University Avenue towards Fordham Road.  Left to right: an apartment house with scaffolding; a family services agency in a former school, the rectory, and the church, with its main entrance facing the busy intersection.

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A description of the church, its history, its organ, and photos is here. A website of Augustinian Fathers on the East Coast is here.

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The parish elementary school is located at 2336 Andrews Avenue, around the corner from the church. It seems to have one section per grade, with an enrollment over 300.

The sign at the rectory displays three languages of the parish: English, Spanish, and Vietnamese.  Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it. For the Mass schedule, please check the parish website here.  

Our Lady of Mercy, Fordham

Above is the Mass schedule as of October, 2011.  The parish website includes a schedule (linked here) with the abbreviations spelled out.
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The schedule may have changed, as the parish has been administered by the pastor of Our Savior parish on Washington Avenue since October, 2014.

See page 472 for a reference to the current church of Our Lady of Mercy on Marion Avenue, south of Fordham Road, dedicated in 1908. The parish was begun about 1855 on the property of St. John's College. Later, the church was located on Webster Avenue. The rectory, adjacent to the church, is at 2496 Marion Avenue, Bronx NY 10458, telephone 718-933-4400.  The informative and extensive parish website is linked here.
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Our Lady of Mercy parish school at 2512 Marion Avenue closed in June, 2013. For many decades renowned Sisters and lay persons directed or staffed the school. Until the 1970's, there were separate boys' and girls' departments, Ursuline Sisters teaching the girls and Dominican Sisters teaching the boys.

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Facing Marion Avenue is this shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, apparently with references to Our Lady's other titles in Latin America.  La Virgen de la Altagracia is patroness of the Dominican Republic.

Weekday noon Mass is offered in the chapel here, to the right of the rectory.  The sign in the window explains that this is the location for preparation for Baptism.

Our Lady of Refuge, Briggs Ave. & East 196 St., Fordham

The above photo looks west across Briggs Avenue at East 196th Street. The parish center is on the southeast corner of the intersection, where all traffic meets stop signs. The parish school can be seen to the right. As an older, larger public school is on the north side of 196th Street, the neighborhood is filled with young students and their parents at arrival and dismissal. During school hours, traffic is prohibited on 196th Street from Briggs Avenue to Bainbridge Ave.

Clicking on any photo will enlarge it.

In the above photo, the combined parish school and church is to the left of the red houses.

See page 478 for the founding of the parish of Our Lady of Refuge on Briggs Avenue at East 196 St., Fordham, in 1923. The church is within a combined school-and-church building. The extensive parish website is linked here. Under "About us" is a posting board. The website also has an informative history, the pastor's blog, photos, and a guest book. The rectory address is 290 East 196 St., and the phone number is 718-367-4690.
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The school address is 2708 Briggs Ave., telephone 718-367-3081. From the photos on the parish website, it appears that each grade numbers 25 to 29 students.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, East 187 Street

The above photo shows the church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on the northwest corner of East 187 Street and Belmont Avenue, three blocks south of Fordham University. See pages 231, 472, and 474 of Msgr. Shelley's book for the creation of the parish in 1906. The upstairs church was dedicated in 1917. The website of this parish includes a history page. The rectory address is 627 East 187 St., Bronx NY 10458, telephone 718-295-3770.
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The school is at 2465 Bathgate Avenue, the corner of East 189th Street and Bathgate Avenue. From easyschoolsearch.com , it would seem that Our Lady of Mount Carmel School has about 25 to 30 students per grade.
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Clicking on a photo will enlarge it. Someone is carrying lunch in this noontime photo.

St John's College and Fordham University

See pages 359, 360 and 386 for the foundation of St John's College in 1841 and the transfer of its administration to Jesuits in 1846. Somewhere I have read that the name "Fordham" referred rather to an estate along the Harlem River and that Rose Hill, the 106-acre purchase made by Bishop Hughes in 1839, was at the east end of the estate. See pages 111 and 132 for references to the first diocesan synod, held at St John's College, Fordham, in 1842. In 1905, the Jesuits renamed the college Fordham. Thomas Shelley's book, the Bronx references of which I am here indexing, is rich with footnotes. See footnote #14 on page 360 for a helpful history of Fordham University. Page 421 has a photo of Keating Hall. Page 522 refers to the San Juan Fiesta at Rose Hill in 1956. Page 598 reminds the reader that The Bronx was honored with its own cardinal in 2001, Cardinal Avery Dulles, .S.J., residing at Fordham University.