St. Frances of Rome and 3 other churches in Wakefield = one parish in 2015

The parish of St. Frances of Rome includes four older separate parishes, which can be seen listed on top of the new website.  Please consult this website for current (2017) Mass schedules and staffing. The office and rectory are adjacent to the church in the 2010 photo above. The postal address is 4307 Barnes Avenue, Bronx NY 10466.
---
Also, please see the extensive Parish Booklet available at this link.  It lists many parish organizations and meeting schedules through 2018 and 2019.  It contains a helpful history of the parish.
---
Before the 1960's only the lower church existed, on the ground floor. Then a magnificent, bright upper church was added,designed by the architect Paul Waldon Reilly, who also designed the new church of St. Frances de Chantal, Throgs Neck. More recently, an elevator helps those who have difficulty with the foyer staircases.

The church, as seen from the west.
----

From Catholic New York: 10.15.2015:  Father Georginus Ugwu, M.S.P., who was named pastor of the newly merged parish of St. Frances of Rome-St. Anthony-St. Francis of Assisi-Our Lady of Grace, the Bronx, on Aug. 1, had previously served as temporary administrator of the Wakefield Catholic Churches of St. Frances of Rome, St. Anthony and St. Francis of Assisi since July 2014. He was pastor of the Catholic chapel and chaplain of Florida A & M University in Tallahassee, Fla., 2007-2014. He was associate director and bursar of his religious congregation’s office in Houston, 2005-2007. A native of Nigeria, he earlier served there and in the Central African Republic. He was ordained for the Missionary Society of St. Paul in 2000.

----
In this merger of four parishes, two church buildings ended up having no regular religious services. Yet, these two (Our Lady of Grace, Bronxwood Avenue, and St. Anthony, Richardson Avenue) have not yet been canonically relegated to profane use. In a sense, they are closed but still available for use.
--- 

See pages 299 and 301 for the 1897 creation of the parish of St Frances of Rome, near East 236 Street and Barnes Avenue, Wakefield, east of White Plains Road. The present church dates from 1967. For many years, the Sisters of the Presentation taught in the parish school. The rectory address is 4307 Barnes Ave., Bronx NY 10466, telephone 718-324-5340. The pastor of this parish is also responsible for St. Anthony's on Richardson Avenue and St. Francis of Assisi on Baychester Avenue. 
---
For St. Francis of Assisi elementary school, please use this link.
---
For Our Lady of Grace elementary school, please use this link.

St. Mary School, Carpenter Ave., Wakefield

St. Mary School, described in the banner above, takes up the entire east side of Carpenter Avenue from East 224th Street to East 225th Street.  It is one block west of White Plains Road. The address is 3956 Carpenter Avenue, Bronx NY 10466, telephone 718-547-0500.  The school's website, linked here is very helpful. As of February, 2015, the school's Facebook page is current.
----
In Thomas Shelley's book, please see pages 299 and 300 for the 1886 founding of St Mary parish, White Plains Road at East 215 Street, Williamsbridge. In 2007, the 1887 church was transferred to the Korean Catholic parish of St John Nam. The archdiocesan website shows this rectory address for the Church of St. Mary: 650 East 226 St., Bronx NY 10466, telephone 718-547-8000. This address is near the school in the Wakefield post office zone.
-----
This link from 2004 provides some history of the shared church.
-----

Nativity of Our Blessed Lady, East 233 St., Eastchester

Important!  Much of this post is contradicted by what I observed on 9.21.2019.  Please look at this update.
---
The photographs below are from 2009.  On August 8, 2015, I passed this church and did not notice any sign that it was closed, even though the Archbishop merged this parish with Holy Rosary parish. Regular Mass and sacraments will not be available here, but rather at Holy Rosary - Nativity, on Eastchester Road near Gun Hill Road, where Father Dennis Williams is pastor of the combined parish.  However, some Mount Vernon Catholic churches may also be handy for displaced parisioners.  Historically this borderland of The Bronx has had strong ties to Mount Vernon.  Maybe most of the houses within Nativity parish (under the old parish-boundaries protocol) are, in fact, in Mount Vernon.  The Bronx side of the border, with Nativity church and school and the Dyre Avenue subway station is more commercial and industrial.


Nativity of Our Blessed Lady church stands at the southwest corner of East 233rd Street and Secor Avenue. The far side of the church, that is, facing Secor Avenue, has some windows. 

The address of the parish school is 3893 Dyre Avenue, Bronx NY 10466, telephone 718-324-2188.



See pages 484 and 485 for the foundation of the parish of the Nativity of Our Blessed Lady near Dyre Avenue and East 233 Street in the Eastchester neighborhood of The Bronx. 
-----
Though the parish dates from 1924, a first church was completed in 1933, according to a parish history at this link. The church burned in 1958, and in 1969 the new church was inaugurated at the corner of Secor Avenue and East 233rd Street. For many years since the parish school's opening in 1953, the Dominican Sisters of Newburgh educated youngsters of Nativity. The school is at 3893 Dyre Avenue, telephone 718-324-2188. It appears that the school has one section per grade, as it graduated about thirty students in June, 2009. In September, 2019, it is actively recruiting students both for Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK, a municipal program) and the K-8 school.
----
The name Eastchester dates back to the late 1600's, it seems, but the Town of Eastchester shrunk as cities and villages were carved from it. This northern neighborhood of The Bronx is correctly called Eastchester, but the remaining Town of Eastchester lies about six miles north. Church and school are near the Dyre Avenue terminus of the 5 Train of the New York City subway.
-----
A comment follows:

michael said...

"I grew up in the north Bronx. entered Nativity school the 1st year it opened. In fact, I have the program when Cardinal Spellman dedicated the school. I also was an altar boy when the church was on Secor Avenue. In fact, I served the last mass there on the day it burnt down. I also have a photo of my baptism that shows the lawn where the playground now is or was."

January 19, 2009 12:22 AM

St Francis of Assisi, Baychester Ave., Wakefield

Each photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.



See pages 488 and 489 for the creation in 1949 and merger in 2007 of the parish of St Francis of Assisi, at Baychester Avenue and Pitman Avenue, seven blocks inside the city line. The rectory phone number is 718-324-5340. With St. Anthony (Richardson Ave.) and St. Frances of Rome (Barnes Ave.), St Francis of Assisi is one of three Wakefield parishes with the same pastor and associates. There is another parish named St. Francis of Assisi in High Bridge, but that has been merged with the larger parish of the Sacred Heart.
-----
This parish offers an elementary school at 4300 Baychester Avenue, Bronx NY 10466, telephone 718-994-4650. With about 300 students, it appears that there is one section per grade. Adjacent to the church is an early learning center, the sign for which appears above.

Mount St. Michael, Murdock Avenue, Wakefield

Above, the main entrance on Murdock Avenue. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
Above is the view from the intersection of Nereid Avenue and Murdock Avenue.
Above, St. Michael the Archangel, guards the campus from rival teams in sports.

Above, looking east across from Nereid Avenue to Pitman Avenue. That is the Brothers' house, with football field and all-weather track to the left.


See page 378, for a passing reference to the arrival of the French-speaking Marist Brothers from Quebec. Their work continues at Mount St. Michael Academy, a boys' school (grades 6-12), 4300 Murdock Ave., Bronx NY 10466, telephone 718-515-6400.
-----
The Marists continue the work begun by St. Marcellin Champagnat in 1817 in southern France. They opened St. Anne's Academy on East 76 Street, Manhattan, in 1892, and in 1926 they opened Mount St. Michael Academy in The Bronx. In addition to the academy's scholastic work, the Mount is long-famous in Bronx high school sports. This is the same community that built Marist College in Poughkeepsie.
----
The academy property is large. It is bounded by Murdock Avenue on the south, Pitman Avenue on the east, Mundy Lane on the north, and Nereid Avenue on the west. According to John McNamara's "History in Asphalt," Murdock Campbell was a Wakefield real estate agent around 1899, Pitman the name of a landowner further south on Pitman, Mundy a funeral director, and Nereid the name of a fire brigade near Richardson Avenue and Nereid Ave., which is also East 238th Street.

Our Lady of Grace, Bronxwood Ave, Wakefield

In mid-2015, the archbishop announced that Mass would no longer be offered in Our Lady of Grace church on a regular basis.  The parish is merged with that of St. Frances of Rome.  The school remains open.

This sculpture of Mary and Jesus, created by Sister Angelica Ballan, was originally outside Misericordia Hospital on East 233rd Street.

Please click on any photo to enlarge it.

The photo above shows the school, rectory, and church.


See pages 478 and 479 for the parish of Our Lady of Grace, founded as an Italian parish in 1924. The present church, at Bronxwood Avenue and East 226 St., dates from 1968.  This is two blocks east of White Plains Road. The school, rectory, and church occupy the west side of Bronxwood Avenue from 225th St to 226th St. 
-----
The parish school is at 3981 Bronxwood Avenue. A March, 2009, message from the principal would seem to indicate one room per grade.  Please see the school website HERE, current as of November, 2015.