Enthusiasm for The Bronx

I have enjoyed Msgr. Thomas Shelley's book, and I have learned much from it. My enthusiasm for The Bronx comes from education at St John's, Kingsbridge, and dad bringing me on explorations of the Bronx streetcar routes of the Third Avenue Railway System that existed about 1946. These car lines passed many a Bronx church, and Dad tipped his hat. Some trolleys even carried the destination "Protectory" on their lengthy roller signs, the turnback being on Tremont Avenue in front of where the Pro had stood.

Calvary Hospital

Page 610 has a reference to the House of Calvary (Featherbed Lane?) which became Calvary Hospital on Eastchester Road.

Missionaries of Charity

Page 610 has a reference to the 1971 arrival of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Mott Haven.

Corpus Christi Monastery

On page 610 there is a photo of the chapel of Corpus Christi Monastery on Lafayette Avenue, Hunts Point.

Organization "South Bronx Churches"

See pages 587 and 595 for a description of the activist community organization, "South Bronx Churches." This index uses older neighborhood names as Mott Haven and Melrose. The term "South Bronx" is too often used for neighborhoods that are geographically North, Central, East, or West Bronx.

Yankee Stadium, 1957

See pages 523 and 524 for a celebration at Yankee Stadium in 1957.

Santa Maria, St. Raymond Ave., Westchester Square

Above, Santa Maria church on St. Raymond Avenue.  Parker Street is at the right side of the building. Zerega Avenue and the school is to the left.  For the Mass schedule, please see the parish website.

See pages 484 and 485 for the 1926 foundation of the parish of Santa Maria at St. Raymond Avenue and Parker Street, east of Castle Hill Avenue and Parkchester. The present church was remodeled in 1936. The rectory address is 2352 St. Raymond Ave., Bronx NY 10462, telephone 718-828-2380.
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Three blocks from the church is the Santa Maria parish school, located at 1510 Zerega Avenue, Bronx NY 10462, filling the block from Glebe Avenue to Frisby Ave. The school was created in 1951, and is staffed, in part, by religious sisters, the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The website for Santa Maria parish school is here.  The school also has a Facebook page.
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From the website of the Misioneros Idente, it would seem that three parishes near to each other (Santa Maria, Our Lady of Solace, St. Dominic) are staffed by this congregation, founded by Dr. Fernando Rielo. The Catholic Directory would seem to indicate that they live at Santa Maria rectory.

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The October 22, 2020, issue of Catholic New York has a front page story of the dedication of a shrine to Blessed Clelia Merioni, foundress of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The shrine was dedicated at Immaculate Conception church, Tuckahoe, on October 17, 2002. The article mentions the now-closed Sacred Heart Private School on Zerega Avenue. It also mentions the ASCJ provincialate in Hamden, Connecticut. In March, 2025, the Bronx Times HERE reports on the NYC Board of Education with plans to build a new school where Sacred Heart was.

St Benedict, Otis Avenue, Throgs Neck

The church steps face Otis Avenue. Just one block west is busy East Tremont Avenue.


At the rear of the church (the north side, that is) a trench carries the traffic of Interstate 95, here called the Bruckner Expressway. Terence Cardinal Cooke (1921-1983) hailed from this parish twenty or more years before the highways arrived.

See page 482 for St Benedict's parish in Throgs Neck, established in 1923 by Benedictines from Collegeville, Minnesota. The present church dates from about 1960. In 1976 (thanks to a reader who commented), the parish was transferred from the care of the Benedictines to archdiocesan priests. I have been unable to determine whether the boundaries of the Village of Unionport included territory later within this parish, as the bicentennial history implies. The rectory address is 2969 Otis Avenue, Bronx NY 10465, telephone 718-828-3403.  The church website is linked here.
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Shown below is the parish school at 1016 Edison Avenue, a half-block south of the church. Both are in a quiet neighborhood of private homes two blocks from the busy intersection of I-95 (Bruckner Blvd) and East Tremont Avenue. The school would appear to have one or two sections per grade, total enrollment about 340.

St Ann, Bainbridge Avenue, Gun Hill

Both the school and church in this post are now closed (2017).
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See pages 478 and 478 for the 1927 creation of the parish of St. Ann on Bainbridge Avenue, just north of Gun Hill Road. Inside the door, another set of stairs leads up to the church. Higher up is the school. Several Bronx parishes have a similar construction of school-above-church. Because of the steps, a ramp has been installed to a new church door along the left side of the building. 



For years, the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill staffed this school.
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The New York Times of March 31, 1928, announced the filing of plans for the school and convent. The pastor was Rev. Martin Cavanagh.  The architects were Viemuster and Brady.

Our Lady of Pity, East 151 St., Melrose

See pages 476 and 467 for the Italian parish of Our Lady of Pity (Madonna del Suffragio) on East 151 Street near Morris Ave., Melrose. Founded in 1908, "the parish is now (2007) closed."

Our Lady of Victory, Webster Avenue, Tremont

On January 29, 2012, the parishioners of Our Lady of Victory welcomed the faithful in procession from St. Augustine's parish, closed that day and merged with Our Lady of Victory. 
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Webster Avenue proceeds north at the left of this 2008 photo. The rectory is the shorter building at the left. Maybe classrooms are above the church, but the parish has no elementary school. Instead, a vigorous CCD program is offered.
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See page 472 for the establishment of the parish of Our Lady of Victory, 1512 Webster Avenue, at East 171 St, a block south of Claremont Parkway, in 1909. See page 474 for a photo of the church, which dates from 1911. For an explanation of Mary's title, "Our Lady of Victory," you may check out this link from the University of Dayton. I have long been puzzled by the question, "Which victory?" The primary victory seems to be Lepanto in 1571, but as the French often use the plural, there is a hint of more than that single battle.
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The rectory address is 1512 Webster Ave., Bronx NY 10457, telephone 718-583-4044.
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To read the comments, please click on "Comments" below.  A 2012 post is linked here.