The Church of Our Lady of the Scapular–St. Stephen is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

parish church in the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the State of New York. It encompasses the borough ...

, located at 149 East 28th Street between

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and Lexington Avenues in the Rose Hill neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

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. It was established in the 1980s when the parish of the

Church of Our Lady of the Scapular of Mount Carmel The Church of Our Lady of the Scapular of Mount Carmel was a former Roman Catholic parish church that was demolished. The church was located 341 East 28th Street between First and Second Avenues in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, New Yor ...

was merged into the parish of the Church of St. Stephen the Martyr. In January 2007, it was announced by the

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the State of New York. It encompasses the boroug ...

that the Church of the Sacred Hearts of Mary and Jesus, located at 307 East 33rd Street, was to be merged into Our Lady of the Scapular–St. Stephen, then, in November 2014, the Archdiocese announced that the Church of Our Lady of the Scapular–St. Stephen was one of 31 neighborhood parishes which would be merged into other parishes. Our Lady of the Scapular–St. Stephen was to be merged into the

Church of Our Saviour Church of Our Saviour (or Savior), Church of the Savio(u)r, Church of Our Merciful Savio(u)r, or variations thereof, may refer to many Christian churches dedicated to Our Saviour (Our Lord), including: Americas United States (by state) * Church ...

at 59 Park Avenue.

St. Stephen the Martyr

The parish of St. Stephen the Martyr was formed in 1848 and was originally located on

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...

. A temporary church was erected and dedicated by then Bishop John Hughes on December 23, 1849. In 1853 the property was purchased by the

New York and Harlem Railroad The New York and Harlem Railroad (now the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line) was one of the first railroads in the United States, and was the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and ...

and a new church was built on 28th Street and opened March 5, 1854. The first pastor was Rev. Jeremiah W. Cummings. One of the parishioners around that time was

Orestes Brownson Orestes Augustus Brownson (September 16, 1803 – April 17, 1876) was an American intellectual and activist, preacher, labor organizer, and noted Catholic convert and writer. Brownson was a publicist, a career which spanned his affiliation with ...

. In an article on "Vocations to the Priesthood" that the plain spoken Cummings contributed to "Brownson's Review" of October, 1860, he severely criticized the management and mode of instruction in Catholic colleges and seminaries which he styled "cheap priest-factories". This aroused a bitter controversy, and brought out one of the noted essays by Archbishop Hughes, his "Reflections on the Catholic Press". "Under the administration of Dr. Cummings St. Stephen's, which he had completed in March, 1854, became the most fashionable and most frequented church in New York, its sermons and music making it a local attraction." During the 1860s St. Stephen's was one of the largest and most influential Catholic congregations in New York.St. Stephen's Church", Landmarks Preservation Commission, October 8, 2008
/ref> Cummings died in January 1866 after a long illness that incapacitated him for active service. He was succeeded by assistant pastor Rev.

Edward McGlynn Edward McGlynn (September 27, 1837 – January 7, 1900), American Catholic priest and social reformer, was born in New York City of Irish parents. He was controversial in Catholic circles for his acceptance of public schools. He actively prom ...

. Future Bishop of Buffalo, Charles H. Colton's first assignment after his ordination in 1876 was as a curate at Stephen's. He remained there for ten years, his duties including the chaplaincy at

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

. In 1879,

Charles Edward McDonnell Charles Edward McDonnell (February 1, 1854 – August 8, 1921) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, Bishop of Brooklyn from 1892 until his death in 1921. Biography Charles Mc ...

, (later Bishop of Brooklyn) was also curate at St. Stephen's. No less plain spoken than his predecessor, Rev. McGlynn was reprimanded by Archbishop

John McCloskey John McCloskey (March 10, 1810 – October 10, 1885) was a senior-ranking American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the first American born Archbishop of New York from 1864 until his death in 1885, having previously served as Bishop of ...

, who required McGlynn to refrain from defending in public the views of

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...

, which some considered bordering on socialism. McGlynn subsequently ran afoul of Archbishop

Michael Corrigan Michael Augustine Corrigan (August 13, 1839May 5, 1902) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the third archbishop of New York from 1885 to 1902. Early life Michael Augustine Corrigan was born August 13, 1839, in Ne ...

for McGlynn's open endorsement of George's mayoral campaign. In January 1877, Corrigan removed McGlynn from the pastorate of St. Stephen's for insubordination. Father Colton became pastor in February 1877 and founded the parish school. On June 10, 1903, Colton was appointed the fourth Bishop of Buffalo. He was succeeded by Thomas Francis Cusack, auxiliary bishop of New York, who served as pastor of St. Stephen's Church from 1904 to July 5, 1915, when he was named Bishop of Albany. At that time, the parish maintained the Presentation Day Nursery on East 32nd St., which allowed mothers to work; and St. Stephen's Inn at East 31st St., an affordable residence for young working women. Fr. Francis Cummings became pastor in 1919; he installed electric lighting in the church. The Carmelites took over administration of the parish in 1988. In 1990, the parish of Our Lady of the Scapular merged with the parish of St. Stephen the Martyr.

Church of St. Stephen the Martyr

The parish's current church, the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

style, was designed by noted architect

James Renwick, Jr. James Renwick Jr. (born November 11, 1818, Bloomingdale, in Upper Manhattan, New York City – June 23, 1895, New York City) was an American architect in the 19th century. ''The Encyclopedia of American Architecture'' calls him "one of the most ...

,, p.168 who also designed St. Patrick's Cathedral and

Grace Church Grace Church may refer to: Canada * Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto China * Grace Church, Guanghan Poland * Grace Church, Teschen or Jesus Church, a Lutheran basilica in Teschen, Poland United Kingdom United States * Grace Cathedral (disam ...

. The façade has rounded arches for the entrance and windows. The building was extended north to 142 East 29th Street in 1865 by architect

Patrick Charles Keely Patrick Charles Keely (August 9, 1816 — August 11, 1896) was an Irish-American architect based in Brooklyn, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island. He was a prolific designer of nearly 600 churches and hundreds of other institutional buildin ...

., p.214 The church includes forty-three interior murals by the artist Constantine Brumidi, who also provided murals in the U.S. Capitol, as well as a painting of the Crucifixion above the high altar, also by Brumidi. The stained glass windows are by Meyer of Munich. Epiphany RC school 121 E28 jeh

On March 2, 1916, Spanish poets

Juan Ramón Jiménez Juan Ramón Jiménez Mantecón (; 23 December 1881 – 29 May 1958) was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which in the Spanish language constitutes an example of high ...

(

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

) and

Zenobia Camprubí Zenobia Camprubí Aymar (31 August 1887 – 25 October 1956) was a Spain, Spanish-born writer and poet; she was also a noted translator of the works of Rabindranath Tagore. She was born in Malgrat de Mar (province of Barcelona, Catalonia) ...

got married in this church. Their six-month stay in the United States is in the origin of Jiménez's book ''Diario de un poeta recién casado'' (1917), which was an inflection point for his poetry and for Spanish contemporary poetry. The 29th Street facade is fully developed. The church underwent restoration in 1949. The connected school building on 28th Street was built c.1902, designed by Elliot Lynch, and a rectory was built on the 29th Street side in 1956, designed by the firm of Knappe & Johnson."Manhattan NB Database 1900–1986"
on the Office for Metropolitan History website. (Accessed 25 Dec 2010). This church is not operational since its merging in 2014.

St. Stephen Parish School

The St. Stephen Parish School on 28th Street was built from 1897 to around 1902 to the designs of Elliot Lynch. The

Sisters of Charity Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, but others are unrelated. The ...

staffed the school until 1967. It is now the St. Stephen's campus of the Epiphany School, one of their two facilities, the other being on East 20th Street near the Epiphany Church.Epiphany School website
/ref>

Our Lady of the Scapular

The parish of Our Lady of the Scapular of Mount Carmel was founded in 1889 by the Irish Carmelites.

In popular culture

The church briefly appears in the 1989 television movie ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, it ...

: Fatal Flaw''.

References

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Our Lady of the Scapular-St. Stephen, Church of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Christian organizations established in 1990 Roman Catholic churches in Manhattan Roman Catholic churches completed in 1854 James Renwick Jr. church buildings Patrick Keely buildings Romanesque Revival church buildings in New York City 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Rose Hill, Manhattan 1848 establishments in New York (state)