Holy Cross Church is a church at 1080 Lisbon Street in

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is List of cities in Maine, the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, August ...

and is part of the

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 ...

Diocese of Portland The Diocese of Portland is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the New England region of the United States comprising the entire state of Maine. It is led by a bishop, and its cathedral, or mother church, is the Cat ...

Building

Over the main door of the church is the motto ' (''Hail to the cross, our only hope'') - a line from the ancient Latin hymn '' Vexilla Regis Prodeunt''. The inside of the church is adorned with important statues, a wooden carved altar, and gold leaf wrought iron railings. The stained windows also depict important Catholic Saints, and each window was donated by a parishioner.

History

The original church celebrated its first mass on September 14, 1924. The parishioners were largely of

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

heritage; after some early controversy over the name of the church, by 1926 the French name Église Sainte-Croix was adopted and the membership became almost entirely

French American French Americans or Franco-Americans (french: Franco-Américains), are citizens or nationals of the United States who identify themselves with having full or partial French or French-Canadian heritage, ethnicity and/or ancestral ties. ...

, as the Irish-American members joined St. Patrick's Church. A new church was constructed after World War II, and an extensive renovation was completed in 1985. Many marriages took place at Holy Cross Church and a recent book was written by Youville Labonté which relates to the genealogy involved.

Facilities

The Catholic Church of Lewiston has a library of some 3,500 items.

References

External links

* Roman Catholic churches in Lewiston, Maine Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland {{Maine-church-stub