The Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church is a parish church of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York located at 207 West
96th Street at the corner of
Amsterdam Avenue in the
Upper West Side neighborhood of
Manhattan,
New York City. It was built in 1900 and was designed by
Thomas H. Poole in the
Gothic Revival style
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
.
The parish was under the administration of the
Franciscans for 30 years, between 1990 and 2020. The parish has an attached elementary and middle school, as well as a community center on West 97th Street.
On May 8, 2015, the parish was merged with that of
St. Gregory the Great
Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...
. The Church of St. Gregory the Great was deconsecrated and closed on June 30, 2017.
History
The Church of the Holy Name of Jesus was organized in 1868 in the area then known as
Bloomingdale.
A wood-frame church was erected on the northwest corner of Bloomingdale Road (now called
Broadway) and 97th Street.
The church was thirty-five by eighty feet, with a capacity of 500; it cost about $3,000 to build. The building was supervised by Father Richard Brennan. The new church was dedicated by Archbishop
John McCloskey on September 20, 1868, and was legally incorporated in 1886.
["Holy Name of Jesus"]
Church of the Holy Name of Jesus and St. Gregory the Great website
For many years the pastor was Most Reverend
Stephen Donahue, auxiliary bishop of New York. In 1939, after the death of
Cardinal Patrick Hayes
Patrick Joseph Hayes (November 20, 1867 – September 4, 1938) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of New York from 1919 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1924.
Early life and ...
he was considered a possible successor as archbishop of New York. However,
Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...
appointed Bishop
Francis Spellman, auxiliary bishop of Boston, to the See. Bishop Donahue died in 1982.
In 1997, the church suffered damage when the air compressor in the organ caught fire during a noon mass. The church took the opportunity to initiate renovations, which were finished in 2000.
Architecture
Thomas Henry Poole
Thomas Henry Poole (1860 – 31 July 1919) was English-born architect who designed numerous churches and schools in New York City.
Poole was born in Shrewsbury, England, in 1860. He was educated at Rugby and Christ Church, Oxford. Poole is liste ...
designed the present
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
church, which was built in stages from 1891 to 1900.
The basement was finished in early 1892, and the new church was blessed and dedicated by Archbishop
Michael A. 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 ...
on March 20 of that year. The cornerstone for the main structure was laid on April 17, 1898, which was celebrated with a parade, and the completed church was blessed and dedicated by Archbishop Corrigan on April 1, 1900.
The
steeple was added in 1918.
The church's large interior is noted for its
hammer-and-beam ceiling,
stained glass windows,
terrazzo floor, and marble altars. It is built entirely of pink Milford granite, carved at the entrances and towers. The roof construction and ceiling are made of highly polished wood. The woodwork throughout the interior is fashioned from American quartered oak. The many columns supporting the roof have been designed in very light color to provide contrast with the darker ceiling.
Sanctuary and altars
The church boasts five marble altars. The high altar, at the center of the sanctuary, is in the decorative style of Gothic architecture. It features detailed carvings and columns of onyx. A featured carving is a relief image of the
Last Supper, modeled after
Da Vinci's work of the same name. This carving was later moved to constitute the front of a new main altar, placed at the foot of the steps of the high altar.
Two side altars also adorn the sanctuary – a Marian altar to the high altar's left, and one dedicated to Joseph on its right. Both side altars are made from the same marble, and were placed within the sanctuary on the day the church was dedicated.
There are two additional altars, outside the communion rail, honoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Anne.
Stained glass
The large window over the main entrance of the church represents the Adoration of the Holy Name of Jesus. The south transept's window represents the Presentation of the
Virgin Mary in the Temple, while the window in the north transept depicts the apparition of the
Sacred Heart
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devo ...
to
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Margaret Mary Alacoque, VHM (french: Marguerite-Marie Alacoque) (22 July 1647 – 17 October 1690), was a French Catholic Visitation nun and mystic who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in its modern form.
Summary
She worked to pr ...
. The window nearest the altar of the Virgin Mary is dedicated to the
Immaculate Conception, while the window near the altar of
St. Joseph
Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...
depicts his death.
On the north and south sides of the church, the windows describe events in the life of Jesus Christ. On the south side are
the annunciation,
Christ's birth, the presentation in the Temple, Christ among the
Pharisees
The Pharisees (; he, פְּרוּשִׁים, Pərūšīm) were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs bec ...
, and Christ as a carpenter. On the north side are Christ's baptism, Christ blessing the children, anointing at Bethany, the agony in the garden, and Christ's handing of the keys to
St. Peter
) (Simeon, Simon)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire
, death_date = Between AD 64–68
, death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire
, parents = John (or Jonah; Jona)
, occupation ...
.
Organ
M.P. Moller Pipe Organ Company
Mathias Peter Møller, commonly known as M.P. Möller or Moeller (29 September 1854 – 13 April 1937), was a prolific pipe-organ builder and businessman. A native of the Danish island of Bornholm, he emigrated to the United States in 1872 and fou ...
's Opus 6570 was installed in the church in 1937. The instrument contains four-manuals with 68 stops and 76 ranks. As a result of the 1997 fire, the organ suffered smoke and water damage and portions are not operable.
School
Money to build a school began to be collected early in 1902. The cornerstone was laid on October 16, 1904, and the building was completed in 1905. Located on the southwest corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 97th Street, it was blessed and dedicated on September 10, 1905, by Archbishop
John Murphy Farley. The cost of building was $200,000. The
Sisters of Charity were enlisted to serve as the school's faculty.
Community roles
Holy Name has taken a leading role in addressing social justice issues on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
The church sponsored numerous petitions and took a leading role in closing a zoning loophole that a land developer had exploited in order to build two large condominium towers.
Holy Name also organizes an interfaith March for Peace every year on Martin Luther King Jr Day, along with several Lutheran and Episcopal Churches and several synagogues and is the epicenter of the organization West Siders for Peace.
References
External links
Holy Name of Jesus official website
{{Coord, 40, 47, 40, N, 73, 58, 14.1, W, display=title
Roman Catholic churches in Manhattan
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York
Thomas Henry Poole buildings
Upper West Side