Holy Rosary Church is a

Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

located within the

Archdiocese of Baltimore The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore ( la, link=no, Archidiœcesis Baltimorensis) is the premier (or first) see of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in the United States. The archdiocese comprises the City of Baltimore and nine of Mar ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. It was established to serve Baltimore's Polish community.

History

The Holy Rosary Church was established to serve the needs of the burgeoning Polish community in Baltimore. The parish was established in 1887, though the present church was built from 1927 to 1928. It is constructed of greystone in the Polish Basilica style of architecture with limestone trim. It is 200 feet long, 100 feet wide, with twin towers 125 feet tall. The north tower contains four bells, the largest of which weighs 3000 pounds. The interior is unobstructed by columns, and seats 2000. The altars are of Carrara marble. The main altar is 20 feet wide and 30 feet high. The communion rail is 80 feet long. The 3 manual Moller organ has 3000 pipes. The original parish had around 500 families, making up 2,000 people. The church celebrated its first mass on December 8, 1887. In 1889, acreage was purchased outside of

Dundalk, Maryland Dundalk ( or ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 67,796 at the 2020 census. In 1960 and 1970, Dundalk was the largest unincorporated community in Mar ...

for the construction of a parish cemetery. A parish elementary school was built not long after and the

Felician Sisters The Felician Sisters, officially known as the Congregation of Sisters of St. Felix of Cantalice Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Assisi (CSSF), is a religious institute of pontifical right whose members profess public vows of chastity, p ...

were invited to teach at the school. The parish peaked in the 1930s. At that time the church had around 2,500 families (12,000 people in all), the largest in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the parish elementary school had an enrollment of around 1,800 children. However, the congregation began to decline after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Many Polish-Americans left Baltimore for the suburbs during the 1960s and 1970s, leaving an aging population in the city. Due to declining enrollment, the church closed the parish elementary school in 1997. The church continues to promote itself as a center for the Baltimore Polonia and actively uses the Polish language.

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...

services are held on Sunday Mass and weekdays. The church's Cardinal Hlond Polish School holds classes on the Polish language and on Polish Catholic history. A number of Polish Catholic traditions are still practiced at the church, such as "Boże Ciało" ( Corpus Christi) procession, the Easter Resurrection procession, and the

Holy Saturday Holy Saturday ( la, Sabbatum Sanctum), also known as Great and Holy Saturday (also Holy and Great Saturday), the Great Sabbath, Hallelujah Saturday (in Portugal and Brazil), Saturday of the Glory, Sabado de Gloria, and Black Saturday or Easter ...

Easter food basket blessing. The parish church is the Archdiocesan Shrine for Divine Mercy. The dedication of the Divine Mercy Shrine occurred on the first feast day of

Mary Faustina Kowalska Maria Faustyna Kowalska, OLM (born Helena Kowalska; 25 August 1905 – 5 October 1938), also known as ''Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament'', Faustyna popularly spelled "Faustina", was a Polish Catholic religious sister a ...

. Notably,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

(who was then Karol Cardinal Wojtyla) visited and prayed at the shrine during a visit in 1976. Fr. Ronald Pytel was a parish priest at the church. His healed heart condition was one of the miracles cited during the canonization of St. Maria Faustina Kowalski in 2000.

References

External links

Official church website

History of Holy Rosary Church

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holy Rosary Church Christ United Church Polish Cathedral style architecture Polish-American Roman Catholic parishes in the United States Roman Catholic churches completed in 1928 Religious organizations established in 1887 Roman Catholic churches in Baltimore Romanesque Revival architecture in Maryland Romanesque Revival church buildings in the United States Upper Fell's Point, Baltimore 1887 establishments in Maryland 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States