Holy Cross Church 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 ...

church located at 329

West 42nd Street 42nd Street is a major crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, spanning the entire breadth of Midtown Manhattan, from Turtle Bay at the East River, to Hell's Kitchen at the Hudson River on the West Side. The street h ...

between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in the

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neighborhood of

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, near

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

and across the street from the

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History

The Holy Cross Parish was established in 1852 and a chapel erected, which the congregation quickly outgrew.Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., Censor,
The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg Together with some Supplementary Articles on Religious Communities of Women.
'. (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p. 330. In 1854, a new building was constructed and dedicated, but lightning struck this second structure in 1867, and the ensuing fire severely damaged it. The current church was constructed to a design by

Henry Engelbert Henry Engelbert (1826–1901) was a German-American architect. He was best known for buildings in the French Second Empire style, which emphasized elaborate mansard roofs with dormers. New York's Grand Hotel on Broadway is the most noteworthy ext ...

on the site of the damaged building and completed in 1870., p. 254 It is notable as the oldest building on 42nd Street."History"
on the Holy Cross Church website The Holy Cross School, located behind the church at 332 West 43rd Street, was built in 1887 to a design by

Lawrence J. O'Connor Lawrence J. O'Connor, FAIA (d. 1900) was an American architect who designed a number of churches, schools, convents and rectories in New York, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. He was a named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 18 ...

. Since 1900, Holy Cross Church has worked with politicians, police and community groups to combat poverty, crime and drugs in the neighborhood. The parish is especially associated with the popular ministry of the Reverend Francis P. Duffy. In 2015, the parish of Holy Cross Church merged with the parish of St. John the Baptist Church, on West 30th Street. The Archdiocese of New York also confirmed the merger in a press release in May 2015. The press release notes that the two parishes had been collaborating for several years prior to the merger and that the newly formed Holy Cross-St. John the Baptist Parish would continue to serve the spiritual needs of the local community.

Architecture

The exterior of Holy Cross Church shows a red brick facade with flanking twin towers in an Italianate Gothic form. Inside, the church reveals an eclectic mixture of Georgian classical, Romanesque and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

forms. The main dimensions are 100 feet from front to back and 82 feet from side to side, where the configuration completes the suggestion of a cross. A dome, surmounted by a cross, rises above the intersection of

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

. From curb level to the top of the cross is a distance of 148 feet. The nine stained-glass windows in the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

were made by

Mayer & Company of Munich Franz Mayer of Munich is a German stained glass design and manufacturing company, based in Munich, Germany and a major exponent of the Munich-style stained glass, Munich style of stained glass, that has been active throughout most of the world ...

."Stained Glass Windows"
on the Holy Cross Church website. Accessed on 2009-11-11

Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...

designed the mosaics below the dome and in the sanctuary. Tiffany also designed the stained glass of the

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

windows and wheel windows of the transepts. The red brick and

terra-cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta i ...

school building facade was designed in the Romanesque Revival style.

Services

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

is celebrated in both English- and Spanish-language services. Holy Cross Church operates Crossroads Food Pantry and Harvesters Soup Kitchen (alternate Saturdays) serving the poor and hungry. Hospitality is offered directly after the 11:30am Mass on Sundays. (Except from July to August). It also conducts an evangelical program named LAMP Missionary for the assistance of local residents and passers-by who wish to receive religious counseling.

Music

Choral music and congregational singing are present in both Spanish- and English-language services. Music is led from either a grand piano located near the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

or from an organ in the gallery. The church houses an

Aeolian-Skinner Æolian-Skinner Organ Company, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts was an American builder of a large number of pipe organs from its inception as the Skinner Organ Company in 1901 until its closure in 1972. Key figures were Ernest M. Skinner (1866– ...

organ, which is located in the rear gallery in the choir loft. Installed in 1933 and completed in 1941 with the addition of a set of chimes, it replaced an organ built in 1882 by J.H. & C.S. Odell. The earliest organ, with one manual and two octaves, which had been built by Hall and Labagh in 1854, was destroyed in the fire of 1867."Church of the Holy Cross"
on the

American Guild of Organists The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educat ...

, New York City Chapter website

Father Duffy

Holy Cross Church is sometimes known informally as "Father Duffy's Church", after the Reverend Francis P. Duffy. Duffy served as Chaplain of the "Fighting Irish" 69th New York Regiment during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and was decorated for his activities. After the war, in 1921, Duffy was appointed

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Holy Cross. Later elevated to

Pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

, Father Duffy served the church until his death in 1932. That year he instituted the Printers' Mass on Sunday mornings at 2:30 A.M. for workers at the ''

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'', ''

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'', '' Daily News'' and ''

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'' whose shifts required late hours. Father Duffy is commemorated by a bronze statue located on West 46th Street between Seventh Avenue and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, at Times Square's northern end, which is officially named

Duffy Square Duffy Square, named Father Duffy Square in 1939, is the northern triangle of Times Square in Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded by 45th Street (Manhattan), 45th and 47th Street (Manhattan), 47th Streets, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway and S ...

References

Notes Further reading *Duffy, Francis P. ''Father Duffy's Story'', introduction by Joyce Kilmer. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1919.

External links

Official website
{{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, state=collapsed Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York Roman Catholic churches in Manhattan Roman Catholic churches completed in 1870 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Religious organizations established in 1852 Henry Engelbert church buildings Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan 1852 establishments in New York (state) 42nd Street (Manhattan)