Most Holy Trinity Church, located on the

Boston Post Road The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts that evolved into one of the first major highways in the United States. The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road (now U.S. Ro ...

, is a historic

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 in the

Latin rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Most Holy Trinity-Saint Vito in 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 ...

, in

Mamaroneck Mamaroneck ( ) is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Village of M ...

Parish history

Most Holy Trinity Church began as St. Thomas Church, built in 1867. It was a mission of Blessed Sacrament Church in

New Rochelle New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

N.Y..The mission became a

in 1874, then the present church was built by 1885 and renamed Most

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

. Most Holy Trinity was originally known as the church of St. Thomas when it stood at the corner of Spruce Street and Boston Post Road. The founder, Reverend Thomas McLaughlin, was a pastor in New Rochelle and visited the Mamaroneck area once a month by wagon to attend to any parochial details. During his tenure, 12 churches were built in the original territory of his jurisdiction and Mamaroneck was one of them. It was an old tradition that father McLaughlin visited Mamaroneck once a month, saying mass in private homes and in the "Old Red House" which stood at the bank of the Mamaroneck River near Prospect Avenue, in the rear of the Hook and Ladder Company. During this time, baptisms, confirmations, first communion and marriages of the Mamaroneck Catholics took place in New Rochelle at a church called Saint Matthews, the first Catholic Church in New Rochelle. This church was later named Blessed Sacrament. One of the parish's early pastors, Rev. Isidore Meister, was responsible for the construction of a new stone church building. Parishioners helped collect and save money and the project was completed in 1886. The new building was dedicated on Sunday, August 15, 1886, by Archbishop Corrigan. Since then, succeeding pastors worked to add on to the parish with a school, convent, rectory and gymnasium. Most Holy Trinity Parish School (1st-8th grade), current building erected in 1928, was run by the

Sisters of Charity of New York The Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul of New York, most often known as the Sisters of Charity of New York, is a religious congregation of sisters in the Catholic Church whose primary missions are education and nursing and who are dedicated ...

. At its inception the Sisters, living at Saint Vincent's Retreat Center (presently the hospital), traveled to and fro by surrey driven by the church custodian, Patrick Murphy. They commuted for 28 years until a convent was built on site in 1914. The Franciscan Sisters of Hastings also taught at the school. The school closed in 1987. On November 2, 2014, the Archdiocese of New York announced as part of its "Making All Things New" round of church closures that Most Holy Trinity Parish would be merged with the Parish of Saint Vito also located in Mamaroneck, New York. As of August 2015, the church is part of the newly formed parish of Most Holy Trinity-Saint Vito with no regularly scheduled masses occurring at Most Holy Trinity Church. The parish is served by the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...

, Council 2247.

Architecture and construction

N. J. O' Connor was the architect. Charles Worden of Rye with John Sheehan & Co., and P. Sheridan were the masons for the church. The stone used was Blue Byram stone and brown stone. The carpenters were George Burger and P. Sheridan.

Church art and stained glass windows

Most Holy Trinity Church is known for its beautiful

stained glass windows Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

. The windows depict the following: Left side of the church (from front to rear):

The Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

(Tabernacle area),

Saint Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Elizabeth of Hungary (german: Heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen, hu, Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet, sk, Svätá Alžbeta Uhorská; 7 July 1207 – 17 November 1231), also known as Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, or Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia, ...

Saint 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 of ...

with the child

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

Saint Ann According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come ...

with the child Mary, and Saint Isidore the Farmer. Right side of the church (from front to rear):

Saint Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, wh ...

(Baptismal area),

Saint Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden (c. 1303 – 23 July 1373) born as Birgitta Birgersdotter, also Birgitta of Vadstena, or Saint Birgitta ( sv, heliga Birgitta), was a mystic and a saint, and she was also the founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after t ...

Saint Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

, Saint Gertrude the Great, and

Saint Philip Saint Philip, São Filipe, or San Felipe may refer to: People * Saint Philip the Apostle * Saint Philip the Evangelist also known as Philip the Deacon * Saint Philip Neri * Saint Philip Benizi de Damiani also known as Saint Philip Benitius or Fili ...

. Above the altar (from left to right):

Saint Athanasius Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...

Saint Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

Saint Ambrose Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promo ...

, The

(center),

Saint Matthew Matthew the Apostle,, shortened to ''Matti'' (whence ar, مَتَّى, Mattā), meaning "Gift of YHWH"; arc, , Mattai; grc-koi, Μαθθαῖος, ''Maththaîos'' or , ''Matthaîos''; cop, ⲙⲁⲧⲑⲉⲟⲥ, Mattheos; la, Matthaeus a ...

Saint John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; ar, يوحنا الإنجيلي, la, Ioannes, he, יוחנן cop, ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given to ...

Saint Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...

, and

Saint Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

. Roof Level (Left side, front to back): Handing of the keys to

, The Sermon on the Mount, and

healing the sick. Roof Level (Right side, front to back):

The Nativity The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, his mother Mary was engaged to a man ...

, and the finding of

in the Temple

Pastors

The first

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 ...

of Holy Trinity was Father Christopher A. Farrell, 1874 to 1876, followed by Father Isidore Meister 1876 to 1913, Father Joseph P. Donahue, 1913 to 1924, who eventually became bishop and vicar general of the Archdiocese. Other former pastors include: Father Thomas P. Phelan, Father Francis J. Heaney, Father Thomas B. Kelly, 1942 to 1952, who had been the confessor of

Rose Hawthorne Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, also known as Mother Mary Alphonsa, (May 20, 1851 – July 9, 1926) was an American writer and religious leader. She was a Catholic Church, Catholic Religious sisters, religious sister, social worker, and Organizational f ...

, daughter of

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

and the founder of the Servants of Relief for Incurable Cancer, Msgr. George C. Ehardt 1952 to 1969, Msgr. Thomas Darby, 1969 to 1976, and Msgr. John Mulroy, 1976 to 1989. Father Joseph F. Irwin was appointed to

in 1989. He was succeeded by Father Robert P. Henry in 2012 who served until the merger in 2015. It was reported that Father Francis P. Duffy, served at Most Holy Trinity in the early part of the twentieth century (Duffy was known as the chaplain of the Fighting 69th Regiment in

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 ...

). Father Joseph Tierney is the current pastor of Most Holy Trinity-Saint Vito Parish.

Parish history

Architecture and construction

Church art and stained glass windows

Pastors

References

External links