The Church of St. Monica, commonly referred to as St. Monica's, is a parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 413 East 79th Street,

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York City. The parish was established in 1879 and in 2015 merged with nearby

St. 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, ...

and St. Stephen of Hungary churches.

History

The fourth Catholic parish on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

, St. Monica's was founded by John Treanor, pastor of the Church of St. Lawrence O'Toole (now the

Church of St. Ignatius Loyola The Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola is a Catholic parish church located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City, administered by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). The parish is under the authority of the Archdiocese of New York, and wa ...

). James J. Dougherty was appointed the first pastor, and in 1880 he began conducting

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 ...

over a feed store at 404 East 78th Street. The following year, he purchased land for the construction of the church and school. Construction of the first church building was completed in 1883. In 1892, the address was listed as 409 East 79th Street. John J. Boyle served as acting rector at St. Monica's before becoming the founding pastor of St. Luke's Church (Bronx, New York) in 1897. In 2015, the Archdiocese of New York ordered St. Monica's merged with St. Elizabeth's and St. Stephen's to better serve 21st century Yorkville. The merged parish, which holds services at St. Monica's, is known as the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Monica, St. Elizabeth and St. Stephens. As a result of the merger, St. Monica's parish boundaries shifted slightly.

Parish school

The

parish school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...

opened in 1883, operated by the Sisters of Charity of New York. The Sisters of St. Francis assumed operations in 1944. After several years of declining enrollment, the school was closed in 1974.

Buildings

The current Gothic Revival church building was erected in 1906 to the designs of

Schickel & Ditmars Schickel & Ditmars was an architectural firm in New York City, active during the city's Gilded Age from 1885 until the early 1900s. It was responsible for designing many fine churches, residences and commercial buildings. History J. William Sc ...

, prominent church architects. In 1926, the rector Arthur J. Kenny had a three- and four-story brick school and

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

with tile roof built at 410 East 80th Street, to designs of Thomas Dunn for $120,000 ($ in current dollar terms). A three-story convent at 405–413 East 79th Street was built in 1955 to designs by Brown-Guenther-Booss for $275,000 ($ in current dollar terms).

Pastors

* John Treanor (1879–1880) * James J. Dougherty (1880–1890s) * John J. Boyle (Acting Rector in 1890s) * James P. Hughes was assigned here (presumably as assistant) in 1904; while William S. Creedan was transferred from here to St. Andrew's Church (Manhattan) * Arthur J. Kenny (1920s) *

James Henry Ambrose Griffiths James Henry Ambrose Griffiths (July 16, 1903—February 24, 1964) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York from 1950 to 1964. Biography Early life and education Ja ...

(1955–1964), auxiliary bishop *Reverend Donald Baker (2015-present)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Monicas Church, New York City Gothic Revival church buildings in New York City Roman Catholic churches completed in 1906 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Roman Catholic churches completed in 1955 Religious organizations established in 1879 Roman Catholic churches in Manhattan Schickel & Ditmars church buildings Upper East Side 1879 establishments in New York (state)