The Church of the Epiphany is a parish church of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York City and the count ...

, located at 373 Second Avenue at the corner of East 22nd Street, in the

Gramercy Park Gramercy ParkSometimes misspelled as Grammercy () is the name of both a small, fenced-in private park, and the surrounding neighborhood (which is also referred to as Gramercy), in Manhattan in New York City. The approximately park, located ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It operates a co-educational PreK–8

Catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

and

Religious Education In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to t ...

program.

History

The parish was established in . Its first

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

took place on January 5, 1868, the eve of the Epiphany Feast for which the parish was named. The first church building was designed by

Napoleon LeBrun Napoleon Eugene Charles Henry LeBrun (January 2, 1821 – July 9, 1901) was an American architect. He began his career in Philadelphia designing churches and theatres including St. Augustine's Church, the Cathedral-Basilica of Sts. Peter and Pa ...

, constructed in 1869–1870, and dedicated on April 3, 1870. An errant cigarette burned down the building on December 20, 1963. The current church was designed by Belfatto & Pavarini and built in 1965–1967 for $1,200,000Office for Metropolitan History
, "Manhattan New Buildings Database 1900–1986". Accessed December 25, 2010. ($ in current dollar terms), on the same site as the previous church. The seating is distributed closely around the main altar, supporting the liturgical reforms of

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilic ...

. The stained glass windows incorporate a

Madonna and Child In Christian art, a Madonna () is a religious depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a singular form or sometimes accompanied by the Child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word ...

rescued from the fire. A new, three-manual pipe organ was built by the Delaware Organ Company. In 2000, the ''

AIA Guide to New York City The ''AIA Guide to New York City'' by Norval White, Elliot Willensky, and Fran Leadon is an extensive catalogue with descriptions, critique and photographs of significant and noteworthy architecture throughout the five boroughs of New York City. ...

'' called this church: "the most positive modernist religious statement on Manhattan Island to date." The parochial school was founded in 1888, and currently enrolls over 500 students. Now led by a lay principal and faculty, it was historically staffed 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 dedicate ...

and the

Congregation of Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers (; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice. Their first school opened in Waterford, Ireland in 1802. At the time of its ...

. The original building at 234 East 22nd Street has been joined by 141 East 28th Street (formerly St. Stephen's School) and 152 East 29th Street (Early Childhood Center).The Epiphany School
"Our History"
Accessed October 21, 2019. The current four-story brick rectory was built at 239 East 21st Street in 1936–1937, designed by Robert J. Reiley.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Epiphany Church (New York City) Roman Catholic churches in Manhattan Roman Catholic churches completed in 1870 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1967 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Modernist architecture in New York City Religious organizations established in 1868 1868 establishments in New York (state) Building and structure fires in New York City Church fires in the United States School buildings completed in 1888 Roman Catholic elementary schools in Manhattan Catholic K–8 schools in the United States Sisters of Charity schools Congregation of Christian Brothers schools in the United States Private schools in Manhattan Gramercy Park Second Avenue (Manhattan)

History

References

Further reading

External links