St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, also known as Old St. Mary's, is a historic church in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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. It is located in the

Society Hill Society Hill is a historic neighborhood in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 6,215 . Settled in the early 1680s, Society Hill is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Philadelphia.The Center ...

neighborhood at 248 S. Fourth Street between

Spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

and

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Streets. Commonly referred to as "Old Saint Mary's", it opened in 1763 and was the second Catholic church in Philadelphia, after Old Saint Joseph's. It is still an active parish of the

Archdiocese of Philadelphia The Archdiocese of Philadelphia () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia originally included all of Pennsylvania and Dela ...

, with Masses held on Saturdays at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m. The current pastor is Paul A. DiGirolamo, J.C.D. The church is twinned with Holy Trinity Church at 6th and Spruce Streets, which serves as a worship site of St. Mary and which has Masses on holy days at 12 noon.

History

Old Saint Mary's was established as a more spacious worship site for Old Saint Joseph's, a block away. Old Saint Joseph's had started as a chapel in a residence because public celebration of Catholic Mass was illegal at the time. In 1757, a larger church was built on the site of Old Saint Joseph's in Willings Alley; but six years later, Old St. Mary's was erected on a site which included room for a Catholic cemetery. St. Mary's and Old St. Joseph's remained a single parish until 1830. It was at St. Mary's, in 1782, that the first parish school connected to a Catholic church in America was opened."Old St. Mary's Catholic Church", Visit Philadelphia
/ref> An interparochial school remains connected with the parish to this day. Members of the Continental Congress and other public figures attended services on occasion at the church since it was the city's most prominent Catholic church at the time. Among them were

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

and

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

, who observed that the visual and musical splendor of the church encompassed "everything that can lay hold of eye, ear, and imagination, everywhere which can charm and bewitch the simple and ignorant," adding, "I wonder how Luther ever broke the spell." In 1810, after Philadelphia had been made a diocese, St. Mary's was named the cathedral, a role in which it continued until 1838, when St. John the Evangelist Church superseded it. Under the first three bishops of the diocese, the trustees of St. Mary's were frequently at odds with the bishops; the disputes finally culminated in the temporary closure of the church in 1831 by Bishop

Francis Patrick Kenrick Francis Patrick Kenrick (December 3, 1796 or 1797 – July 8, 1863) was an Irish-born Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Philadelphia (1842–1851) and Archbishop of Baltimore (1851–1863). Kenrick grew up in Ireland, where he received ...

, after which the disputes finally subsided.

Interior and architecture

The church was renovated in 1963, but many of the earlier features were retained, including an 18th-century baptismal font and the ''

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'' of Bishop

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from 1820, when the church served as the diocesan cathedral. Chandeliers that were originally installed in

Independence Hall Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were debated and adopted by the Founding Fathers of ...

have also been kept in the renovated building. The façade is of brick in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

style and the interior of the church features a balcony and choir loft, which extends around three sides of the building, to either side of the altar in the front."Old St. Mary's Church & Cemetery", Independence Hall Association
/ref> Above the main door, on the exterior wall, in an alcove, is a statue of Mary, after whom the parish is named. The ceiling features a fresco of Mary's Assumption and stained glass windows, some reaching a height of two stories. The original architect of the church was Charles Johnson.

Education

The church's designated parochial grade school is St. Mary Interparochial Grade School. - The pag
current as of 2020/04/22
links to
report on the grade school
/ref>

Cemetery

The churchyard dates from 1759. Its cemetery was enlarged by adding an extra layer of soil to the ground level following the

Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 During the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, 5,000 or more people were listed in the register of deaths between August 1st and November 9th. The vast majority of them died of yellow fever, making the epidemic in the city of 50,000 peop ...

Notable interments

Commodore John Barry John Barry (March 25, 1745 – September 13, 1803) was an Irish-born American naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War and in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War. He has been credited by some ...

(1745–1803), father of the

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* Michael Bouvier (1792–1874), cabinetmaker and great-great-grandfather of

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* James Campbell (1812–1893), Postmaster General of the United States *

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(1726–1793), Alsatian counselor to King

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who led refugees from the French Revolution to the United States *

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(1760–1839), publisher and pamphleteer *

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(1741–1811), delegated to the

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(1741–1808), merchant and grandfather of General

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(1778–1828), merchant and father of General Meade * Richard Worsam Meade II (1807–1870), US Navy captain *

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(1737–1811), military commander in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

* Manuel Torres (1762–1822), first ambassador of

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to the United States * Philippe Charles Tronson du Coudray (1738–1777),

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army officer who volunteered his services to the Continental Army

References

External links

* - Old St. Mary Church and Holy Trinity Church
Saint Mary Interparochial SchoolSaint Mary's Catholic Churchyard
at Find a Grave * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Saint 1763 establishments in Pennsylvania 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Former cathedrals in the United States Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia Roman Catholic cathedrals in Pennsylvania Roman Catholic churches completed in 1763 Roman Catholic churches in Philadelphia Society Hill, Philadelphia