The Church of St. Monica, commonly referred to as St. Monica's, is a parish church in 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 413 East 79th Street,

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. The parish was established in 1879 and in 2015 merged with nearby St. Elizabeth of Hungary 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 boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

, St. Monica's was founded by John Treanor, pastor of the Church of St. Lawrence O'Toole (now the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola). James J. Dougherty was appointed the first pastor, and in 1880 he began conducting

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 ...

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 The Archdiocese of New York () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in 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 of Hungary, St. Stephen of Hungary. 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 wor ...

opened in 1883, operated 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 ...

. The Sisters of St. Francis assumed operations in 1944. After several years of declining enrollment, the school was closed in 1974. The Parish school is now St. Stephen of Hungary School, located just a few blocks away on 408 E 82 St.

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 an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term 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 Jam ...

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

References

External links

* {{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)