Mar 2009
A Brief Parish History
09 March 09 09:55 AM | Permalink
Concerned for
some of his faithful who were migrating west into new
territory and would need spiritual sustenance, Bishop
Carroll of Baltimore assigned the recently arrived
Dominican Fathers into this country to that ministry.
The Dominicans permanently settled in Kentucky in
1806, in Washington County. This county and several
others nearby contained large numbers of Irish
Catholics who had decided to establish their families
in an area later to be known as "The Kentucky Holy
Land."
From this pioneering venture, the friars moved to Louisville in 1865, encouraged by the Bishop of Bardstown, the Right Rev. Peter Joseph Lavialle. Differing points of view about the apostolate of the friars and the vacillating support of the bishop and his successor made for tumultuous times. Nonetheless, the local friars rolled up their sleeves and set about building their residence in Louisville, which was originally intended also as a seminary for Dominican aspirants as well as diocesan clerical students. It opened in the fall of 1867. Given the difficulty of raising funds, the decision was made to erect a modest wooden church next to the residence and school building, which in time could be replaced with a more fitting structure. Indeed, on 15 August 1869, the cornerstone was laid for a stone church in English Gothic style.
In due time, the sanctuary was equipped with an appropriate altar and other furnishings, paintings over the arches, bells for the tower, and a large pipe organ [Hilbourne L. Roosevelt builder; 1879. Opus 61, 3 manuals, 22 stops]. Stained glass windows depicted the 15 mysteries of the Rosary. The mainly Irish hard-working parishioners were generous to the church and supported all its development. Not without reason was this section of the city named "Limerick", a name which survives to this day.
By 1890, when the idea of a college-seminary faded into oblivion, work was begun on a residence for the friars, erected on the north side of the church, on the corner of 6th Street and St. Catherine. It was called a "priory" because the superior held the office of prior. Although the building was impressive, the size was more suitable for the number of friars to be housed there. The college building became a parochial school, waxing and waning over the years until it shut its doors permanently in the early 1970's. The population had begun to shift away from the geographical area, but the faithful continued to return to Atheir church for Sunday services.
The religious and social services provided by parishioners under the direction of the friars reached their highest level during the great flood of 1937. On that occasion, displaced residents were housed on the second and third floors of the school: the first had been inundated. A few others lodged in the reception rooms at the priory; having been built on higher ground, the building was out of the water=s grasp. The friars as well as volunteer parishioners saw to the basic needs of the refugees: clothing, bedding, and needed medicine. They even went out by boat here and there to obtain food for the crowd.
When Father John A. Foley became prior and pastor (1942-1951), he undertook a major face-lifting of the church. First, he had a concrete and terrazzo floor poured, imbedding in it hot-water pipes to heat the church, one of the earliest uses of this heating technique in a public building. The sanctuary was embellished with a marble altar covered with an intricately carved oaken baldachino featuring Dominican saints. New oak wall paneling was installed; new matching side altars. The choir loft was lowered several feet; the entrance hall was paneled, and a section separated to provide a more intimate area for the baptismal font. The pipe organ was returned from a workshop where it had undergone refurbishing.
All through the years, the parish thrived because of the devotion of the parishioners who more and more lived long distances from the church but appreciated and applauded the dedication of the friars who ministered to them. Currently, with major repairs to the church, the school, and the priory begun but not completed, the parishioners are again called upon to exercise their stewardship to help maintain an aging building and its basic equipment, especially a church long recognized as one of the most beautiful in the archdiocese.
-- submitted by Fr. George Christian, O.P.
From this pioneering venture, the friars moved to Louisville in 1865, encouraged by the Bishop of Bardstown, the Right Rev. Peter Joseph Lavialle. Differing points of view about the apostolate of the friars and the vacillating support of the bishop and his successor made for tumultuous times. Nonetheless, the local friars rolled up their sleeves and set about building their residence in Louisville, which was originally intended also as a seminary for Dominican aspirants as well as diocesan clerical students. It opened in the fall of 1867. Given the difficulty of raising funds, the decision was made to erect a modest wooden church next to the residence and school building, which in time could be replaced with a more fitting structure. Indeed, on 15 August 1869, the cornerstone was laid for a stone church in English Gothic style.
In due time, the sanctuary was equipped with an appropriate altar and other furnishings, paintings over the arches, bells for the tower, and a large pipe organ [Hilbourne L. Roosevelt builder; 1879. Opus 61, 3 manuals, 22 stops]. Stained glass windows depicted the 15 mysteries of the Rosary. The mainly Irish hard-working parishioners were generous to the church and supported all its development. Not without reason was this section of the city named "Limerick", a name which survives to this day.
By 1890, when the idea of a college-seminary faded into oblivion, work was begun on a residence for the friars, erected on the north side of the church, on the corner of 6th Street and St. Catherine. It was called a "priory" because the superior held the office of prior. Although the building was impressive, the size was more suitable for the number of friars to be housed there. The college building became a parochial school, waxing and waning over the years until it shut its doors permanently in the early 1970's. The population had begun to shift away from the geographical area, but the faithful continued to return to Atheir church for Sunday services.
The religious and social services provided by parishioners under the direction of the friars reached their highest level during the great flood of 1937. On that occasion, displaced residents were housed on the second and third floors of the school: the first had been inundated. A few others lodged in the reception rooms at the priory; having been built on higher ground, the building was out of the water=s grasp. The friars as well as volunteer parishioners saw to the basic needs of the refugees: clothing, bedding, and needed medicine. They even went out by boat here and there to obtain food for the crowd.
When Father John A. Foley became prior and pastor (1942-1951), he undertook a major face-lifting of the church. First, he had a concrete and terrazzo floor poured, imbedding in it hot-water pipes to heat the church, one of the earliest uses of this heating technique in a public building. The sanctuary was embellished with a marble altar covered with an intricately carved oaken baldachino featuring Dominican saints. New oak wall paneling was installed; new matching side altars. The choir loft was lowered several feet; the entrance hall was paneled, and a section separated to provide a more intimate area for the baptismal font. The pipe organ was returned from a workshop where it had undergone refurbishing.
All through the years, the parish thrived because of the devotion of the parishioners who more and more lived long distances from the church but appreciated and applauded the dedication of the friars who ministered to them. Currently, with major repairs to the church, the school, and the priory begun but not completed, the parishioners are again called upon to exercise their stewardship to help maintain an aging building and its basic equipment, especially a church long recognized as one of the most beautiful in the archdiocese.
-- submitted by Fr. George Christian, O.P.