St. Peter's Church (Manhattan)

Saint Peter's Church/Our Lady of the Rosary is a Catholic church in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. The current building was constructed from 1836 to 1840 and was designed by John R. Haggerty and Thomas Thomas in the Greek Revival style, with six Ionic columns.[2] The church opened February 25, 1838 with Archbishop John Hughes officiating.[3]

This article is about St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Lower Manhattan. It is not to be confused with St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church at Citigroup Center in Midtown Manhattan.

Saint Peter's Church, Our Lady of the Rosary
(2012)
St. Peter's Church (Manhattan) is located in Lower Manhattan
St. Peter's Church (Manhattan)
St. Peter's Church (Manhattan) is located in New York City
St. Peter's Church (Manhattan)
Location22 Barclay Street,
Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates40.712488°N 74.009501°W / 40.712488; -74.009501
Built1785 (original)
1836–1840 (current structure)[1]
ArchitectJohn R. Haggerty and Thomas Thomas
Architectural styleGreek Revival
WebsiteSt Peter's Church, Our Lady of the Rosary
NRHP reference No.80002721
NYSRHP No.06101.000084
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 23, 1980
Designated NYSRHPJune 23, 1980
Designated NYCLDecember 21, 1965

The parish, part of the Archdiocese of New York, is the oldest Catholic parish in New York State, and the building replaced an earlier one built in 1785–86.[4] The original church was used for worship until 1834 when it was replaced by the present structure.

The church was designated a New York City landmark in 1965[5] and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The present church has been declared a landmark by federal, state and city agencies.

History

Early history

Shortly before, and during the Revolution, Father Ferdinand Steinmeyer, a German Jesuit missionary from Philadelphia, would periodically visit the few scattered Catholics in New York City. Gathering them together, he said Mass in the house of a German fellow-countryman in Wall Street, in a loft in Water Street, and wherever else they could find accommodation.[6]

The merchant and recent New York arrival Dominick Lynch was one of the chief fundraisers for the new church, donating his own money as well as raising funds from his native Galway.[7] A gift of 1,000 silver pieces from King Charles III of Spain through the prominent figures of the Spanish Diego de Gardoqui and D. Francisco de Murillo i Martinez, Count of El Ojuelo, topped off donations to start the construction of the church.[8] Catholics constructing the original church initially tried to locate it on Broad Street, then in the heart of New York City. Due to anti-Catholic sentiments, however, New York City officials implored them to change the location to a site at Barclay and Church Streets, then outside the city limits. The builders relented and accepted the present location. The cornerstone of the original church was laid in 1785 and the first Mass celebrated in 1786.

The 1785 church

Mexican artist Jose Vallejo painted an icon of the Crucifixion[9] and Nunez de Haro, archbishop of Mexico City, gave it to St. Peter parish in 1789; it hung above the main altar.[10] Father William O'Brien, the first pastor, is remembered for his tireless service to the citizens of New York during the yellow fever epidemics of 1795 and 1798. In 1800 the first free Catholic school in New York State was established at St. Peter's.[11] On March 14, 1805, at St. Peter's Church, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton converted from the Episcopal Church to Catholicism. Thereafter, she often prayed before the painting of the Crucifixion above the main altar. The Catholic Church later canonized her, the first native-born United States citizen so honored.

On December 24, 1806, parishioners celebrated the Christmas Eve vigil inside the church building. This Catholic celebration still infuriated some Protestants who viewed it as an exercise in "popish superstition". Protesters tried to disrupt the Mass, and the ensuing melee injured dozens, with one policeman killed.[12]

In October 1836, the cornerstone for a larger St. Peter's Church was laid, and by February 1838 the current structure was built. In addition to Roman Catholic services, from 1899 to 1916 St. Peter's also hosted services in the lower church for Byzantine-rite Syrian and Lebanese Catholics, who during that period did not have their own church.[11] St. Peter's Church is the very first place Fr. Edward Frederick Sorin, founder of the University of Notre Dame, celebrated Mass upon his arrival in America in 1842.

September 11, 2001, attacks

On September 10, 2001, Father Mychal Judge OFM, chaplain for the New York City Fire Department, gave the following sermon at a Mass for New York City firefighters at Engine 73, Ladder 42, in the Bronx:

You do what God has called you to do. You get on that rig, you go out and do the job. No matter how big the call, no matter how small, you have no idea of what God is calling you to do, but God needs you. He needs me. He needs all of us. God needs us to keep supporting each other, to be kind to each other, to love each other... We love this job, we all do. What a blessing it is! It is a difficult, difficult job, but God calls you to do it, and indeed, He gives you a love for it so that a difficult job will be well done. Isn't God wonderful?! Isn't He good to you, to each one of you, and to me? Turn to God each day—put your faith, your trust, your hope and your life in His hands. He'll take care of you, and you'll have a good life. And this firehouse will be a great blessing to his neighborhood and to this city. Amen.[13]

The next day, a portion of an airplane's landing gear struck and damaged the roof of the St. Peter's Church building during the September 11 attacks.[14][15] When debris from the towers killed Fr. Mychal (the first publicly identified casualty of the attacks), surviving firemen brought him from the towers site to St. Peter's and laid his body before the altar.[15] The parish also served as a staging ground for rescue and recovery operations. "We were the first place they were bringing all the emergency equipment. Everything was in disarray," pastor Father Kevin Madigan stated. "Stuff was piled six feet high all over the pews—-bandages, gas masks, boots, hoses and cans of food for the workers and the volunteers, many of whom were sleeping in the church on bedrolls."[15] The same also occurred in the downstairs church.[15]

The interior of the church as it appeared in 1914

Authorities also blocked public access to the parish. The church celebrated Masses occasionally only for the rescue workers and those with credentials to enter. On October 28, 2001, authorities lifted martial law in the area. "That was when we officially celebrated our first Mass after September 11," says Father Madigan. The parish quickly cut the number of Masses from that before the attacks "because the number of people coming was way down. Many who had been coming to mass at St. Peter's or St. Joseph's from the World Trade Center, of course, were not around anymore."[15]

The World Trade Center cross temporarily sat on the Church Street side of St. Peter's until it was moved to the World Trade Center Memorial.[16][17] A new custom cross was commissioned to stand in place, installed on August 11, 2011.[18]

Current status

In August 2015 the St. Peter's parish merged with Our Lady of the Rosary on State Street. St. Peter's is the designated parish church, although Mass and the Sacraments will continue to be celebrated at Our Lady of the Rosary.[19]

Organ

St. Peter's houses a pipe organ built in 1927 by the George Kilgen & Sons company of St. Louis, Missouri. The instrument was enlarged from 37 to 41 ranks of pipes in 1931 by the Kilgen Company. In 2011, Meloni & Farrier Organbuilders completed a restoration, installing solid state combination action and relocating the console to its present location in the rear balcony.[20] As of January 2018, the Director of Music and Organist at Saint Peter's is Marcus Perry Bundy III.

Notable parishioners

References

Notes

  1. White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5., p. 67
  2. "St. Peter's Church – Barclay Street" on Daytonian in Manhattan (July 2, 2010)
  3. "The Albion (New York February 24, 1838), p. 63".
  4. Dunlap, David W. (2004). From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-12543-7., p.242
  5. New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1., p.25
  6. Mooney, Joseph. "Archdiocese of New York." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. June 11, 2020Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. Clarke, Richard H. (1888). "Dominick Lynch". The American Catholic Historical Researches. pp. 73–78. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  8. National Catholic Register: "9/11's Church: St. Peter Catholic Church Has Witnessed Pivotal Points of U.S. History" September 2, 2011
  9. "Spain Supports the American Revolution & New York Welcomes the Spanish"
  10. "St Peters Church" on the Kel-Mar Designs website
  11. "History", St. Peter's Church
  12. Vitello, Paul (October 8, 2010). "In Fierce Opposition to a Muslim Center, Echoes of an Old Fight: First Catholic Church in the City Stirred Fear and Suspicion, in 1785". The New York Times. p. A19. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  13. St. Peter's Church brochure
  14. NYC-Architecture.com
  15. Wintz, Jack (September 2003). "St. Peter's Parish: Death and Resurrection at Ground Zero". American Catholic. Archived from the original on August 22, 2003. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  16. Konigsberg, Eric (October 6, 2006). "Brief Journey for an Icon of the Attack on New York". The New York Times.
  17. "World Trade Center Cross Moves To 9/11 Memorial On Saturday". CBS New York. July 22, 2011. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  18. Krawczyk, Jon (August 11, 2011). "Home". Saint Peter 9-11 Cross official blog. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  19. "Making all things new", November 2, 2014
  20. "Church of St. Peter (Roman Catholic)" New York Chapter American Guild of Organists
  21. Sontag, Deborah (February 23, 1992). "Canonizing a Slave: Saint or Uncle Tom?". The New York Times.
  22. Carson, William J. (May 1969). "What was Billy the Kid's real name?". Real West Magazine.
  23. Transcript of "Certificate of Baptism", Church of St. Peter, Barclay Street, New York. "This is to certify that Patrick Henry McCarthy, child of Patrick and Catherine Devine, born in NY on the 17 day of September 1859, was baptized on the 28 day of September 1859 according to the rite of the Roman Catholic Church, by the Rev. J. Conron. The sponsors being Thomas Cooney and Mary Clark, as appears from the Baptismal Register of this Church."
  24. An image of the Certificate of Baptism was published in Real West magazine, May 1969 in an article entitled: "What was Billy the Kid's real name?", by William J. Carson. It indicates that the person's name was "Patrick Henry McCarthy", not Henry McCarty.
  25. Rasch, Philip J. (January 1965). "Old Problem – New Answers". New Mexico Historical Review. No. 40. p. 66.
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