Early History of IHM Parish

• IHM Parish was established by Archbishop John F. O’Hara on November 24, 1952

• The Church-School building in Andorra was built on land which had been a part of, and was donated by, the Henry Howard Houston estate

• Reverend Joseph M. Sullivan was named the first Pastor

• The parish began with approximately 253 families, most of whom had belonged to Holy Family parish in Manayunk

• The parish celebrated the Eucharistic Liturgy for the first time on January 11, 1953 (which was the Feast of the Holy Family)

• For the first two years or so, Sunday Mass was celebrated in a little white stuccoed building which was once the local public school (near Shawmont Avenue). This building, which was being used mostly as a neighborhood community center at the time, was leased by the parish from the Andorra Association

• Father Joseph Eisenbarth came over every weekend from Northeast Catholic High School to assist

Father Sullivan with weekend Masses and Confessions

• Father Sullivan celebrated daily Mass in the basement of the original rectory (on Brierdale Road in Andorra), which had been renovated for that purpose by a small group of early parishioners

Building where Sunday Mass was initially celebrated (near Shawmont Ave)

First Mass: January 11, 1953

The Church-School Building

• Ground-breaking for the parish’s first building, a combination church and school connected to a convent, took place on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1953

• The building was designed in a simplified colonial style (red brick with white trim) to harmonize with the historical background of the area as well as the residences in the newly developed neighborhood

Ground-breaking for the Church-School Building: December 8, 1953

The Church-School Building (circa 1954)

The Convent

The Church-School Building

• The first floor of the building contained a chapel to accommodate 723 people, complete with sanctuary, sacristy, and choir platform

• The second floor contained mostly classrooms (nine total) and an office• The building was designed so that when a permanent, separate church was constructed at

some point, the chapel could be readily converted into nine additional classrooms• The basement contained a parish hall with cafeteria and kitchen• During the 1953-54 academic year, the children of the parish continued to attend school

at Holy Family in Manayunk• The first school year (at the current school in Andorra) opened with a Mass celebrated

by Father Sullivan on September 8, 1954 (the Feast of the Virgin Mary’s Birthday) • Total enrollment that first year: 171 (95 boys, 76 girls)

The Sisters of Saint Joseph

• The convent was built to accommodate ten Sisters and contained its own music room, community room, refectory, laundry-sewing room, and chapel with sacristy

• The Mother House of the Sisters of Saint Joseph assigned four highly competent and dedicated teachers to the new school :

Mother Rose Innes served as Superior and teacher to the 7th & 8th gradesSister Charles Regina taught the 5th & 6th gradesSister Paul taught 3rd & 4th grade and trained the Girls’ choir.Sister Clare Alma taught 1st & 2nd grade

• For the first two months of the first year at the new school, while awaiting completion of the convent, the Sisters traveled each day from a convent in Chestnut Hill

Mother Rose Innes Sister Charles Regina

Sister St. Paul Sister Clara Alma

The Church-School Building

• The first Liturgy in the new Church (ie, on the first floor of the Church-School building) was celebrated on December 24, 1954 (since its construction was not completed until that time)

• The Church-School building and the Convent were dedicated by Archbishop John O’Hara on Sunday, June 5, 1955 - the Feast of the Holy Trinity

First Forty Hours devotion: March 29, 1955

IHM’s first First Holy Communion: May 1, 1955

Parish’s first May Procession: May 1, 1955

Archbishop O’Hara blesses the Church-School: June 5, 1955

Girls Choir, 1955

The Current Church

• By 1964, with an increasing number of families within the parish, the decision was

made to build a new, separate Church and convert the first floor chapel of the school

into classrooms

• The enrollment increase by this time had required the school to go to a morning and

an afternoon shift

• The new Church would be of red brick and limestone trim, to seat 1,400

• The Church was dedicated by Archbishop John J. Krol on August 22, 1965

• During the 1965-66 school year, while the first floor chapel in the school building was being renovated for classroom use, classes continued in morning and afternoon shifts

Ground-breaking for the new, permanent Church: July 5, 1964

Construction of the new Church, circa late 1964

Construction of the new Church, circa early 1965

IHM Church (1977)

Parish Staff (circa 1977) Sister Helen, Principal (1977)

Teachers’ Aids, circa 1977

Library Aids, circa 1977

The Choir (1977)

CCD(1977)

Annual IHM Carnival Week (in Spring)

On Wednesday of that week, classes ended in mid-morning so the students could spend the day at the carnival (Best day of the school year!)

• Nearly all information and images were taken from Immaculate Heart of Mary Church Silver Jubilee Book. The book was published by Park Publishing Company in New York, New York, in or around 1977, but the name(s) of the author(s) are not contained within. Credit for all information and images goes to the author(s) of this book which commemorated the first 25 years of the parish.

Dave Cute

IHM ‘82