Church Of The Incarnation, Roman Catholic (Manhattan)
| Church of the Incarnation, Roman Catholic | |
|---|---|
 (2014) | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| Address | 1290 St. Nicholas Avenue |
| Town or city | Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City, New York |
| Country | United States |
| Construction started |
|
| Completed |
|
| Client | Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Masonry stone with limestone trim |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | W. H. Jones (for 1928 church) |
| Website | |
| incarnationnyc | |
The Church of the Incarnation is an American Roman Catholic parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 1290 St. Nicholas Avenue (Juan Pablo Duarte Boulevard) at the corner of 175th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City, New York. The church is known as "the St. Patrick's Cathedral of Washington Heights".
History
The parish "was founded in 1908 by the Rev. P. J. Mahoney, D.D.", the parish's first pastor, formed in response to "…the rapid growth of the city along the Hudson River above 145th Street…". Mass was said in a store until the erection in 1910 of a two-story building, which serves as a school and church. Ground for a church adjoins the school building on the corner of 175th and St. Nicholas Avenue". In 1914, the Rev. Dr. Mahoney was still pastor and was assisted by the Rev. Francis A. Kiniry and Rev. Joseph V. Stanford, the three of whom occupied a recently completed "handsome three-story rectory".
Soon after his arrival in the United States in 1951, Fr. Ivan Illich was made an assistant priest of the parish. He preached under the name of John Illich, at the suggestion of the Parish's pastor, who claimed that the name Ivan "sounded communist". At Incarnation, Illich rose to prominence as an ally of the large Puerto Rican community in Washington Heights, organizing cultural outlets for them, such as the San Juan Fiesta, a celebration of Puerto Rico and its patron saint which eventually evolved into the still-extant Puerto Rican Day Parade. The success of Illich attracted the attention of the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Spellman, eventually resulting in Illich's naming as vice-rector of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico in 1956.
The current pastor is Reverend Edward Russell.
Building
The present Gothic Revival stone buttressed-church with apse was built in 1928 to the designs of W. H. Jones with two small towers.
Internally, the contemporary-with-the-building baldacchino is of white marble and lit by rich stained-glass windows. "At the West End is a large and stunning rose window above the gallery. Twin organ facades with gold pipes face into the gallery from both sides, and additional organ facades are found in the North transept and in the apse".
Incarnation School
The Incarnation School is located at 570 West 175th Street. In 1914, the school which had been built with the church and completed in 1910 was in the charge of two Sisters of Charity of New York and two lay teachers, who oversaw 125 pupils. It was formerly staffed by the De La Salle Christian Brothers.
Among the school's noteworthy graduates have been baseball broadcaster Vin Scully and Theodore E. McCarrick.
References
Notes
- ^ "Church of the Incarnation (Roman Catholic) 1290 St. Nicholas Ave. (Juan Pablo Duarte Boulevard) at 175th St. New York, N.Y. 10033". Archived August 18, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg Together with Some Supplementary Articles on Religious Communities of Women.. (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p. 336.
- ^ Hoinacki, Lee; Mitcham, Carl, eds. (July 2002). The Challenges of Ivan Illich. Albany: SUNY Press. ISBN 9780791454220.
- ^ "Incarnation Parish School". Retrieved May 9, 2011.
- ^ "Vincent E. Scully, Class of 1944".
- ^ "On Background with L.A. Dodgers Broadcast Legend Vin Scully".
- ^ "The Church of the Incarnation: Celebrating 100 years of Prayer and Service 1908–2008: Our History". Archived October 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
External links
- incarnationnyc
.com, the church's official website
