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Our Parish, originally named St. Mary’s, was established in 1902 and at that time, included the boroughs of Harrington Park, Montvale, Old Tappan, Park Ridge River Vale and Woodcliff Lake. The Parish started out as a mission church from St. Andrew’s in Westwood. The Rev. James P. Corridas of St. Andrew’s was also in charge of St. Mary’s.
According to Parish records, Marcelle Chatain was the first person baptized here; the first wedding was between John J. Healey and Lillian Deyo.
In 1903, the old church (Hawthorne Avenue,) was built at a cost of $4,000. Msgr. James T. Delehanty was appointed Pastor in 1908, and on September 8, 1912, Msgr. Andrew Schonhart was appointed Pastor.
In July of 1948, Msgr. Schonhart retired and the Rev. Charles Lillis was appointed Pastor in June 1949. At this time, there were approximately 400 families in the Parish.
In 1951, eight and one-half acres of property were purchased on Fremont Avenue and Pascack Road—the former Gould property—at a cost of $47,500. The home on the property housed two sisters; they were the first teaching sisters at Our Lady of Mercy School.
The first kindergarten class was started in September 1951, and the old garage in the back of the convent became the first classroom. The class numbered twenty-eight pupils. Each year, a grade was added. In 1952, the garage was remodeled with a second story to accommodate the additional class. In 1953, the second grade class, moved over to the basement of the convent and in 1954, the third grade took the living room in the convent as their classroom.
During the school year of 1954-55, a mortgage on the Parish property was obtained for the construction of the school. The school opened in September of 1955 and consisted of nine classrooms, a cafeteria and an auditorium. The school was built at a cost of approximately $289,428, exclusive of the furnishings and architects fees. The first teaching staff consisted of six sisters and four lay teachers.
In September of 1957, Archbishop Boland authorized Father Lillis to proceed with the plans for an eight-room addition to the school. This addition was built behind the original school building, and was completed in time for the beginning of the school year in September.
Then in 1960, Archbishop Boland authorized Father Lillis to proceed with the plans for the construction of a new church. The new church was built on the Parish property during 1960-61, and was officially opened for worship on Christmas Eve, 1961.
The success of our Parish is due to the hard work, prayers and untiring efforts of all the priests and religious who have guided it over the years, and the many parishioners who have given so freely their time, prayers, financial assets, efforts, and support, which are so necessary for its past and continued success.
We sincerely hope that your spiritual experience of our parish is a fruitful one, and that the Lord will bless your days here with His abundant graces.
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AN ARTICLE FROM OUR FALL 2001 PARISH NEWSLETTER
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