History of the Church of the Assumption
written for the 90th Anniversary
2001
|
From the so-called “Italian Colony” that in
1901 settled in the hamlet of Tuckahoe, the Mission Church of the Assumption
was born. At that time the faithful Italian immigrant population
came from the Immaculate Conception Church in Tuckahoe.
The Assumption church saw the light of day
more than 90 years ago and became an independent working parish under the
leadership of its newly-designated pastor, the Rev. Vincent Lojacono.
On March 5, 1911, Father Lojacono, celebrated the first Mass for some 250
natives of Tuckahoe in the Lyceum Building. On June 10th the parish
was incorporated by the State of New York.
Construction of the church itself began on July 16, 1911, by the local residents and entirely of Tuckahoe stone, on four lots on Pleasant Avenue, deeded by Charles and Pauline Harrison. Msgr. John Edwards, Vicar General of the Diocese of New York, officiated at the laying of the cornerstone on Sunday, August 20, 1911. Holy Mass was celebrated in the new Church of the Assumption for the first time on Sunday, December 24, 1911, and on that Christmas night the first Midnight Mass was sung by Father Lojacono, assisted by the priests from New York. The church was formally dedicated on October 12, 1912. The parishioners flocked to Depot Square to greet the diocesan dignitaries, headed by the Right Reverend Monsignor Dennis McMahon and to escort them to the church in a procession led by the Tuckahoe Liberty Band. Father Lojacono, assisted by Father Philip Leone as Deacon and Father Santo Zuccaro as Sub-deacon, celebrated the Solemn Mass that followed. At the organ was the celebrated New York pianist and organist, Signor Giovanni Fontana. Following the services, the parish was host to the clergy and civic officials at a dinner at the Hotel Gramatan. During 1912, Father Lojacono officiated at
109 baptisms, and 15 marriages in the Assumption Church. In January
1913 the parish property was enlarged by the acquisition of two lots southeast
of the church, on Wallace Street.
In 1913 the ladies of the parish formed the first parochial organization, the Society of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Mrs. Rachele Celestino, the first president, and Mrs. Silvia Tortolani, the first vice-president both headed the society for over 50 years. Father Lojacono acquired additional property in 1918: the purchase of five lots due south on Pleasant Avenue. In September of 1918 the parish mourned the passing at the age of 76 of John Cardinal Farley, during whose episcopate the Assumption Church had been established. He was succeeded as Archbishop of New York by the Most Reverend Patrick J. Hayes. It was circa 1924 that a new structure was added to the church area on Pleasant Avenue, the Assumption Hall, constructed by the men of the parish under the supervision of Father Lojacono. Entrance to the recreation hall was on its north side, the Pleasant Avenue stairway being added later. Shortly after its completion, the hall was used by parishioners for wedding receptions, by the local Sons of Italy Lodge for its bazaars, and by the other local organizations for dances and various recreational pursuits. On August 4, 1928, Father Lojacono officiated at his last baptism as pastor of the Church of the Assumption. The seventeen years of his pastorate, during which he had been assisted by the Rev. Luigi Barretta, Rev. Paul Marini, Rev. Dominic Passaniti and Rev. Ralph DelVicario, had witnessed the founding of a new church for the Italian Americans of Tuckahoe and Eastchester, and the growth of a parish whose members were to couple an exemplary loyalty to their new home in America with a sense of ancestral pride in their old world heritage. |
|||||||||||||||||
|
On Sunday, August 12, 1928 a new pastor greeted
his flock with an inspiring talk, dedicating himself to the work of the
parish and stressing his particular interest in the younger elements.
He was the Rev. Severino Focacci, who had completed eight years as assistant
at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, the Bronx. During his pastorate,
Father Focacci was responsible for extensions to both the church and the
rectory. The sanctuary was designed in cupola fashion, and a new
main altar of imported Italian marble, of Roman Byzantine architecture,
was installed, as well as two side altars. Patrick Cardinal Hayes
blessed these on Sunday, October 6, 1929.
In 1929 the Children of Mary Sodality, whose
members also comprised the first church choir, was organized.
On Sunday, January 3, 1932 the Rev. Michael
Maresca assumed the duties of pastor for an interim period of approximately
17 months. Father Maresca had served for 20 years in the priesthood
in Italy before emigrating to the United States. On his arrival here
he was assigned first to the Old St. Patrick’s Church, New York and then
to Tuckahoe.
On May 20, 1933 the Rev. Denis Q. Blake, age
34 and of Irish ancestry, arrived as pastor of Assumption Church, a sizable
group of whose parishioners spoke only the Italian language. This
seemingly incongruity was dispelled forthwith for the new pastor was fluent
in the language and well versed in the mores of the people of Italy.
Father Blake, a native of New York City, had attended Fordham Preparatory
School and Fordham College, receiving the B.A. Degree there in 1919.
He studied for the priesthood at the North American College in Rome and
at St. Joseph’s Seminary here. Following his ordination in 1925,
he served eight years as assistant at the Church of the Sacred Hearts of
Jesus and Mary, New York, before coming to Tuckahoe. In the months
that followed, a new surge of activity took place in the parish as the
church societies sponsored a multitude of fund-raising affairs. There
were dinner dances, card parties, minstrel shows and basketball games in
the Assumption Hall and elsewhere in the community.
In 1936 the Assumption Church celebrated the
completion of a quarter of a century. In preparation for the Silver
Jubilee, the church had been repainted and redecorated, and on Sunday,
December 6, 1938 for the first time the parishioners saw the church in
its new splendor. On that day Father Blake was celebrant of the Solemn
Mass of Thanksgiving. In the evening a reception for parishioners
was held in the Assumption Hall. On Tuesday, the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception, a Solemn Mass was sung by a choir of 75 girls from the elementary
and junior high public schools.
In 1939 a custom was revived which had had
its origins in the first years of the parish. This was the procession
during the Feast of the Assumption the Rosary was recited in a public display
of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Highlighting the procession
was ornately decorated floats depicting religious scenes. Ten years
later, for the first time, the statue of the Blessed Virgin was borne on
a flower-bedecked float through the village.
The United States prepared for the worst and
held a National Draft Lottery in 1940 to which the Assumption men responded
in force. On December 7, 1941 the United States necessarily became
a participant in World War II and it was the beginning of a sad era for
the parish. The first casualty from this area in World War II focused
the sorrowful attention of the village and town on the Assumption Parish.
This was the death of Joseph C. LaManna on September 10, 1942 in the crash
of an Air Force training plane in Ocilla, Georgia. A scant two months
later, on November 8, the second Assumption boy, Joseph Stasionis, died
in action in North Africa.
A score of Assumption servicemen were to pay
the supreme sacrifice in the four corners of the world. The Assumption
Parish today reveres the sainted memory of these young men:
On May 8, 1945 the war was over in Europe and on August 15 hostilities ended in the Pacific. A grateful parish welcomed home wave after wave of veterans returning from Germany and Okinawa, Italy and the Philippines, Paris and Tokyo, Panama, the Aleutians and India. It was inevitable that there would be a marital upsurge; the first post-war year of 1946 saw a record 42 weddings take place at the Assumption Church. In June 1945 the parish celebrated with Father
Blake in observing the twentieth anniversary of his ordination. In
January 1946 the church was redecorated and in 1947 the parish acquired
two lots adjacent to the church, due north on Pleasant Avenue.
After 14 years as pastor of the Assumption
Church, the time had come on Sunday, August 24, 1947 for Father Blake to
bid farewell to his flock. The following day he took leave of the
parish and the village that he averred would always be to him “the garden
spot of the universe” and took up his new pastoral duties at the Church
of St. Martin of Tours, the Bronx. There on December 13, 1954, he
was to be elevated by Pope Pius XII to the rank of Domestic Prelate with
the title Right Reverend Monsignor.
Father Blake’s successor at the Church of the
Assumption was the Rev. Joseph A. Vitanza. A native of New York City, Father
Vitanza studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph’s Seminary and after his
ordination in 1930 was assigned to the Church of St. Joseph, New Rochelle.
He served as assistant in various parishes from New York to Beacon to Staten
Island. On October 27, 1945 he was appointed to the Church of St. Ann on
Staten Island, serving as assistant there until he was promoted to the
pastorate of the Assumption Church in Tuckahoe.
Under Father Vitanza’s leadership a host of
improvements and modernization projects were undertaken in the church,
in the parish hall and in the outdoor area. The Assumption Hall underwent
a major renovation with a new, lower ceiling and knotty pine walls installed.
Outdoors a garage was built adjacent to the rectory, the parking plaza
was resurfaced, buttresses added to the hall to fortify its south wall,
and a reinforcing and retaining wall built along Pleasant Avenue.
The wall was built entirely of stone by the men of the Assumption Parish.
In May of 1952 the Rev. Nicholas F. Milazzo
joined the Assumption parish as an associate priest to Father Vitanza.
Father Milazzo was ordained on May 14, 1952 and his first assignment was
the Assumption Church in Tuckahoe. He had studied at Cathedral College
and St. Joseph’s Seminary. His tenure at Assumption was from May
1952 to February 1954 at which time he was transferred to Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel Church in the Bronx and then on to St. Anne’s in Ossining until
his present assignment at St. Anthony’s in the Bronx.
On May 30, 1953 the first native son of the
Assumption Parish to enter the Priesthood was ordained by Cardinal Spellman
at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He is the Rev. Joseph S. Cusma, son of
the late Mr. & Mrs. Salvatore Cusma. The parish rejoiced for
the second year in a row with the ordination on May 14, 1954 of the second
Assumption parishioner, the Rev. John T. Servodidio, son of the late Mr.
& Mrs. Pasquale Servodidio. Also ordained on May 14, 1954 was
the Rev. Anthony L. Maltese who was assigned to the Church of the Assumption,
Tuckahoe on May 29th.
In June 1955, Father Vitanza observed the Silver
Jubilee of his ordination. Following a Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving,
the parish honored the Assumption pastor at a testimonial dinner at the
Parkway Casino, Tuckahoe, at which the Most Rev. Joseph M. Pernicone, Auxiliary
Bishop of New York, was guest of honor.
After more than eight years as pastor of the
Assumption Church, Father Vitanza, as did his predecessors, bade a sad
farewell to his flock, leaving with a multitude of good works, both spiritual
and material. On that same day, after six years as first administrator
and later pastor of Our Lady of Pity Church, Staten Island, the Rev. Charles
Rosselli received a birthday present - the pastorate of the Church of the
Assumption, Tuckahoe.
An intensified schedule of fund-raising affairs
was begun almost immediately to liquidate the church debt, an endeavor
in which the parishioners were to give unstintingly of their time and talents.
In less than two years the debt of $45,000 was removed and for the first
time in its history, the Church of the Assumption was financially in the
clear. At the same time the Rosary Altar Society was established
and the Sodality branches were reorganized to meet the arising needs of
the parish.
During the months that followed, an extensive
renovation and beautification program was undertaken which was to affect
in the church a virtually new interior. The old wooden floors were
replaced with terrazzo throughout the church, sacristies and the first
floor of the rectory. Parishioners donated new pews as memorials.
The old church bell (currently undergoing extensive renovations), rung
by two generations of parishioners, was replaced by an electrically operated
system of carillon bells. These new bells were by Mrs. Michelina
Orlandi in memory of her husband Alfred Orlandi.
In addition, new heating, plumbing, electrical
and lighting systems were installed for the benefit and comfort of the
parishioners. The complete modernization project, in the church,
rectory and outdoor area, undertaken between 1958 and 1959 at a total cost
of $225,000, was accomplished with current revenues and without incurring
a new debt. During this period of renovation all services were conducted
in the Assumption Hall. A dream of almost a half-century germinated
in the Summer of 1958 when negotiations were concluded for the purchase
by the Assumption Parish of the former Main Street School at a price of
$110,000. In March of the following year, over one hundred men participated
in a fund-raising campaign that realized a fifth of a million dollars in
pledges for the newly created Assumption School and Convent. The
school was administered by the Religious Teachers Filippini.
Sister Ester D’Allessio was its first principal. On September
14, 1959 the school began operations with a kindergarten, first and second
grades in temporary quarters. At the same time, the school building
and convent were reconstructed from the shell of the former Main Street
School, and on November 6, 1960 were blessed and dedicated by Francis Cardinal
Spellman.
In 1961, The Rev. Anthony L. Maltese observed
the seventh anniversary of his assignment as assistant at the Church of
the Assumption. Father Maltese had been educated in the public schools
of New York City and at St. Ann’s School, which is staffed by the Religious
Teachers Filippini, where he graduated in 1942. He attended Cathedral
College and upon his graduation in 1948 entered St. Joseph’s Seminary.
Following his ordination by Cardinal Spellman at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
on May 14, 1954, he was appointed as assistant at the Assumption Church,
Tuckahoe.
On November 5, 1961, the golden jubilee of
the Assumption Parish was celebrated with a Solemn Pontifical Mass offered
by Archbishop Maguire. On that afternoon the 50th anniversary celebration
was climaxed with the Golden Jubilee Banquet at Westchester Town House,
Yonkers, at which Bishop Maguire was guest of honor. Alfred Cavuoto
narrated episodes and anecdotes of interest in the history of the parish.
The St. Cecilia Choral Society rendered an interesting musical program
for the occasion. Church trustees at the time were Joseph Ciricleo
and Joseph Amato. Two years later the parish and the community marveled
at the magnificent new pipe organ installed in the church at a cost of
$25,000 donated as memorials by parishioners.
The Assumption School added a new grade each
year until the full kindergarten through 8th grade complement was reached
in September 1965. On June 26, 1966, 21 graduates received the first
Assumption School diplomas. In September of that year, Sister Anne
Amato succeeded Sister Ester as principal. Sister Helen Rado, became
principal in September 1969 and was followed in September 1975 by Sister
Tomasina Moffo. Regretfully the Assumption School closed in the late
1970’s due to declining enrollment.
Assumption girls who joined the Religious Teachers
Filippini are Sister Carolyn Houck and Sister Joan DiRienzo. They
had been preceded into the religious life by Carmela Russo (Sister Maria
San Giovanni, Helpers of the Holy Souls), Eleanor Volpe (Sister Joseph
Corde, Maryknoll Society) and Sister Josephine Scrima (Daughters of the
Heart of Mary).
On March 26,1969, the Rev. Francis Esposito
became pastor of the Assumption Church; his canonical installation was
conducted on April 20th by Bishop Pernicone. Under his leadership
the school debt was liquidated in a few years. The main altar in
the church underwent a major reconstruction to conform to the new liturgy,
the existing marble utilized expertly to fashion the present altar.
The sanctuary as well was given a new look. During the eight years
of his pastorate the Rev. Monsignor Francis Fata assisted him. Father Fata
was instrumental in serving the large number of Italian speaking parishioners
by offering mass every Sunday at 8:30am in their native language.
He was appointed associate pastor during Fr. Esposito’s tenure.
Father Fata is especially remembered for his
piety, humility and his love of the parishioners of the Assumption.
His humility was demonstrated when he was named “Monsignor” while in Italy
but retained the title of Father when he arrived in America. He was
truly a priest’s priest. In the months that followed the church sponsored
a number of additional fund-raising affairs in support of the Assumption
School. Father (Monsignor) Fata took the lead in running the weekly
BINGO Fund Raisers. He devoted many hours in support of this program
that generated additional revenues to finance the ongoing expenditures
of the school.
On September 23, 1978, the Rev. Ronald Ciaravolo,
arrived as Administrator of the Church of the Assumption and was named
pastor in June 1981, succeeding the Rev. Francis Esposito. Following
his ordination on May 31, 1958 Father Ciaravolo attended the University
of Puerto Rico for four months and in September of that year received his
first assignment as associate pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in
the Bronx. In 1963, he became associate pastor of St. Patrick’s’ Old Cathedral
on Mulberry Street in Manhattan. During that assignment, he also
served as professor of Christian History in the Department of History and
Literature of Religions at the Washington Square College of Arts and Science
of New York University. Additionally, he served as director of the
PAL Mulberry Youth Center and director of the CETA Summer Youth Employment
program. In 1976, Father Ciaravolo was named by Cardinal Cooke as
pastor of Holy Rosary Church in East Harlem, before coming to Tuckahoe.
In the months that followed with his background
as a former theology teacher at NYU Father Ciaravolo instituted an adult
theology and scripture class. The sessions met every Thursday evening
and attracted a large group of parishioners from several Westchester parishes.
During his tenure at the Assumption Church Father Ciaravolo served as a
member of the Tuckahoe Village Board of Ethics and as Chaplain of the Eastchester
Fire Department and the Rev. John A. Keogh Council, Knights of Columbus.
On May 31, 1983 Father Ciaravolo observed the
25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood at a concelebrated
Jubilee Mass of Thanksgiving. The Most Rev. Joseph M. Pernicone,
Auxiliary Bishop of New York presided and the homilist was the Rev. Neil
A. Conolly, Episcopal Vicar of the South Bronx. Following the Jubilee
Mass, the parish honored Father Ciaravolo at a dinner-dance at the San-Roc
Restaurant, Hastings-on-Hudson.
The spirit of the early parishioners was still
apparent on May 17, 1986 when Cardinal O’Connor went to the Assumption
Church to celebrate it’s 75th Anniversary. More than 400 enthusiastic
parishioners gathered for the afternoon Mass at which 40 children were
either confirmed or received their First Communion. In addition,
four adult converts also received their First Communion and were confirmed.
Father Ciaravolo, the pastor, and Father (Monsignor)
Francis Fata, associate pastor, concelebrated the Mass with Cardinal O’Connor.
Father Ciaravolo welcomed the Cardinal and recapped the history of the
parish stressing that the Assumption Church was built because there was
a need for the Italian immigrants to hear the Word of God in their own
language. He stated the church was built by mothers and fathers, rock by
rock. Father Ciaravolo turned to the crowd and congratulated all
the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren for their support of
the Assumption Church and stated: “What you are shows what they did”.
The Cardinal received two gifts. The
children of the parish presented him with a statue of the Blessed Virgin.
The vestments the Cardinal wore were made in Belgium for the occasion of
the Anniversary Mass and carried an inscription from Assumption Parishioners.
The Cardinal was extremely grateful for these gifts and expressed a special
unity with the parish because both the Assumption and St. Patrick’s Cathedral
were built with the same kind of stone. Before he left for the day,
the Cardinal told the crowd that he sometimes misses the intimacy of a
small parish. He said that while he has attended Confirmations all
over the world, never had the children been prepared better. “The
people here have a sense of the presence of God.” he said.
In June 1992 after almost 14 years as pastor
of the Assumption Church Father Ciaravolo bid farewell to his congregation.
A reception was held at the Greek Orthodox Recreation Center in New Rochelle
to honor him in recognition of his good works both spiritual and material.
The Assumption Choir under the direction of Mr. Alex Perlov entertained
the guests with a musical program.
By 1993, recognizing no great need for a separate
Italian parish in the area, the Church of the Assumption became united
under the one pastor of Immaculate Conception, under the leadership of
Rev. Monsignor Anthony Maltese. Ironically the Assumption Church
was Monsignor Maltese’s first assignment as assistant and he held a special
place in his heart for the family of the Assumption. In 1954 Monsignor
Maltese got his first assignment as associate pastor of the Assumption
Church. He stayed at Assumption for eight years and at Immaculate
Conception Church in nearby Irvington for another five. In 1967 it
marked a turning point, he was elected to Senate of Priests, and he spent
the next eight years serving as a teacher and an administrator in various
locations. At one point, he was a director of Maria Regina High School
in Hartsdale. He became pastor of the Church of St. Lucy in the Bronx
in 1975, where he stayed for 10 years. In 1983, he was named an honorary
prelate to Pope John Paul II. Cardinal O’Connor appointed Monsignor
Maltese pastor of the Immaculate Conception Church in Tuckahoe in 1983.
Ten years later, Monsignor Maltese became pastor of the Assumption Church
as well.
In the months and years that followed Monsignor
Maltese was instrumental in providing the needed guidance to make the Assumption
Church a self-sufficient working parish. He was responsible for the
creation of the Assumption Parish Council whose present members are: Peter
Borducci, Bruce Calby, Robert D’Agostino, Mary Liucci, Pamela Carneiro,
Mary Tortolani, Angelina Buzzurro, Jim Celestino, Deborah Goldman, Nicholas
Ruffalo, Robert Sticca and Georgiene Walsh. Monsignor Maltese recognizing
the need to monitor the finances of the church appointed the Assumption
Parish Finance Committee whose current members are: Jim Celestino, Robert
Sticca and Pamela Carneiro. As the months passed Monsignor Maltese
recognized the need to improve the liturgy at the 8:30 Mass on Sunday which
lacked music. He contracted a cantor and organist who greatly enhanced
the holy sacrifice of the Mass. Monsignor Maltese was also responsible
for encouraging parishioners to get involved in the spiritual aspect of
the church by participating in any of the following ministries: Lectors,
Eucharist Ministers, Ushers Committee, Liturgy Committee, and Facilities
Committee.
Monsignor Maltese was responsible for the Hospitality
Sunday Program that currently exists at the Assumption Church on the first
Sunday of each month. After the Sunday morning Masses a reception
is held in the Father Fata Memorial Hall. The Hospitality Committee
headed by Mary Tortolani graciously serve coffee and cake to the parish
family of the Assumption along with the best of conversation. This
has been an extremely successful program and has helped us fill the church
pews once again. At the suggestion of Monsignor Maltese to the Parish
Council the Assumption Hall was renamed the Father Fata Memorial Hall in
memory of Father (Monsignor) Francis Fata for his many years of dedication
to the church especially as the coordinator of the BINGO program.
In 1995 Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Ciricleo generously
donated $75,000 to the Church of the Assumption and an additional $75,000
to the Immaculate Conception Church. Monsignor Maltese recognized
the need to beautify the interior of the Assumption Church and with the
generosity of the Ciricleo’s he planned the renovation project. The
interior of the church was painted, pews refurbished, altar renovated,
and air-conditioning installed. The renovation took approximately 2 months
and services were conducted in the Father Fata Hall until the project was
completed. A plaque is in the rear of the church recognizing Mr.
& Mrs. Joseph Ciricleo for their generous donation toward the restoration
of the Assumption Church.
The Assumption Parishioners are especially grateful to Monsignor
Maltese for his love and devotion to our parish family. It was through
his efforts and perseverance that the doors of the Assumption Church were
to remain open. We the family of the Assumption shall never forget
his loyalty to us and especially to all the faithful Italians who immigrated
to Tuckahoe who brought this once mission church to its great heights.
On June 15, 1997 the parish families of the
Assumption and Immaculate Conception Churches mourned the passing of our
beloved Monsignor Anthony Maltese. In recognition for his accomplishments
a plaque has been placed on the altar in grateful appreciation for his
years of service as Pastor and as Associate Pastor, specifically recognizing
him for renovating the interior of the Assumption Church.
|
Based on an article prepared by: James F. Celestino - Chairperson, Church of the Assumption Finance Committee
References: 1911-1961 -
Golden Jubilee Journal prepared by the late Alfred Cavuoto and 1961-1976
- 65th Anniversary Journal.
1976-1993 - Sr. Margurita - Archives
at Dunwoodie
1993-2000 - Priests at Assumption
and Immaculate Conception
