New York City’s First Spanish-Speaking Parish

By the end of February, 1902, a few weeks before his death, Archbishop Corrigan designated the Rt. Rev. J. Mooney, Vicar-General for the dedication of the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, at 229 West 14th Street. This new church was intended for all the Spanish-speaking Catholics of the city of New York, numbering perhaps over 45,000, who were entrusted to the care of the Augustinians of the Assumption. The religious services on Sundays and week-days have ever since been conducted regularly in Spanish and English. The fathers attached to the Spanish church have taken the task to heart. From the very beginning they have started the publication of a Spanish monthly El Calendario Mensual, which is the official organ of the parish. They administer all the sacraments of the church to the Spanish Catholics; they visit the sick in their homes or in the hospitals, and those in prison. They prepare children for their first Holy Communion, and keep the young from Protestant institutions.

Among the most interesting feature of the missionary work done by the father in charge of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we should mention that confessions are heard every day and at any time, a great advantage for the Spanish Catholics who are scattered all over the large city. Some come a long distance to the dear church, to find there a priest speaking their tongue, and they know they may come at any time to set their soul in peace with God, to have their marriage blessed, their babies christened, and their dead buried with the consoling prayers of the Church. Furthermore, from the beginning, the Holy Rosary is recited every day at the evening service, and the exercise is concluded with the benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The services in the Spanish church are well attended. The number of confessions and communions is increasing every day.

The “Auxiliary Society of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” now enlarged into a regular Spanish Settlement-house, located at 251 West 14th Street, was established at the very start, to look after the interest of the destitutes, especially to preserve young and inexperienced girls from the dangers of a large city, to give religious instruction to neglected children and adults, to find employment for those who come to these shores to fight the hard struggle for life. This institution answers a great need of the day, and is greatly appreciated and patronized by the Spanish population of New York. The church of Our Lady of Guadalupe has passed successively under the rectorship of Rev. Thomas Darbois, D.D., 1902-1907, Rev. Adrian Buisson, 1907-1909, Rev. Stephen Chaboud, D.D., to the present day. The rector is assisted by eight fathers.

The Catholic Church in the United States (1914)