{"id":235,"date":"2010-12-27T07:03:00","date_gmt":"2010-12-27T07:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/12\/%e2%80%9creally-franciscan%e2%80%9d-st-francis-of-assisi-parish-manhattan-1844\/"},"modified":"2010-12-27T07:03:00","modified_gmt":"2010-12-27T07:03:00","slug":"%e2%80%9creally-franciscan%e2%80%9d-st-francis-of-assisi-parish-manhattan-1844","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mcnamarasblog\/2010\/12\/%e2%80%9creally-franciscan%e2%80%9d-st-francis-of-assisi-parish-manhattan-1844.html","title":{"rendered":"\u201cReally Franciscan\u201d: St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Manhattan (1844)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Urban ministry has been part of the Franciscan tradition from the start, and St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan is one of the order\u2019s great success stories. In a neighborhood undergoing constant remakes and changes, the parish has been one of the rare constants. In what is now a business district with very few residents, St. Francis provides an amazing variety of ministries to workers, travelers, visitors of all kinds, and most of all the poor.\n

Its history begins in early 1844, when Father Zachary Kunz, a Hungarian Franciscan, purchased a lot of land at 31st Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. The neighborhood, then known as Bloomingdale, was mainly German. That summer a cornerstone was laid, and as a parish history notes, \u201ca modest but solid little church was erected.\u201d The homily at the dedication Mass was delivered in German. A parochial school was soon established, and in 1866 German Franciscan nuns took charge of it.<\/p>\n

One historian describes the parish\u2019s early history as one of \u201cstruggle and poverty.\u201d Soon English-speaking Catholics attended the church. Some of the first pastors were not Franciscans, but diocesan priests from Germany, and it wasn\u2019t until the Civil War that the parish was officially deemed a Franciscan ministry. According to one history, it was under Father Andrew Pfeiffer that the church \u201cbecame really Franciscan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon, however, this neighborhood would cease to be a neighborhood, but a business center for the growing metropolis. In 1878, a historian of the New York Archdiocese wrote:<\/p>\n

It was well indeed in our great commercial city, where men are so carried away by the insane desire for wealth that they lose religion, honor, and honesty, to have proposed as a model one who, in an age when trade seemed to absorb all minds, renounced the wealth of his father, a merchant prince of his day, and all the flattering future before him, to become poor and humble for Christ\u2019s sake.
<\/em>
In 1878, a historian wrote: \u201cThe congregation is not by any means a large one, nor does it number many on whom Providence has showered wealth.\u201d But the present church building was erected in 1892, with four new bells (named Immaculate, St. Francis, St. Clare, and Angelus Domini.)<\/p>\n

Ironically, by the turn of the century, as the number of parishioners declined, the \u201clittle church among the skyscrapers\u201d expanded its ministries. In March 1904, Father Eusebius Schlingmann, the pastor, introduced what became known as the \u201cNightworkers\u2019 Mass,\u201d which was celebrated at 2 a.m. Three years later, St. Francis parish introduced a noon Mass (the first in America) for working people.<\/p>\n

St. Francis became a pioneer in urban ministry. It introduced the the notion of the \u201cservice church\u201d ministering to workers, shoppers and commuters.During the 1920\u2019s, Father Anselm Kennedy instituted the practice of hearing confessions throughout the day. This practice still continues, and is one of the parish\u2019s most significant ministries. During the 1930\u2019s, regular visitors to the confessional included Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day.<\/p>\n

In September 1930, at the start of the Great Depression, Brother Gabriel Mehler began the St. Francis Breadline to feed the urban poor. Eighty years later, it\u2019s the oldest continually-running breadline in the country, daily feeding nearly three hundred people. Father Michael Carnevale, the breadline\u2019s current director, says of this ministry: \u201cIt is our responsibility as Franciscans to respond to God\u2019s poor and needy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1959, the New York Times<\/em> referred to St. Francis as \u201cone of the world\u2019s busiest Roman Catholic churches.\u201d This is truer than ever. Although the parish school closed years ago, adult education courses attract people citywide. Nine daily Masses are well attended, and the confessional always has a line. There are a variety of support groups, and a successful ministry to Asian Catholics. In the wake of 9\/11, St. Francis was a rallying point for the nation as it celebrated the life and ministry of Father Mychal Judge.<\/p>\n

The motto of the Franciscan order is Pax et Bonum<\/em>, \u201cpeace and good.\u201d Over eight hundred years ago, Francesco di Bernardone walked the streets of Assisi singing God\u2019s praises and performing works of mercy. Today his friars provide a spiritual haven in a busy city where life and work can be overwhelming. In a place where it\u2019s very easy to get caught up in the craziness of the day, they offer New Yorkers God\u2019s peace and perform numerous works of good. <\/p><\/div>\n

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The above line drawing of the church is from 1878. It appeared in a book titled<\/em> The Catholic Churches of New York City. <\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Urban ministry has been part of the Franciscan tradition from the start, and St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan is one of the order\u2019s great success stories. In a neighborhood undergoing constant remakes and changes, the parish has been one of the rare constants. 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