It’s 50 years and
counting at OLC

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

February will mark 50 years since Monsignor George Wierzalis — Father George to those who knew him — founded Our Lady of Calvary Church at 11024 Knights Road.
It was on Feb. 21, 1958 that the Catholic Standard and Times announced the "foundation of a new parish in Torresdale."
The church had its roots in St. Michael’s mission church, on the old Red Lion Road (now Knights Road). It was founded in 1922 and attended by the priests of St. John Cantius in Bridesburg. The mission church took the name Our Lady of Calvary in 1956.
Wierzalis, a decorated war veteran, had been the rector of St. Mary’s Church in Ringtown, a Schuylkill County borough, before being installed as pastor at OLC.
The pastor — known for starting his homilies with "My dear people" — led one current-day parishioner to recall that Wierzalis’ words "sounded as if you were hearing the voice of God himself."
Cardinal John O’Hara originally instructed Wierzalis to plan parish facilities for a maximum of 800 families. At the time, the population was 2,371, according to a parish history, The First Forty Years, by Anthony Zecca.
OLC’s current pastor, Father John Paul, recalled the early days of the congregation.
"The church began as a Polish mission. A lot were starting to move out this way," said the pastor, who succeeded Monsignor John Gillespie in 2000.
Young families flocked to the booming Torresdale area, as farmland was quickly transformed to street after street of single, row and twin homes in the Far Northeast section of the city.
OLC’s original boundaries included what in 1962 would become St. Anselm’s parish, and St. Martha’s parish in 1966. Today the boundaries are the Poquessing Creek to Waldemire Drive and Red Lion Road to Woodhaven Road.
As new settlers to the area, which had been tomato and pig farms into the late 1950s and early ’60s, the families who became OLC parishioners had a unique stake in the successful formation of their parish and their neighborhood.
"They really saw this as their home. Many bought into that," Paul said.
From its beginning, Our Lady of Calvary was founded on the idea of stewardship — sharing time, talent and treasure.
"That stewardship extends to our parish, to our neighborhood and our diocese at large. We’re still holding on to that," Paul said.
A largely Catholic area, the parish boundaries are home to about 10,600 people, with more than 10,000 identifying themselves as Catholics, according to 2000 federal census figures.
OLC has 9,800 of them registered, according to Paul.
The church has undergone a number of expansions and renovations over the years, some as early as 1959, when the front wall of the original structure was knocked out to double its seating capacity.
All six Sunday Masses were crowded, necessitating that three more Masses be held in the church basement. They were led by visiting priests.
The paneled walls of the sacristy, which were popular when the church was built, recently were drywalled and painted with a faux marble finish to complement the mosaics that surround Jesus on the cross and two angels who stand watch beside him. A more ornate oak pulpit also was recently installed.
A 2001 Tree of Blessing campaign helped to raise capital funds for such projects as two new roofs, windows, air-conditioning, boilers and a new floor in the school gym.
There are also plans to redo the church pews, at which time Paul envisions removal of the metal fedora-hat holders that children have clicked and toyed with for generations.
Paul expects to have an exciting addition installed later this month — Stations of the Cross by renowned stained-glass artist Nicola D’Ascenzo. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament have donated the 14 gesso-on-panel stations that were created as studies for works in stained glass by the Philadelphia stained-glass craftsman in 1914, according to information from Frankford Hospital.
The stations, which once hung at the Shrine of the True Cross chapel, at the summer home of Mother Katharine Drexel’s family, had been gifts of the Morrell family, according to Paul. (Louise Drexel Morrell was Katharine’s sister.)
The land was sold to Frankford Hospital in 1975, at which time the stations hung in the hospital. They were restored in 1996 and returned to the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, the order founded by Mother Katherine Drexel, in honor of her beatification in 1999. The Philadelphian was canonized a saint on Oct. 1, 2000. The order recently donated the stations to Our Lady of Calvary.
It was the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, a Polish order whose sisters were martyred during World War II, that was entrusted to teach the children of the growing parish.
Their convent was ready in August 1959, when seven sisters moved in. An eight-classroom school building opened the following month. A year later, construction started on an additional six classrooms.
According to Zecca’s history, 1963 saw a school bursting at the seams, with 1,060 pupils. Wierzalis purchased an adjacent two acres of farmland that contained one of the few remaining farmhouses and barns in the area. The land was cleared to make way for an additional school building and school yard.
Today OLC has 900 children on its rolls, with six sisters in residence. Sister Mildred Chesnavage serves as both principal and the director of religious education. The school offers whole- and half-day kindergarten, as well as pre-first through eighth-grade classes.
"Sister Mildred is phenomenal and provides great opportunities for the kids. I taught high school for twenty-seven years," Paul said. "This is well done."
This is only the second year that the school has charged tuition. Previously, parishioners had been asked to contribute to the Sunday collection. But costs associated with running the school, including teacher salaries and health insurance, and the realization that some people were not contributing their fair share to the collection have forced the issue.
"We’re trying to do a family rate," Paul said. "Many older parishioners continue supporting the parish even though their children no longer attend our school. It has been a blessing."
Although OLC’s big anniversary isn’t until February, the parish council decided to hold the celebration during the 2007-08 school year to have as many families as possible participate, according to Paul.
Its official kickoff occurred during an early-October Forty Hours Devotion, attended by Bishop Joseph McFadden. It is so called for the 40 hours of continuous prayer before the blessed sacrament.
Other events have included an outdoor procession, rosary and benedicition, and the institution of a "Giving Tree" on Thanksgiving, when parishioners chose tags to purchase gifts for someone in need.
On Jan. 12, the parish will hold a homecoming reunion for all of OLC school’s alumni. The cost is $10 in advance or $15 at the door. Light refreshments will be served. Send payment to OLC Rectory, ATTN: General Reunion Committee, 11024 Knights Road, Philadelphia, PA 19154. Payment should be received by Dec. 12.
Alumni are also invited to e-mail their favorite OLC school year photos to OLCGeneralReunion@yahoo.com
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com

There’s much more . . .

Other Our Lady of Calvary jubilee events include:
• Thursday, Jan. 31, 7 p.m. — Monsignor Wierzalis Memorial Mass and Hospitality. Former OLC associate pastor the Rev. George Majoros will attend the event observing the 19th anniversary of the OLC founder’s death.
• Saturday, Feb. 9, 6 p.m. — Mass and social celebrating love and friendship. Tickets are required for the 7 p.m. social.
• Sunday, Feb. 24, 10 a.m. — Mass and communion breakfast celebrating OLC founding families; guest speaker is Dennis O’Brien, speaker of the state House of Representatives. Tickets are required for the communion breakfast.
• March 15-19 — Holy Week and OLC parish mission with the Rev. Donald Miniscalco.
• Friday, April 4 — OLC school talent show.
• Sunday, April 6, 3 p.m. — OLC Jubilee Mass celebrated by Cardinal Justin Rigali, with reception to follow.
• Saturday, April 19, 7 p.m. — Parish Jubilee Banquet at the Emerald Room, Sprinkler Fitters Local 692 Union Hall, 14002 McNulty Road. Tickets required.
• A commemorative history book also is in the works. Advance orders only will be taken. The $50 charge includes a patron listing.
For more information, call 215-637-7515.