Published: September 12, 2008 02:11 pm            

Marking a milestone | Parishioners to observe Cresson church's 100th anniversary

BY RUTH RICE

RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM

An area church will celebrate the passage of time.

Parishioners of St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church, 211 Powell Ave., Cresson, will celebrate the church’s 100th anniversary at 4 p.m. today with a Mass, followed by the unveiling of a time capsule buried on the grounds for the church’s 75th anniversary in 1983.

After the time capsule is dug up, church members will go to the social hall for a covered-dish dinner.

The contents of the capsule will be on display for a year, then placed in a new capsule next year along with contents about the church’s 100th anniversary.

Events to be held throughout the church’s centennial year are a booth at Cresson Heritage Days, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas decorating and caroling, an Epiphany party, Mardi Gras party, St. Patrick’s celebration, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day breakfasts and St. Anne Novena. The year will conclude with a homecoming picnic and street bazaar.

The church’s youth will visit the Children’s Museum in Pittsburgh, Altoona Curve, Pittsburgh Zoo and DelGrosso’s Amusement Park as well as enjoying a DJ, pajama party, Christmas movies, swimming at St. Francis University and an Easter egg hunt.

St. Francis Xavier was established in 1908 as a mission of St. Aloysius Church at the Summit in Cresson.

The cornerstone was laid by Bishop Eugene A. Garvey, and a Mass was celebrated Sept. 20, 1909.

When the church was built, Mass was said only on Sundays and holy days of obligation by the Rev. James A. Graven, pastor of St. Aloysius.

Graven was appointed as the church’s first full-time pastor in 1913.

A few years later, the rectory was built in an architectural style similar to the stone church.

The cornerstone of a 10-room parochial school, which is located across the street from the church, was laid in April 1923.

Classes began in January 1924 under the direction of the Sisters of Mercy from Mount Aloysius in Cresson.

St. Ann’s Grotto and Spring, located on parish grounds behind the church, were formally dedicated on St. Anne’s feast day, July 26, 1936.

In 1957, five classrooms and a social hall were added to the parochial school.

An extensive remodeling and redecorating program, which included a handicapped-accessible entrance at the side of the church, was completed in 1958 in time for the church’s 50th anniversary.

In 1967, a convent was established in a renovated home adjacent to the school for the Sisters of Mercy, who had traveled daily from Mount Aloysius.

The parochial school was selected as the site for a consolidated Catholic school in 1989.

The new school combined St. Francis Xavier and St. Aloysius schools and operates today as All Saints Catholic School.

        

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