Bay Ridge

Bay Ridge church begins celebration of 125th anniversary

Our Lady of Angels parish was founded in 1891

October 5, 2016 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Justin Brannan (left) representing Mayor Bill de Blasio, presents a city proclamation to the Rev. Msgr. Kevin Noone, pastor of Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church, after the anniversary mass. Photo courtesy of Brannan
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A Bay Ridge church that was founded in 1891 kicked off a year-long celebration of its 125th anniversary with a special mass on a recent Sunday where parishioners had fun looking back at history.

The Rev. Msgr. Kevin Noone, pastor of Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church, led a special homecoming mass on Sunday, Sept. 25 to mark the opening of the celebration of the big anniversary.

When Our Lady of Angels was founded in 1891, Brooklyn was an independent city that was not part of New York. Brooklyn wouldn’t join New York City until 1898.

Following the mass, members of the parish anniversary committee handed out packets containing clippings of newspaper articles about the church, including articles from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, according to Justin Brannan, an aide to Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, who attended the mass.

“They had all of these great old articles from the Eagle from when talk of a new church in Bay Ridge first started,” Brannan told the Eagle via email.

Brannan, representing Mayor Bill de Blasio, presented Msgr. Noone with a city proclamation in recognition of the church’s importance to the life of Bay Ridge.

Another guest, John Quaglione, deputy chief of staff to state Sen. Marty Golden, said he enjoyed looking at a poster board that contained photos of all of the men who have served as pastors of Our Lady of Angels Church over the past 125 years.

Msgr. Noone had a personal relationship with Our Lady of Angels, or OLA, as many Bay Ridge residents refer to the church, long before he was named pastor.

Msgr. Noone, who was born and raised in Bay Ridge, was an altar boy at OLA in his youth. Golden, another life-long Bay Ridge resident, was also an altar boy at OLA as a young man.

Msgr. Noone wrote about the anniversary celebration in a message in a recent edition of the church bulletin in which he urged parishioners to attend the Sept. 25 mass.

“This mass will begin a year-long observance of our being a community of faith here in Bay Ridge since Sept. 24, 1891 when Bishop John Loughlin sent Fr. Martin Loftus to establish a new parish between St. Michael on 42nd Street and St. Patrick on 95th Street,” he wrote.

He was referring to St. Michael Catholic Church at 342 42nd St. in Sunset Park and St. Patrick Catholic Church at 9411 Fourth Ave. in Bay Ridge, both of which pre-date Our Lady of Angels by many years.

 

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