A Welcoming Faith Community

July 19, 2018

BEACON PHOTO | JOE GIGLI

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Franciscan Father Daniel Grigassy (center), pastor of St. Bonaventure Parish, Paterson, celebrates Mass on July 15, which commemorated the 140th anniversary of the dedication of the church and the feast day of St. Bonaventure, the parish’s patron. Behind him are (from left): Franciscan Brother Thomas Cole; Trinitarian Father Luis de la Cuadra; Franciscan Father Francis McHugh, St. Bonaventure’s parochial vicar; Franciscan Father Lawrence Hayes; and Franciscan Father Brice Levins. Flanking Father Grigassay (from left) are Deacons Anthony Fierro and Joseph Balough.

St. Bonaventure Parish marks 140th anniversary

St. Bonaventure’s has served generations of newcomers

PATERSON A sign on the parish hall of St. Bonaventure Parish here once declared “Welcome Traveler” — a salutation that gives great insight to the founding of the urban parish 140 years ago.

It was six Franciscans who founded St. Bonaventure’s after having been expelled from Prussia by Otto von Bismarck in 1873. They came to the U.S. and asked Bishop Michael Corrigan of Newark for a place to live and minister.

Just then, a group of Carmelite priests, displaced from Bavaria, returned to their home country, leaving a monastery on Ramsey Street they started to construct. In 1876, the Franciscans started to occupy the building. The bishop advanced the mission to parish status in 1877, three years before the Franciscans completed the monastery. The religious community also built the parish church.

The area’s first Franciscan community, St. Bonaventure’s served for many years as the hub of religious activity. Razed in 1985, the monastery functioned as a minor seminary, major seminary, a novitiate, retreat house and motherhouse of the Holy Name Province, established in 1901. Thousands had received the Franciscan habit here and had begun their year of initiation into the religious life here.

From St. Bonaventure’s, the Franciscans established dozens of missions and parishes in the eastern U.S., many of them in New Jersey. Many who studied at the monastery went off to serve in China, Brazil, Mexico and Japan. The monastery once operated St. Anthony’s Guild, which published countless books and pamphlets. St. Bonaventure’s served as provincial headquarters until 1910, when it moved to New York City.

St. Bonaventure’s also served the local community, establishing in 1904 a lyceum. The parish also built a new convent and a new parish hall to replace the old one, destroyed by a fire in 1934.

In the 1950s, the Franciscans moved the novitiate to Lafayette. The monastery became a weekend retreat house. In 1967, the Franciscans closed St. Bonaventure High School, which had opened in 1928. Nearly two decades later, in 1986, St. Bonaventure rebuilt its parish hall, damaged by fire from a discarded cigarette in 1985.

In the early 1990s, the Franciscans closed St. Bonaventure School, which had been staffed by Peekskill Franciscan Sisters since its opening in 1879.

As St. Bonaventure continues to welcome the community that has grown around it in the Stony Hill section of the city, the parish today is proud of its legacy of welcoming newcomers and the changing face of the faith community throughout the years.

“Change will surely come in the years ahead as it has in the past,” the late Franciscan Father Severin Brady, former pastor, said during St. Bonaventure’s 120th anniversary. “St. Bonaventure’s will continue to meet those challenges.”

— Michael Wojcik

By MICHAEL WOJCIK, News Editor

PATERSON The warm and generous multicultural faith community of St. Bonaventure Parish here celebrated 140 years of welcoming in the strangers among us from the surrounding neighborhoods and beyond and also reaching out to help the poor of Paterson.

The anniversary celebration July 15 began with a bilingual Mass in Spanish and English in the church, followed by a picnic on parish grounds, interrupted at a point by some summer thunderstorms.

Franciscan Father Daniel Grigassy, St. Bonaventure’s pastor, celebrated the 10 a.m. Mass, which commemorated the 140th anniversary of the dedication of the church and the Feast Day of St. Bonaventure, the parish’s patron. Filling the pews of the church just off Route 80 were members of the multicultural community that the Franciscan-run parish serves, consisting of Anglos and Latinos, including Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Costa Ricans and Peruvians. Franciscan priests from St. Bonaventure’s and Holy Name Province were among those who concelebrated the Mass with Father Grigassy.

“St. Bon’s [as the parish is affectionately known] is a strong faith community. They are very enthusiastic, generous and welcoming,” said Father Grigassy, St. Bonaventure’s pastor for almost a year. Previously, he served as pastor here from 2005 to 2012. “St. Bon’s parishioners take the Gospel message seriously. They also are proud to stand in the Franciscan tradition. They truly live their faith,” he said.

Concelebrating the anniversary Mass were: Franciscan Father Lawrence Hayes, vicar provincial of Holy Name Province and parochial vicar of St. Mary’s Parish, Pompton Lakes; Franciscan Father Francis McHugh, St. Bonaventure’s parochial vicar; Franciscan Father Brice Levins of St. Anthony Friary, Butler, and a son of the parish; and Trinitarian Father Luis de la Cuadra, who resides in the former convent across the street from the church. Also attending was Franciscan Brother Thomas Cole, provincial archivist.

In his homily for the Mass, Father Grigassy imagined hearing all the prayers and seeing all the incense that has risen high up to ceilings of the grand church for all these years, during times of happiness — weddings and baptisms — and sad times — funerals. The priest said that over the years, he has talked to people who have mentioned that St. Bonaventure’s has played a significant part of their lives — the place, where they attended the former school, received their sacraments and other spiritual milestones.

“This church has been a sacred space for all these celebrations. On Sundays, we are sustained at the Table of the Lord, nourished by the Eucharist,” said Father Grigassy, who also spoke about the six Franciscans from Germany, who founded St. Bonaventure’s, in 1876. They named the parish for St. Bonaventure, a bishop and Doctor of the Church, who was born in Italy in 1221. “St. Bonaventure was known for saying that God is very near you; that you come to know God by knowing his Son; and that you come to know the Son by embracing him on the Cross.”

Located at the corner of Ramsey Street and Danforth Avenues, St. Bonaventure’s ministers to about 800 families and provides religious education to 250 children. It once served as the headquarters for Holy Name Province. The parish offers a full compliment of ministries in areas such as adult faith formation, liturgy, family life, prayer, funeral and bereavement, finance and stewardship and social concerns, according to St. Bonaventure’s website, stbonspaterson.org.

In the area of social concerns, St. Bonaventure’s recently started a new ministry to Eva’s Village, Paterson, where they visit twice monthly to serve meals to the poor and homeless. Parishioners also make from two to 10 frozen meals at a time for the needy at the Father English Community Center in Paterson, a part of diocesan Catholic Charities. In addition, the local Knights of Columbus coordinate clothing and food drives for the poor, Father Grigassy said.

During the picnic after the Mass, John Cullen, a Knight and head usher, told The Beacon that he grew up at St. Bonaventure’s, receiving his sacraments here and having graduated from the former parish school, along with his eight siblings. His father Leo was a parishioner here for more than 70 years.

“It’s a good mix of people at St. Bon’s. There are good people here,” said Cullen, who lives in Woodland Park. “The Franciscan way is the way to live. It’s not about living for themselves or for money. It’s about serving other people,” he said.

A St. Bonaventure’s parishioner for 15 years, Margie Hnath has belonged to the liturgical committee and has helped prepare the sacred vessels and linens for Masses.

“This Franciscan church is so welcoming. People give of themselves and are dedicated to try to do their best. This is a true house of God with people, who are not only going to church, but also are serving God. I feel God here,” Hnath said.

Also at the picnic was Segundo Fernandez, a member of St. Bonaventure’s Latino community. He lectors at the 5:30 p.m. Mass on Sundays in Spanish and has been involved in weekly liturgy meetings. He arrived at the parish nine years ago from Peru.

“For me, St. Bon’s is a second home. The Spanish community has grown little by little,” Fernandez said. “The Franciscans are wonderful examples for life: they take vows of poverty, they are sensitive to poor people and they open the door to everybody to feel the mercy of God,” he said.