Pastoral Visit to Madison Parish

During pastoral visit to Madison parish,
Bishop baptizes baby

MADISON  Bishop Serratelli made a pastoral visit to St. Vincent Martyr Parish here July 19 where he celebrated Mass for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time. During the visit, the Bishop baptized Clare Elizabeth Nolan, daughter of Richard and Jennifer Nolan. The newly baptized baby’s Godparents are Jonathan Zimmel and Carol Petronella.

St. Vincent Parish, the mother church of most of northwestern New Jersey, has a long history. Mass was offered for Catholics of Bottle Hill (Madison) by priests from New York City as early as 1805, and the parish was founded that year. A church was built on Ridgedale Avenue in 1825 and a new church was built in 1839. From Madison, missionary pastors ranged across northern New Jersey to dozens of communities which today are parishes in their own right. The parishes in Dover, Morristown, Boon­ton, Mendham, Whippany, Chatham and Florham Park are direct offshoots from St. Vincent’s. The current church was built on Green Village Road in 1905. The parish school was opened in 1848. St. Vincent’s currently serves more than 2,100 families.