Saint Alphonsus Church, a landmark at Saratoga Street and Park Avenue in downtown Baltimore since 1845, designed by the eminent architect Robert Cary Long in Southern German neo-Gothic Style, was once dubbed "the German cathedral." It is included by Dr. Phoebe Stanton in her book, The Gothic Revival and American Architecture (Johns Hopkins Press), as a notable example of that style in America. For seventy-two years, the church served a German community, while the attached rectory functioned as provincial headquarters for the Redemptorist Fathers and Brothers.
No less than eleven parishes were established by the Redemptorists from Saint Alphonsus, as well as missions as distant as Strassburg, Pennsylvania and Martinsburg, West Virginia.
In 1917, with the German community dispersed and the Redemptorist provincialate moved to New York, Saint Alphonsus was acquired by the Roman Catholic Lithuanian Parish of Saint John the Baptist, which then assumed the name of the church and reopened the school, functioning across the street since l847.
For generations, Saint Alphonsus Church served by archdiocesan priests, has also served downtown workers, shoppers, and visitors to the city with conveniently scheduled services, especially the Novena to Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. It is the rare Catholic who has lived in Baltimore during this era who has not prayed in Saint Alphonsus Church. Even first-time visitors remark about the prayerful atmosphere of the church.
Saint John Neumann lived in the present rectory as rector, master of novices, and vice-provincial. Another rector, Father Francis X. Seelos, C.SS.R., is a candidate for beatification. If he is beatified and canonized, Saint Alphonsus will be the only parish church in this country, and perhaps in the world, to boast of two former pastors as canonized saints.
Moreover, Blessed George Matulaitis once visited Saint Alphonsus, as did Archbishop Teofilius Matulionis, a possible candidate for beatification as a martyr. St Alphonsus Parish: where saints have prayed! This makes St Alphonsus one of the great "treasures" of the Catholic faith in our country......a shrine, a place of pilgrimage, a sign of hope, a powerhouse of prayer!
Today, Saint Alphonsus has less than five hundred registered parishioners scattered throughout the State of Maryland, only about one-tenth of whom frequent Saint Alphonsus. In 1994, the church was designated as an Archdiocesan Shrine. The departure of many businesses from downtown in the past two decades has greatly diminished weekday attendance. Sunday and weekday attendance is no more than 400 at all services (and there are many!). Because of these weak number, it has been difficult for St. Alphonsus Church to operate on a balanced budget. Only with God's help have we been able to survive.
Saint Alphonsus School, which in 1998 marked 150 years at its present location, had been merged with the Basilica School and served 210 pupils, almost entirely African Americans from all over the city and surrounding counties. Besides, providing the building rent-free, Saint Alphonsus Shrine also subsidized the school at the level of $5,000 annually, although not a single pupil was from the parish. Unfortunately, the school closed its doors in June, 2002.
The mission of Saint Alphonsus is to minister to a far-flung Lithuanian community and to those who feel the need for more traditional services (Saint Alphonsus is the designated home to the Tridentine Mass, every Sunday and Holy Day), while reaching out to a new generation downtown, a link between old and new Baltimore.
WE WISH TO THANK ALL OF THOSE WHO DONATED TIME, TALENT AND TREASURE TO THE ROOF RESTORATION (PHASE II). THE END COST OF PHASE II OF THE RESTORATION WAS $692,368.12. WE HAVE COMPLETED THE RE-POINTING OF THE MASONRY AND THE RE-LEVELING OF THE STEPS. THIS PROJECT COST $242,000. NOW WE ARE WORKING ON PHASE III - THE CHURCH WINDOWS, NO COMPLETION DATE IS YET KNOWN.
TO KEEP THIS GREAT CHURCH VIBRANT IN THIS NEW MILLENNIUM--HERE IS OUR WISH LIST--AND IF YOU CAN HELP US, GOD IS NEVER OUTDONE IN GENEROSITY. REMEMBER, WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND!
ST. ALPHONSUS WISH LIST
1. Repair and restore the windows on the Church (32) $500,000
2. Remodel the public bathrooms (3) $ 45,000
3. Purchase St. John Neumann & Blessed Francis Seelos Statues $ 12,000
TOTAL ESTIMATED COSTS (minimum):
$557,000
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If each of you, our faithful people, would donate just $1,000.00, the above restoration price tag would be met without the need for a high-interest loan
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In addition, stocks may be donated to St. Alphonsus Church Restoration Fund through
Mike Stafford, Investment Executive
@Ferris, Baker & Watts
100 Light St., 10th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21202
410-659-4697
To help finance the above projects, at least $557,000 is needed by St. Alphonsus Church & Saint John Neumann Shrine.
IF YOU CAN HELP, PLEASE SEND YOUR GIFT TO:
ST ALPHONSUS CHURCH RESTORATION FUND
114 Saratoga Street
Baltimore MD 21201For further information, you may call Irene Mann, Director of Development at 410-685-6090 ext. 102.
YOUR GENEROSITY IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!