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Parish has been spiritual home for Catholics for 150 years

ANNIVERSARY — Our Mother of Consolation Parish is
still flourishing after 150 years.
(Sarah Webb)

By Lou Baldwin
Special to the CS&T

Never underestimate the faith of converts.

Joseph Middleton, a Quaker by birth and a resident of Chestnut Hill, entered the Catholic Church in April, 1854 . Two weeks later, seven of the nine children in his family were baptized at his mansion. (Technically, only six children were baptized that day, because Bridget Duffy, a servant, startled everyone at the ceremony by confessing she’d already secretly baptized the baby.) In time his wife also became Catholic.

Once he was firmly in the arms of the Catholic Church, Middleton wanted a church in his own neighborhood. So he and the few other Catholic families in the area petitioned Bishop (now saint) John Neumann for a parish and pastor of their own.

At the time, Chestnut Hill (then called Sommerhausen) a small village nestled between the Reading and Pennsylvania railroad lines, had been incorporated into Philadelphia just that year.

Bishop Neumann didn’t have any priests to spare, and really didn’t think the village warranted a parish at that point — but he gave Middleton permission to find a priest and build a church if he could.

Middleton wasted little time, and in short order persuaded Augustinian Father Patrick Moriarty to come over from Villanova College to establish the parish.
The new parish, which is closing out its 150th anniversary, was established in 1855 and first called St. Mary. Its title was eventually changed to Our Mother of Consolation, for a favorite Augustinian devotion.

The Irish-born Father Moriarty, a former Augustinian provincial, took up residence in the neighborhood, in a house he dubbed “the Hermitage” for its solitary location, and because the formal name of his order was The Hermits of St. Augustine.

He blessed the cornerstone June 10, 1855, and by November 11 that year the church, built mostly with Middleton money, was ready for use and dedicated by Bishop Neumann. On that day, too, baby Agnes Middleton became the first child baptized in the new church.

Construction of the church was not without incident, according to parish lore: Parishioners had to guard the building site at night for fear of anti-Catholic vandalism.

But some of the excitement might be attributed to the personality of Father Moriarty, himself. A colorful and outspoken defender of the Church, and a champion of Irish independence, he was pastor of St. Augustine’s when it was burned down by Nativist rioters in 1844. The main regret of the Protestant rioters, according to an Augustinian history, was that he was out of town on an Irish independence speaking tour instead of back at his church when it burned.

After those riots, Father Moriarty was encouraged by Bishop Francis P. Kenrick to embark on an extended speaking tour in Europe.

Then, back in the Philadelphia area since 1850, his 19-year tenure at Our Mother of Consolation was relatively peaceful — discounting occasional friction with Philadelphia’s bishops and his Augustinian superiors, which were caused mostly by his inflammatory, anti-British rhetoric.

Meanwhile, in 1858, John Middleton sold his estate to the Sisters of St. Joseph, who established their motherhouse on his land. In the early days, they were assisted by the kindness of Our Mother of Consolation parishioners. Tim Dwyer, for example, who is a fifth-generation member of the parish, points to an old history that tells of his great-great grandmother, Ellen McGinnis Martin, bringing food for the Sisters — and a table on which to eat it.

The Middleton family had one more gift to the Church: Thomas Middleton, Our Mother of Consolation’s first priestly vocation, entered the Augustinians in 1858 at the age of 16, and went on to a distinguished career as an educator and historian. He became the 10th president of Villanova College, and the founding president of the American Catholic Historical Society.

Father Moriarty was succeeded very briefly, according to one history, by Father James Darragh, then by Father Christopher McEvoy.

Early histories show a parish school was founded on the convent grounds during the Civil War, but in 1881 it was moved to the church basement, with St. Joseph Sisters as teachers there, led by Sister Flavia. A school building was erected in 1887 by Father Francis J. McShane.

Our Mother of Consolation remained relatively small. But in the 1890s, it became home for a branch of the Irish Catholic Beneficial Union (named for Father McEvoy), a Total Abstinence Society, and a Literary Society that presented Irish plays, minstrel shows and other entertainments.

From its foundation Chestnut Hill has had a number of people of wealth, but in the early days Catholics tended to be of more moderate means. Most of its founding members were Irish immigrants, a number of whom were small farmers or farm laborers, and, in time, many became servants to the mostly Protestant gentry.

Mary Murray, who attended Our Mother of Consolation from 1928 to 1936, said her father was a chauffeur for several families. At the time, the school was entirely staffed by Sisters of St. Joseph, and the largest parish societies were the Holy Name Society for men, the Sodality of the Sacred Heart for women and the Children of Mary for young people. Eventually, there were also sodalities, boy scout and girl scout troops, and parish-sponsored athletic teams during an era when the parish was the center of Catholic social life.

When Tim Dwyer was a student in the 1960s, the school had great CYO teams, especially in basketball. The class ahead of him won the Middle Atlantic Championship, and his own grade played for the city championship.

“We only lost by four points because our best player had the mumps,” he said.

Sister Evangelist, who taught sixth grade, is well remembered for her spelling bees and end of the year parties, according to Dwyer. His seven children attend or have attended the parish school, as did all Catholic children of his generation. But today, when many Catholics in the area are more affluent, some opt to send their children to private academies.

Seven years ago, the Augustinians ended their long and distinguished history at the helm of Our Mother of Consolation. They were seamlessly succeeded by the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. Father Francis Sirolli was the last Augustinian pastor, and the first Oblate pastor was Father James Dever.

Father Dever was succeeded last year by Father Robert L. Bazzoli, who oversees a flourishing parish of 1,300 families.

When the parish was founded, virtually everyone but the Middletons were Irish. Today, it is mixed both racially and economically, according to Father Bazzoli. With 225 children, the school continues to flourish.

Strong parish programs are the St. Vincent de Paul Society, a revitalized Parish Pastoral Council, and POLO (Parents of Little Ones) a ministry for parents of preschool children.

“We have a lot of young families, and strong social and spiritual programs,” Father Bazzoli said. “Our thrust is the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales, and Salesian discipleship.”

Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo Parish and a freelance writer.