HISTORY OF ST. MARY'S  

by Jean Malloy

St. Mary's, St. Mary's on the Western hill, St. Mary's on the Hill, St. Mary of the Assumption - St. Mary's seems to have had as many names as it did pastors in the early years. Father McGinley, Father 0'Hagerty, Father Allain, Father McCall, and in the latter half of the century,  Father Felix Smyth, followed by Father Wm. Ryan and Dean McHenry. 

To understand the problems of priests and parishioners in the early days, we must understand how relatively undeveloped the Niagara Peninsula was. Compared to the northern areas of Upper Canada, it seemed populated and civilized, but by present standards of convenience, it was primitive indeed. A scattered population, farmlands, heavy bush lands, narrow dirt roads, harsh winters, wood stoves, outside wells - only priests with a strong dedication to saving souls and a strong constitution and sense of humour could survive. It is perhaps a tribute to the warm hearts of the parishioners of mission churches like St. Mary's as well as to these dedicated priests that the Catholic faith flourished so vigorously in the peninsula. The priest's greatest encouragement must have been the heart-felt appreciation if meagre support of his fairly illiterate flock. 

 District. Bishop Power chose Toronto as his Episcopal city and in October 1842, convoked the First Diocesan Synod in St. Paul's for the purpose of organizing the various missions of the diocese. The Rev. William Patrick McDonough was appointed Pastor of St. Catharines on October 9, 1842, Up until this time the whole of the peninsula had been mission territory with no priest resident in the area. Father McDonough's parish included Dunnville, Smithville, Port Colborne, Welland, Thorold, Niagara Falls, Fort Erie, Jordan, Beamsville and Grimsby. He was given no assistant and celebrated Mass in private houses, hotels, mills and schools. Irish and Italian labourers had come into the district to dig the first Welland Canal, and it was these pious immigrants who were the hard core of Catholicity in the area. They built what were referred to as "shanty chapels" the length of the Welland Canal with their limited means. Father McDonough built his first permanent mission church in Thorold. He left St. Catharines in 1851 and was succeeded by the Rev. B. Grattan.  Dean Harris in his book "The Catholic Church in the Niagara District, 1626-1895" tells us that Dean Grattan was an amiable man of rugged constitution who celebrated two masses on a Sunday.  He drove, fasting, and in all seasons to his mission churches with a zeal and vigor which leaves this writer greatly in awe. Dean Grattan seems to have been the beginning of ecumenical thought in this area . Dean Harris reports that the jovial Irish priest dined at many Protestant homes, and we must remember that this was at a time when bigotry in both Catholic and Protestant was a very strong force.  In 1853 Thorold was made a parish, and the Dean received an assistant. His nephew, Father Conway joined him, and now with two priests in the parish (a parish roughly the size of our present diocese) the Dean started building more mission churches. In 1856 a permanent church was built in Port Colborne and this town was formed into a separate parish in 1859. In 1865, attempting to raise funds for a mission church in Grimsby, the good Dean traveled to Troy and Albany. He had friends and relatives there, and he was sure he could get the money he needed. The trip was too much for a sixty-eight year old man and he died  three days after his return. 

 Archbishop Lynch appointed Dean Mulligan to St. Catharines in October 1866. Since his parish now only embraced Port Dalhousie, Smithville, Grimsby, and Jordan it didn't occur to the Bishop that he might need an assistant. It was only when Dr. Lynch noticed that Father Mulligan's health was failing and when he questioned him about it, that he learned of the hardships and difficulties of this mission. At the earliest opportunity he sent him an assistant. Dean Harris points out that of the seventeen assistant priests who were here with Dean Mulligan from January 1867 to July 1884, ten were in their graves by 1895.  Dean Mulligan built churches at Port Dalhousie, Jordan, St. Mary's on the Hill, St. Patrick's in Merritton, and St. Joseph's. In Dean Mulligan's report to Archbishop Lynch dated July 12, 1878 we find that there were 3,500 Catholics in the district and that St. Mary's served 400 of these. In answer to the question "How many Masses'?" Dean Mulligan writes "One Mass each Sunday in each church and two Masses in the Parish church".  

In a report to the Chancery Office dated March 29, 1876, Dean Mulligan writes, "All property belonging to the church and parish is properly fenced and cared for". 

 The letter of appointment to Father McGinley dated May 30, 1885 from St. Michael's Palace, Toronto, is signed John Joseph Lynch, Archbishop of Toronto. It reads: "My dear Father McGinley, We hereby appoint you to the Mission of St. Mary's on the hill, adjoining the City of St. Catharines, which we have separated, in the hope,  that a priest residing near the Church will be able to do a great amount of good amongst the people. We have also annexed the Church of Port Dalhousie and Jordan to your mission. We have selected you to found this new mission, as you have been successful in your former missions. We trust in God and in his blessed mother, that they will continue their blessings to your pious labours in your new mission. You will have to build the residence for yourself and your successors, but 1 trust  that your generous people will contribute largely to so necessary a work.  Wishing you every blessing, I am yours in Christ". 

 Success in building parishes was a dangerous thing to be in those early days. Father McGinley resigned in 1886 on account of ill-health, and was succeeded by the Rev.Chas.0'Hagerty, a young priest who died of pneumonia four years later. After the death of Father 0'Hagerty, the Rev. L.A H. Allain was transferred from Merritton to St. Mary's. He remained here for six years after which he resigned. In a report to Archbishop Walsh of Toronto, dated August 24, 1896, Father Allain lists three churches in his mission: St. Catharine's, St. Mary's and Star of the Sea, Port Dalhousie. No mention is made of Jordan, and from a letter sent to the Archbishop in 1899 we learn that there are no longer any Catholic families living in that area and that the church building is "fast going to ruin." Father Allain recommends that the church property be sold, and on January 23, 1900, Archbishop 0'Connor granted permission to St. Mary's to sell the Jordan property. 

  Father Allain was succeeded by the Rev. P J. McCall, transferred from Fort Erie.  Father McCall, enfeebled by ill ­health, resigned in December of 1908, and on January 7, 1809 St. Mary's beloved Father Felix Smyth  was sent to St. Mary's with orders to build a new church. The Very Rev. Dr. Kidd, administrator of the diocese, laid the cornerstone in 1912. By 1914 the old frame church was replaced by the present stone one. The church was blessed and opened for public worship by Archbishop McNeil, February 8, 1914. Dean Harris preached at the evening service and the plate offering amounted to $1,100.00. This seems an imposing sum for any plate collection. Many pastors today would be amazed and delighted, and it seems to bear witness to the love St. Mary's parishioners have always had for their Church. Archbishop Lynch was right when he said in his letter of appointment to Father McGinley "You have a good people to deal with".

One hundred years have seen many changes in the Niagara Peninsula. The canal, as such, has disappeared. The Shickluna shipyards where many of the parishioners found employment is gone. The Taylor and Bate Brewery has ceased to be. The taverns to the left and taverns to the right, which at one time made the "Hill" almost famous, have all but disappeared. St. Mary's stands as the only living landmark of those days - a symbol perhaps of the strong faith which endures from generation to generation. Hardships, unemployment, change, could not shake the foundations of St. Mary's Church, once it had been built in 1867. The parishioners were grateful and supported their priests through good times and bad. 

St. Mary's - a beautiful rugged exterior with the charm of aging stone, very much like the exterior of its early parishioners - a modern interior reflecting the simplicity and living image of the new Catholic liturgy. St. Mary's - a parish where faith has always been embedded in the heart not the mind. St. Mary of the Assumption -- a parish in which we can all take pride.