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Mount St. Peter Church is a Roman Catholic Church at 100 Freeport Road in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. The church is located along the Allegheny River and is approximately twenty-five miles north-east of the city of Pittsburgh. It is a member of the Diocese of Greensburg. The congregation was founded by Italian immigrants in the early 1900s and the building that now stands as Mt. St. Peter Church was built by members of the church and was dedicated on July 4, 1944. In 1998, it was recognized as a National Historical Landmark.

Based on the statistics for 2009, there are approximately 5,209 parishioners who belong to Mt. St. Peter. Mass is said at 8:30 am everyday from Monday to Friday and at 4:00 pm on Saturday evenings. Sunday Masses are said weekly at 8:30 and 10:30 am. The church is especially known for its annual Festa Italiana, where there is homemade Italian food, dancing, games for children, and gambling for adults. This festival is organized by volunteers from the church and takes place on the church grounds during the first weekend in August. The festival itself is full of activities, but one of the main attractions is the food. One parishioner, Jennifer Pallone of New Kensington explains, "I like seeing everyone from town, but the food is always an attraction."

The mission statement of the church is as follows: Mount Saint Peter Parish, a diverse Catholic parish strongly rooted in its rich Italian heritage, is called to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to all. With liturgy as the source and summit of pastoral life, we will work to promote faith formation as a life long process, to invite others into faithful stewardship in service to the Kingdom of God, and to promote our faith by word and deed to the wider community.

History

St. Peter's Congregation

The congregation of St. Peter was formed in 1902 by Reverend Bonaventure Piscopo, who was a member of the Apostolate Band for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. He was concerned for Italian Catholics and wanted them to be able to have churches in and around the Pittsburgh area. Of the seventeen Italian parishes that resulted from his help, St. Peter was the first.

St. Peter Church was named after St. Peter, who was the first pope, because he was a patron saint who was known by most Italian Catholics in the area. The parishioners of this new congregation were Italians living in and around New Kensington, Arnold, and Parnassus (Parnassus later became a part of the city of New Kensington). These immigrants needed a place to worship and in 1903, St. Peter congregation began holding Mass with a resident pastor by the name of Reverend Vincenzo Maselli. The place of worship was just a small building on the corner of Second Avenue and Tenth Street (known as the downtown area) in New Kensington.

Relocation of St. Peter's Parish

Soon after, on September 28, 1903, the congregation relocated to the basement of St. Mary's Polish Church, which was also located in New Kensington. Here, the first parish register was created and the first recorded event was a marriage, which occurred on December 27, 1903. Soon after, a more permanent piece of land was acquired by the congregation. It was donated by the Burrell Improvement Company and was located on the corner of Ridge Avenue and Constitution Boulevard. The parish remained in the basement of St. Mary's until the new church was finished. On July 4, 1905, the cornerstone of St. Peter Church was laid and on September 25, 1905, the bishop in the area at the time, Bishop Canevin, dedicated the new church.

Unfortunately, in 1908, the number of attendees at St. Peter Church began to dwindle. Many of the priests had been relocated a few years prior. In 1908, the priest most liked by the people of St. Peter's Church, Father Sacchi, was sent to Mother of Sorrows Church in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. Parishioners were very upset by this change, and a committee was formed to go speak to the Bishop on Father Sacchi's behalf. Although Father Sacchi was not allowed to return to St. Peter, Reverend James Vocca, who had also been at St. Peter prior to relocation, was returned to the church. This appeased the churchgoers slightly, but was not enough to keep all the parishioners returning every Sunday.

At this time, the priests who were part of St. Peter were doing the best they could to keep the faith alive in their congregation. The priests were smart men who had attended school in Italy prior to their immigration, but most were unable to speak fluent English. At a time when immigrants were desperately trying to fit into the American life and be as American as possible, going to church where the Mass was said in Italian was not the most desirable choice. Therefore, many Catholic Italians began going to churches where the Masses were said in English, while many others changed their religion altogether. Many of these Italians were becoming Protestant.

Despite all of this, the priests of St. Peter continued to follow their beliefs and do the job God had called them to do. The priests were poorly paid and most lived on about twenty-five cents per day. Many had to sleep on the floor of the altar of St. Peter Church because it was the only spot with carpeting in the church. It was also common for the priests to travel on foot or horseback to say Mass in another church after they had already said the Mass in their own church. These trips were sometimes as much as twenty-five miles away and many of the priests were pursued by daggers while making these journeys.

In time, parishioners began returning to St. Peter, most likely because it was a church built by the hands of the Italian immigrants and had more meaning to them than the other churches in the area where they might have attended Masses. Unfortunately, this did not mean that the problem with attendance at church was permanently solved for this small and primitive church. Around 1918, more problems began to arise as the headquarters of the Italian Communists and Anarchists in the United States settled themselves in New Kensington. The group was guided by the ideas of Carlo Tresca, which were recorded in his paper "Il Martello" (which translates to "the hammer"). The main goal of the group was to seize power and get rid of capitalism.

The Italian Communists and Anarchists harassed members of the Catholic Church. Italians who did go the church were made to feel inferior and many became too intimidated to go to church at all. At St. Peter's, one priest was shot through a window while he was sitting at his desk. Another priest was threatened that if he did not leave New Kensington he would be killed. Consequencely, he fled. In 1918, there were only thirteen families who attended Mass at St. Peter on Sunday. This continued for years but finally, in 1925, Carlo Tresca moved from New Kensington to New York and the threat of his group began to die down and parishioners began returning once again to St. Peter.

An Overflow of Parishioners

By 1929, when the depression hit, St. Peter was overflowing with churchgoers. During the period of 1929-1934, St. Peter was crowded for all three Masses on Sunday morning. There were so many people that the balcony, the sanctuary, and both sacristies were opened for parishioners to sit in during Mass. Even this was not enough to accommodate all of the parishioners. Eventually the priests began opening the doors of the church and hundreds of people stood outside on the steps to hear the Mass. Dispite all of these accommodations, there were still many people who were turned away because there was not enough space to accommodate them. There were about a thousand families who belonged to St. Peter but the church itself only had about two hundred spots in the pews.

Those in charge of the parish knew that something had to be done, but it was not until Bishop Boyle came to visit the church and suggested that a bigger church be built that the congregation became serious about addressing the issue. With the size that the church was currently, many parishioners were switiching to other Catholic Churches that had enough space for them to attend church on Sunday. It was therefore decided that a larger church had to be built.

Finding A New Location

Now after this was decided, the next issue was where to build the new church. Parishioners from Arnold wanted the church to be build in their town, arguing that most of the congregation lived there. Those from Parnassus wanted the church closer to them because there were a lot of Catholics but no Catholic Church at all in Parnassus. All the same, parishioners from New Kensington argued that St. Peter should remain close to its current location. In the end, it was decided that the new chuch needed to be built within the same block of the current St. Peter Church.

The ideal location found was on the corner of Freeport Road and Seventh Street. This location was approximately one hundred yards from the previous St. Peter Church and was located on the top of a hill. The land was four acres and had a large mansion and a few small buildings on the property. The land had once belonged to Stephen M. Young, who had been a General in the United States Army during the Civil War and who was also a friend of Abraham Lincoln. Young sold the property to Frank M. Curtis for $7,000 in 1902. It was later sold to David A. Leslie for $17,000 in 1914.

Mr. Leslie died in August of 1938. After his death, attorneys (who were members of St. Peter) were sent to speak to Mrs. Leslie about selling the property. After much debate, Mrs. Leslie agreed that if the congregation provided her with $20,000 in cash, she would hand over the property. The men agreed, and on December 1, 1938, the men paid Mrs. Leslie $500.00 cash as a downpayment. A few days later, the Building Fund Campaign was opened for the new church and a committee of one hundred volunteers was organized to gather funds. It was decided that each parishioner who was employed full time should sign a pledge to give $60.00, over a period of five years, towards the building of the church. The committee was split up into groups, and the volunteers went door to door almost everyday for five years until enough money was collected.

Taking Pocession of the New Grounds

On April 1, 1939, St. Peter's congregation officially took possession of the land and mansion when Mrs. Leslie vacated the property. That day, it was decided the the new church would be known as "Mt. St. Peter." The name stuck, and to this day, the church on the hill is called "Mt. St. Peter Church." On May 1, a month later, the $20,000 was due. When all of the cash and pledges had been counted up, it was found that instead of having just $20,000, there was actually $23,500 and another $75,200 in pledges.

Now that the issue of property had been taken care of, the next order of business was planning the church that would be built on the land. The Italian parishioners knew the style that they wanted and a committee was organized to work with the architect on the ideas. The architect in charge of the job was Enos Cooke of New Kensington. Although he was not a Catholic, he fully understood the Catholics' feelings and was willing to listen to the ideas of the committee. The greatest problem laid in the diversified ideas of the committee. After eighteen months of meetings, discussions, and research, there was still not a solid agreed upon vision for the future church.

News of the Destruction of the Mellon Mansion

In 1940, a friend of the church, John Stanish, brought news to the attention of Mt. St. Peter's congregation that the Mellon mansion was to be demolished. Stanish had spent many years working for the three Mellon brothers, until the last of them died in 1938. The mansion in which the Mellon brothers had lived was magnificient. The Mellons had spent years entertaining important people, including royalty, celebrities, well known financiers, and statesmen. This mansion was located at 6500 Fifth Avenue, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was built using Michigan sandstone and was four stories high on one side and three stories high on the other. There were sixty-five rooms in the building, which did not even include halls or vestibules. There were 11 bathrooms, one of which had cost over $10,000 to complete because the walls and floor were covered in Italian marble and the fixtures were plated in gold. At one time, a hundred servants had been in charge of taking care of the house and surrounding grounds. The mansion had been completed in 1909 and had cost Mr. Mellon approximately three million dollars to complete. The inside was filled with marble from all over the world, including China, Japan, and India. There were bronze doors cast in England, ceilings painted by Giovanni di San Pietro, and steel beans built by the Carnegie Steel Company. In addition, one of the most expensive organs in the world was housed in this building.

With all of the Mellon brothers being deceased, the Mellon family had no choice but to have the mansion torn down because if not, they would have to watch it slowly begin to crumble from neglect, which would have been an embarrassment to the Mellon family. The treasures which the mansion contained were being sold for way less than their actual values. For example, a half a million dollars worth of furniture had be sold for $3,800. Also, the building contained many items that could easily be used in a church. There were beautiful mantles that could become altars and pieces of architecture, like angel statues, that could be placed in Mt. St. Peter Church. It is a common misconception among members of the Mt. St. Peter's congregation that the Mellon family donated the materials for the church but that is not the case. Although the Mellons did not charge very much for the items that now belong the Mt. St. Peter's, the congregation paid for everything it received from the Mellon Mansion. In 1940, St. Peter's congregation decided to buy all of the stone, granite, marble, bronze doors, and railings from the mansion. In addition, the congregation purchased thirty tons of steel beans, sixty-five oak doors, chandeliers, and some other items. The one condition was that members of Mt. St. Peter's congregation would have to transport all of the marble from Pittsburgh to New Kensington (the distance between the two was about twenty-seven miles).

Many men of the congregation were more than willing to volunteer their time, labor, and trucks to transport the materials to New Kensington, but they needed someone to direct this free labor. The congregation found Mr. Charles Camarata for the job. He was a great contractor and had had a great deal of experience. He had built hundreds of miles of road in the state of Pennsylvania and around the country. In addition, he had constructed homes, civic buildings, and churches. As soon as he agreed to take the job in December of 1940, he split the volunteers into three groups. Camarata personally supervised the first group, who was in charge of removing the marble from Mellon Mansion. The second group transported the marble to New Kensington and the third placed the materials on the grounds of Mt. St. Peter. This project started on December 13, 1940, and continued until May 26, 1941. The process was difficult and time consuming but the volunteers were determined to do the job that they had promised, despite the harsh winter of 1940-1941.

Building Mt. St. Peter Church

On Sunday, May 25, 1941, ground was broken for Mt. St. Peter Church. The event was celebrated by the priests of St. Peter's congregation and about two thousand people showed up to see the breaking of the ground. At the time, only about $15,000 from the building fund was still available since money had already been spent on buying the property and materials from the Mellon Mansion. Once again, the committee of a hundred people began meeting. They sorted out the names of all the parishioners and reactivated their fundraising efforts. They went out and collected old pledges and solicited new ones. They obtained another 1200 pledges and in time, 95 percent of these were fulfilled. In all, approximately 60 percent of the money collected came from 10 percent of the parishioners. There were only about 10 percent of people who did not give any donations at all.

The cornerstone was blessed on Sunday, September 7, 1941. It was blessed by Reverend Alfred Koch, who was the Archabbot of St. Vincent in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Many other priests from the area were also present. Father Paul Tomlinson of St. Peter's Church in Pittsburgh delivered the sermon in English and Archabbot Alfred Koch closed the ceremony with the Pontifical Benediction in Italian. The large red cornerstone was made of granite and was filled with an iron box. The box contained the memorial reports of the congregation, newspapers, American and Papal coins, and medals of the church. The cornerstone was placed so that, to this day, it can be seen from inside the church. It is located by the altar of the Sacred Heart.

Gathering of More Funds

During this time, all of the books concerning the finances of the construction of the new church were kept by ladies of the St. Peter's Cenacle. This job was somewhat confusing and difficult, especially when war taxes were imposed once the United States entered World War II. The ladies not only recorded all of the pledges and collections but they also recorded all notices and minutes from their meetings. While the church was being built, the Campaigners met almost every evening.

The Cenacle was run under the supervision of Mr. Dom C. Shiarella. Mr. Shiarella, who was the treasurer of the First National Bank in New Kensington, was the cashier of the Building Fund Campaign. He was in charge of collecting all of the pledges made by the parishioner of Mt. St. Peter's toward the Building Fund. Doing this work made him have reason to stay in the bank for one or two hours longer than the other employees every evening. This went on for almost five years. In addition, Mr. Shiarella was in charge of making sure there was enough money in the church's bank account for the payroll that was taken out every other Friday. In many instances, on the day before payday, there was not enough money in the account for the money to be taken out the next day. Despite this, the needed funds were always collected in time, even if just barely in time, and there was never a week when the account bounced. There was one instance in which the church wrote out pay checks that added up to $1,000 on a Friday during which there was no money at all in the account. That same afternoon, a check for $1,000 was delivered to the church and was signed by one of the parishioners.

By October 1941, there were little to no funds to be had. The parish therefore sold a house that it possessed on Constitution Boulevard. The building sold for $7,000, which was enough to pay off the $3,000 of debt that the parish owed toward the building of the church. The other $4,000 was enough to cover some of the continuing costs of construction.

Laying of the Roof

Around this time, winter was threatening and in order for the walls of the new church to be protected from potential damage, the roof had to be laid before any snow began to fall. This meant that more workers were needed to get the job done faster. Unfortunately, this was a problem because the church's account did not contain enough money to employ more men. As soon as the committee of one hundred became aware of this, they began asking for help. Somehow, they were able to find thirty parishioners who were each willing to lend another $500 each. These parishioners had already given high contributions to the new church but were still willing to continue to help. As a result, the church had an extra $15,000 to pay for the construction of the roof. For about two months, over fifty parishioners worked on building the church daily from sun up to sundown. Finally in December of 1941, the roof was completed.

World War II Affects the Congregation

The story of one of the men who helped complete the roof, James DiMuzio, is often remembered. Mr. DiMuzio was just a young man in 1941 and helped construct the roof for two consecutive weeks. After these two weeks, he read about the attack on Pearl Harbor in the newspapers and decided at once to quit his work on the church in order to enlist in the United States Air Force. Less than a year later, news arrived that Sargent James DiMuzio had been killed in action. He had died on October 29, 1942 and was the first casualty suffered by the congregation. His civilian clothes were presented to the church by his family (since his body was never brought back to the US) and the congregation buried them in a pier on the front entrance of the new church. There is a plaque with his name and date of death on the pier.

After World War II began, the work on the church continued but with a more somber mood. Workers no longer whistled or sang very often and many times they worked in silent thought and prayer. The church meetings no longer only discussed the building of the church and the funds. Now, the congregation wanted to promote the war effort as well. By May of 1944, the parishioners had contributed to the war by having given thousands of pints of blood to the Blood Banks, given money to the war relief campaigns, been active on the home front, and sent 808 men and women to the Armed Forces. There was even a group that prepared and sent out a special bulletin every week to the parishioners in the Armed Forces. These parishioners were happy to receive news from home on the progress of their new church and man of them sent home money to go towards the building fund. During the war, hundreds of dollars came in from these parishioners fighting in the war. Of the 808 parishioners who went off to war, 801 returned. The names of the seven who died were engraved on a piece of granite outside of the church. The names of the war heros of Mt. St. Peter Church were James DiMuzio, Arthur Capo, Nick Costelli, Justine DeFelices, Neal Chipoletti, and Anthony Zaffuto.

Continuing Work

Although the roof had been completed in order to protect the church from winter weather, the winter of 1941-1942 ended up being mild through all of December and most of January. The workers were able to continue work on the church until January 27, 1942. This was a surprisingly mild winter and the snowstorm took longer than usual to arrive. For example, during the previous winter, a blizzard arrived on January 4, 1941. During this blizzard, the winds had been as fast as 30 miles per hour. Work had to be haulted at that time because a really bad snow storm arrived. The storm left three feet of snow on the ground in New Kensington. This also meant that the new building of Mt. St. Peter Church was covered in snow. The roof and walls held up just fine until the snow melted.

Once the snow hit, workers were moved to the inside of the church. Camarata became the director of excavations, concrete, block, brick, stone and mable works, steel structures, road-grading, electric and plumbing systems,carpentry, and landscaping. John Stanish was now his assistant. He built marble grinders, hoisting devices, marble cutters, and marble sanders. He worked with much machinery, including bulldozers, steam-shovels, grading-tractors, and steam-rollers. Stanish collected marble, iron and bronze grilles, electric and plumbing equipment, lumber, panels, light fixtures, paint, chemicals, and ceiling and floor materials from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York. So much time and effort was put in by this one man and without him, the church most likely would not have been completed. As a token of the parish's gratitude to him, an inscription was placed in the main vestibule of Mt. St. Peter Church, on the right, going down into the Marble Hall(downstairs of the church). It reads, "Joannes Stanish Res Procuravit-he procured the material.

Much of the work inside the church was done by volunteers. All of the painting was done for free, all of the painting was done by volunteers under the direction of a paid electrician, and all plumbing work was done for nothing under the supervision of a paid plumber. In addition, all of the pattern-makers and mechanics who worked on the building did so without pay. There was also a group of women who shined marble and granite until the pieces were full of lustre.

God Watches Over His Workers

All of the men and women who worked on the building of the new church were insured against injury under the Commisssion of the Pittsburgh Diocese but not once, during the four years of construction, was there an appeal for compensation. There was not even a case of a minor injury by any of the workers.

This did not signify that there were no close to death experiences because, indeed, there were. Somehow, by the grace of God, none of these close calls resulted in death. An example of one of these incidents was when the bronze door at the front entrance of Mt. St. Peter Church fell on Mr. Camarata. Everyone who witnessed the event believed that he had been crushed to death until ten men lifted the door up. When they did this, they found Mr. Camarata underneath, completely unharmed. He quickly stood up and got back to work.

Another similar situation occurred when Mario DiFonzo, who was only eighteen at the time, was assigned a job on the tower of the church before it was roofed. No one realized that he had poor eyesight and he fell from the tower while working. On his way down, he was able to grab onto a pulley that was suspended from the tower and therefore survived without any harm.

The last story of a close to death experience of church workers occurred on September 28, 1941. A group of teenage boys, just out of high school, were making concrete flooring for the church at the Burrell Construction Company. Even though they were working at the Burrell Construction Company, they were still working for Mt. St. Peter's and were under the church's jurisdiction. While they were working around a large cement table, a large crane (that was operating over their heads) made an unusual movement. This caused its bucket, which weighed tons, to come down with a huge crash right in the midst of all the workers. All the working tools were completely destroyed but none of the boys were hurt.

Opening of Mt. St. Peter Church

By mid-summer of 1942, Mt. St. Peter Parish was once again without funds. By this time, the majority of the work on the new church had been completed and so the congregation agreed that it was time to sell the old St. Peter Church in order to fund the new church. THe General Electric Company was willing to pay $16,000 for St. Peter's and on July 16, 1942, the church became the property of the General Electric Company.

Sunday, August 9, 1942, was a day of mixed emotions for the congregation. At twelve o'clock noon, one final Mass was said in the old St. Peter Church, which had been the house of the congregation for the past thirty-eight years. People cried as the Blessed Sacrament was carried out of the chruch by the pastor. The congregation followed the pastor up to the new chuch.

Mount Saint Peter Church was magnificient and rose up on the hill, but to many, it seemed as if it could not really belong to the congregation. It was much richer than Saint Peter Church and if it had not been labored upon by so many members of the congregation, none would have felt worthy to call it their parish. But since so much work, love, and faith had been spent on this beautiful place of worship, parishioners became proud to have the honor of attending Mass there every Sunday.

Although much time has passed since the completion of the church and although the majority of those who helped to build it have passed on, Mt. St. Peter Church still stands as a symbol of faith and what can be accomplished when people work together for a common belief, hope, and dream. The church's new motto, which was started in 2004,is "to restore all things in Christ...with the fire of love." This motto serves as a constant reminder of the history of the parish. The beauty of the Melllon Mansion was restored by the congregation and turned into something even more magnificent than a home to entertain the rich; it became a House of God. This was done through a strong love of Christ, faith, and neighbor. The names of the volunteers who helped build the church are carved in the mable inside the main entrance of the church and serve as a token of the congregation's appreciation. Many of today's parishioners are decendants of those volunteers and are proud to tell the story of their forefathers who gave them this gorgeous church in which to practice their faith. Their only hope is that future generations will continue to appreciate and cherish this amazing parish.

Additions to the Church

The Marble Hall

The Marble Hall is the basement of Mt. St. Peter's and is 125 by 55 feet. Before the church had been completed, this area had been filled with valuable material from the Mellon Mansion until the materials found their proper places in the upstairs of the church. By winter of 1944, the basement was completely empty and was not really serving any purpose. During this time, there were men working on building the Rectory, but since there was much snow, they could not return to their work on the Rectory until spring. Since a gentleman by the name of Nicholas Givens had donated a large quantity of marble for the basement, they began work on the basement.

First off, they sealed the ground floor with cement and covered it with black asphalt tile. They then covered the walls and pillars with white Carrara marble. On the northeastern end of the basement they constructed a platform that was made of Carrara mable and was accessible by three steps. The platform was sheltered by a baldachin and a marble altar was erected against the wall. Another marble altar was also erected in the hall. The other altar was erected so that the priest could celebrate the Mass while facing the congregation. Behind this platform is a large kitchen built to feed up to 400 people sitting in the hall. There is also a furnace room and a large workshop off to the side of the kitchen.

When work on the Marble Hall was being done, from 1944-1948, the assistant pastor of Mt. St. Peter's was Father George Goralka. Father Goralka executed an inscriptionn around the central nave of the ceiling of the Marble Hall. The inscription is Christ's proclamation of Peter's Primacy. It reads, "Blessed art thou Simon Son of Jona and I say to thee, thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it, and I will give thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven."

The basement was named the "Marble Hall" after completion and the name stuck. The Marble Hall is mostly used for special breakfasts and dinners, and for fish fry fundraisers during Lent. The hall also serves as the parish's Italian Restaurant during the Festa Italiana each August. On special holidays when more parishioners than usual attend Mass, which usually include Christmas, Palm Sunday, and Easter, the Mass is said in both the upstairs of the church and downstairs in the Marble Hall.

The Rectory

According to the Council of Trent, every Catholic church is required to have a residing pastor. It is believed that the pastor should always be in or near the church. Being a priest is an around the clock job, not one where a person can pack up and leave at the end of the day. Therefore, it was very important for Mt. St. Peter's to have a rectory, also known as a parish house.

Before the building of the rectory began in 1944, the three priests and their housekeeper had lived in the Leslie Mansion (the mansion on the property). The mansion was over a hundred years old, was a frame building, had very few rooms, provided poor living conditions, and had a water pump at the main entrance.

Therefore, the parish was in desperate need of a new rectory and the new project was begun in 1944. An engineer, Frank H. Recco, was the technical advisor of the project. Parishioners borrowed a bulldozer from the John F. Casey Company in Aspinwall, Pa and a steamshovel from the Burrell Construction and Supply Company of New Kensington. With these tools, they dug the foundation for a two level building.

Cinder blocks were purchased for eight cents each. Flexicore slabs were made by young men of the parish on the grounds of the Burrell Construction Company and also at Mt. St. Peter's. They were made under the direction of Charles Cammarata, who was assisted by the General Electric Co. The slabs, once completed, were used to make the floors and roof. John Stanish gathered free flexicore forms from Dayton, Ohio, free cement from the Burrell Construction Co., and free bricks from an abandoned brick-yard in New Kensington.

The three story rectory took three years to complete. On the first floor, there is a dining room, a breakfast room, a kitchen, a pantry, space for archives, a laundry room, and a three car garage. There are four seperate stairways that lead up to the second floor. The second floor has three offices, a community room, a large library, and a spacious veranda. In the hallway, there is a large stained glass window made in Germany. It is considered a precious object and was taken from the Mellon Mansion. The third floor can be reached from either of two stairwells. The floor consists of ten rooms divided into four apartments and two guestrooms. This floor also has an open veranda.

In addition, there are nine bathrooms in the house and one elevator, which was taken from the Mellon Mansion. Also taken from the Mellon Mansion were two fireplaces. The one was carved in Italy from lava of Mt. Vesuvius and is located in the community room. The other, locatated in the dining room on the first floor, was carved out of red Michigan sandstone by an Italian-American sculptor.

The Mount Saint Peter Oval

Once the church and rectory had been completed, the workers began to envision a plaza. The area that was to become the oval was, at the time, still occupied by the mansion that was still on the Mt. St. Peter grounds. With the permission of the Chancery Office of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, the mansion was demolished and only a few of the fixtures were removed by the church prior to the demolition.

After the mansion had fallen and the debris had been removed, a ten foot road was built around the area that was to become the oval. John Stanish came up with the idea to pave the oval with small pieces of leftover marble. He collected the marble that was left from the building of the church and the Marble Hall and then went on a search for more marble. He collected tons of marble from marble dealers in the Pittsburgh area. The pieces were all different types, colors, and sizes. Mr. Stanish then instructed John Martorana to lay them.

Martorana worked very slowly and meticulously in order to place all of the pieces of marble in a way that looked artistic and well done. In 1947, a pedestal of granite taken from the Mellon Mansion was erected on the northern end of the oval. On top of it was placed a life-size bronze statue of Christ with open arms. On Armistice Day, November 11, 1951, the monument was dedicated to the defenders of the United States. A carving on the statue reads, "Lord Jesus, into Thy Hands we commend all the men and women who served yesterday and those who are serving today in the defense of our Country."

A high flying flagpole was presented to the oval by Alcoa. The American flag was hoisted on it for the first time by Joseph Iozzi, who was a disabled veteran of World War II. Close to all of the fraternal organizations of the New Kensingtion community were represented at the dedication ceremony. There was a huge gathering of people who witnessed the blessing. The Reverend Monsignor Giustino Meniconzi, who was the Vicar-General of the Diocese of Ferentino, Italy, blessed the statue of Christ and the American flag. Also on that day, Michaelangelo Musmanno, the Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania at the time, was the first lay orator to stand in the Pulpit of Mt. St. Peter Church.

The Convent School

The next thing built on the grounds was an eight foot arch that went from the rectory to the next future building. A statue of Saint Peter was placed in the niche over the keystone of the arch. From the arch, a large stairway descends to the lower level of the grounds.

For two years, from 1948-1950, work was done on the new building connected to the rectory by the arch. The three story building was made of flexicore slap and the outside was made from a mixture of new and old bricks in the back and Michigan red sandstone in the front, so that the building was the same color as the buildings to which it was adjoined. The interior of the building was plastered by one of the best plasterers in the area, Dom Graziano, who was the son of a parishioner. He did all of the plastering for free.

When the building was finished, it had two classrooms, a kitchen, a laundry room, a pantry, and a main entrance on the first floor. On the second floor, there were three classrooms and a chapel with an adjoining sacristy. The third floor was a living area for the teaching sisters. It had eight cells, a kitchen, a refectory, and a community room. All in all, the building was a permanent convent and a temporary parochial school.

It was decided that the school would open and teach two grades. Unfortunately, the provincial of the Zelatrices, mother Celestine Righi, gave the bad news that she did not have any sisters to teach the school. Luckily, one of the assistant pastors of Mt. St. Peter's, Father Anthony G. Rakauskas, was the former Lithuanian Surgeon. As a result, he was close with the Lithuanian community of the sisters of St. Francis in Castle Shannon, PA. Father Rakauskas had Mother David, the mother general of that community, come visit the new facility of Mt. St. Peter. She sent sisters from her community to run the new school. In September of 1950, Mount Saint Peter's Parochial School opened it doors for classes. At the time, there were three sisters, thirty children in the first grade and twenty-four in the second.

The Parochial School

Since the convent school was small and only temporary, the next order of business was to build the actual school. The parochial school took ten years to build (1950-1960). This building also consists of three floors and is covered with red sandstone in the front. The rear of the building is made of white Pennsylvania sandstone. There is a bell tower on the building. It has three heavy, bronze bells that were salvaged from three Protestant churches of Pittsburgh.

The walls of the building are faced with blue tiles from Kittanning. Mr. Clifford McNees, who was the president of the Kittanning Tile and Brick Company at the time when Mt. St. Peter bought the tile, sold the tiles for a lot cheaper than normal price. He felt that it would not be fair to take advantage of a church by charging high prices. Another man who helped save the parish money in the constructing of the school was parishioner Luigi Valle. He advised the workers on how to set the tiles for many days days while refusing to be paid for his services. Unfortunately, Mr. Valle passed away in his early 40's, before the tile laying was completed. His place was taken by Bruno Regoli and two of his sons, Bruno, Jr. and John. (John would later become a priest of Mt. St. Peter Parish.) The three men faced the entire third floor with tile, a job that took them more than a month to complete.

Two huge granite lions, taken from the gardens of the Mellon Mansion, stand guard at the main entrance of the school and the door is surmounted with a terracotta Madonna by Della Robbia. In the school, there are nine classrooms, two auditoriums, a library, a cafeteria, and a utility kitchen. When the school was completed in 1960, it opened for children in grades 1-8. Later on, a kindergarten and preschool were added.

In September of 2002, Mount Saint Peter School no longer stood alone but rather became part of Mary Queen of Apostles School. The new school resulted from the consolidation of Mount Saint Peter, Saint Joseph, and Saint Margaret Mary Schools. Now, the school at Mt. St. Peter's now educates children in preschool through third grade.

Pastors of Mt. St. Peter

The pastor of Mt. St. Peter Parish is appointed to the position by the Bishop and is the leader of the parish. When one steps down, is transferred to another church, passes away, or retires, another is appointed. He is in charge of making sure that everything goes smoothy with the priests and administration of the church. The pastor works in collaboration with the Parish Staff, the Parish Pastoral Council, and the Parish Finance Council. His mission is to proclaim and help facilitate the building of the Kingdom of God among the parishioners of Mt. St. Peter Church.

The pastors of Mt. St. Peter, starting from 1902, when St. Peter's congregation began, are as follows: Father Piscopo (1902), Father Vincenzo Masselli (1903), Father Joseph DiSabato (1904), Fater Charles Galassi (1905), Father F. Pozukanis (1907), Father L. Pastorius (1907), Father H. Duval (1907), Father Pikulski (1907), Father G. Paonessa (1908), Father F. Sacchi (1914), Father James Vocca (1915), Monsignor Nicola Fusco (1923), Father Francis L. Ginocchi (1968), Father Leonard T. Sanesi (1983), Father Richard G. Curci (1992), and Monsignor Michael Begolly (2005). The years in parentheses are the years that each man became the pastor of the church.

Church Organizations

Within the congregation, there are many organizations that specialize in various activities, all of which strive to better the church or community or both. These groups allow parishioners to work with each other in order to reach common goals and also allows them to become more involved in Mt. St. Peter Church. This way, the congregation can remain a close knit family, not just a church where parishioners spend an hour praying on Sunday mornings. The organizations listed are the ones that are currently active, there were in the past, many others, like the Committee of a hundred (mentioned in the history section), which are no longer in existance.

Addolorata Society

The Addolorata Society was started by a group of women parishioners in 1903 and continues to be an all women society. The goal of the group is to find better ways to serve the church. The symbol of the Addolorata Society is the Blessed Mother because she symbolizes love. A member becomes a free life member when she turns eighty, as long as she has a member for at least fifteen years prior to her eightith birthday. Some of their events include attending funeral Masses and collecting money to purchase altar linens, vestments, and altar lights. The presidents of the society since 1903 in chronological order are as follows: Mrs. Rose Spinelli, Mrs. Michelina Fragale, Mrs. Maria Greco, Mrs. Rose Pascuzzi, Mrs. Santa Bordonaro, Mrs. Anna Bordonaro, Mrs. Sabetta, and Mrs. Carmina Chirella.

Saint Anthony Guild

In 1939, Mrs. Angela Costanza Bongiovanni, along with the help of Monsignor Fuso, founded the Saint Anthony Guild. At that time, 32 women joined Mrs. Bongiovanni's new guild. The mission of the guild was to serve the special needs of the parish and to help the poor and disadvantanged in the area. Also, the guild volunteered its time and effort at the St. Anthony Orphanage in Oakmont hence the name "Saint Anthony Guild." All the members of the Saint Anthony Guild are women and they strive to provide their group with fellowship and spiritual renewal through the help the bestow on the church and community.

Presently, in 2010, there are 47 active members of the organization and the president is Suzette Venturini. The group meets on the third Tuesday of February, April, May, August, September, October and November in the Marble Hall of Mt. St. Peter Church. The meetings consist of discussing projects and saying prayers together. The St. Anthony Guild is known for their visits to the homebound of the parish at Christmas and Easter and also for their Tree of Angels Campaign. This campaign allows parishioners to purchase angels in memory of loved ones that are placed on the church's Christmas tree. The money raised from these angel ornaments is donated to children in need. The guild also has many entertaining fundraisers to raise money for their charity projects. Some of these include a dance for parishioners in the fall, bingo nights, and selling coupons for special shopping days at Macy's.

Altar Servers

The honor of becoming an altar server, was, in the past, a privilege only available to boys but has since become coed. Altar servers wear long, white, plain robes and assist the priest in his duties during the Mass. At Mt. St. Peter Church, there are four altar servers at every Mass. One is the book bearer and is in charge of bringing the Bible to the priest at the times during which the priest reads from the Bible during the Mass. The cross bearer holds a large, wooded crucifix and commences the procession in which the priest enters the church. Also present in the procession are the acolytes, and the book bearer. He or she also leads the procession out of the church at the end of the Mass. The last two altar servers are acolytes and are in charge of lighting the candles in the church prior to the beginning of the Mass and extinguishing them after Mass.

Children, ages 11-17, volunteer to become altar servers not only to serve the church but also because it has always been looked upon as an honor. It is a chance for children to serve their priest and become closer to Jesus by being on the altar. In addition, it is an opportunity for them to try to make themselves more holy and therefore more worthy of the position.

Confraternity of Christian Doctrine

The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, also known as C.C.D. consists of men and women whose mission is to teach the priniples of loving and serving God to the children of the parish who do not attend Catholic School. Members of the confraternity serve as teachers in the Sunday Schools of the parish (there are seven different Sunday Schools belonging to Mt. St. Peter's in total). These teachers send out the Catholic messages of faith and love through words, stories, examples, and prayers in order to help the children grow in their faith. The majority of children who attend one of the Sunday Schools are ages 6-12.

Holy Name Society

For over fifty years, the Holy Name Society of Mt. St. Peter Church has been working to inspire love, honor, and reverence for the holy name of Jesus Christ. The society also works to promote respect for the Catholic Church, loyalty to Mt. St. Peter Parish, and a life filled with good spiritual values that can be carried throughout family, education, and work. The Holy Name Society is strictly for Catholic men and was begun by Monsignor Fusco, who started the group in hopes of uniting men of the parish through service to others. Members of the society host a Mass and breakfast on the Sunday prior to Palm Sunday every year and an annual Golf Outing during the summer. Money raised at this these two events is donated to the parish to help aid in the costs of parish projects.

Ushers' Club

The Ushers' Club consists of thirty or less men of the parish. They are chosen to join the club by the authority of the church. All members are required to do their job as "ushers" during Mass. This job entails showing people to available seats, telling parishioners when it is the right time to rise and get in line for communion, and collecting the monetary offerings of the parishioners during the presenting of the gifts to the altar. Members of the Ushers' Club also serve the church by volunteering their time and labor at the social activities of the parish.

St. Vincent De Paul Society

Mt. St. Peter Parish has a branch of the Saint Vincent De Paul Society. The goal of this branch of the society, like all other branches, is to help the poor, the sick, and the suffering. Members of this group work to help people locally by collecting food and delivering it to food banks in and around New Kensington. Within the church, it is seen as a great honor to be part of this society and the members believe that the best help lies in the people they are more than in the caring acts they perform. They all work together to help others and they continually stive to become better Catholics. ref>cite web|title=Mount Saint Peter Parish|url=http://mountsaintpeter.org/%7Caccessdate=</ref>

Mount Saint Peter Parish Council

In March of 1972, the Mount Saint Peter Parish Council was first elected. The group consists of eighteen elected members and it advises and assists the pastor in important decisions concerning the affairs of the church. It prides itself on having the ability to guide the parish in its mission of following Christ. The main purpose of the council is to give the pastor an insight into what the parish community thinks and how it feels about different issues. All of the parish activities must go through the four standing committees, which are the Liturgy, Education, Apostolic Work, and Temporalities.

References

Fusco, Nicola. Mt. St. Peter. Springdale, Pa: Guideline Printing Co., 1970.

Mt. St. Peter Church Centennial-100 years of faith. Pittsburgh, Pa: Broudy Printing Inc., 2004.

"Mount Saint Peter Parish".

Amyot, Grant. The Italian Communist Party. London, England: Croom Helm, 1981.

"Wreckers to Raze Mellon Mansion". Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh. 7Nov.1940. p. 4. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

"Pittsburgh Settles Down to Plain Winter Weather". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh. 6 Jan. 1941. p. 4. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Rutkoski, Rex (29 May 2004). "Church celebrates 100 years". Valley News Dispatch. New Kensington.

Category:Landmarks in PennsylvaniaCategory:Churches in Pennsylvania