Silver Jubilee of the Feast of Saint Rocco

Written by the Reverend Father Sante Gattuso, O. de M., 1940. The text below is a copy of the what was written in the booklet commemorating the 25th Aniversary of the Feast of Saint Rocco in Cleveland, Ohio.

Twenty-Five Years

Before leaving their native country our emigrants went to church, hear a mass said at their request, receive the sacraments and ask the protection and assistance, before going to the mysterious and fabulous land of America, of God and of the Blessed Virgin. Another thing they would do was to promise to send money from America for their little church or for the celebration of the feast day of the Patron Saint of their town or village. The “American help” was something on which many poor churches counted; in many churches throughout Italy there are inscriptions telling that some altar marble, watchtower, or new statues are the gift of the “Americans” – the emigrants.

The Italians were not very many in our sections twenty-five years ago. The Carrinos, Beneventos, De Nardis, Lombardis and few others are amongst the oldest members; many of those good old souls have gone from amongst us. The section around Detroit and W. 69th St., is older than the one around Fulton Rd. One of the first groups to have started to settle in the neighborhood were people from Noicattaro, a little town in Apulia. These people had the custom of taking up a collection amongst themselves and sending the money to their home town to help celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in the month of July; the committee of the celebration committed a mistake: it was not very prompt to acknowledge receipts of the money and did not send a printed list of the names of “the Americans” and the amount each one had given. The man who had been taking the collection every year, Frank DiDonna, was joked of and even suspected that he had done something else with the money; but finally, after a long delay, the committee from the old country sent the printed list and its sincerest regrets for what had happened. In 1915, July 11th, as we are told, a group of approximately the same men who had been sending the money for the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Italy were trying to forget the heat with generous glasses of ice cold beer. Someone asked why the usual collection had not been taken; Frank DiDonna, said that he was through, since, through no fault of his own, the year before, he was suspected of misusing the money, but then it was too late anyway, since the celebration was a few days after, July 16th. All at once an idea came to them that it would be better if some celebration would be held right here instead of sending the money to Italy; at least everybody could enjoy it. Since it was too late to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, it was decided to celebrate the feast of St. Rocco held every year, in Noicattaro, on the first Sunday of September. All agreed very enthusiastically and a committee was organized with Frank DiDonna as president; a collection was taken up amongst those present and the sum of $80.00 was raided. Things were not so easy when those who had started the celebration went around to ask the families for contributions towards the celebration. Some told them, that it was impossible; some said they were crazy, etc., just as it always happens when some thing new is started; but perseverance wins over all difficulties. After two months of hard work, enough money was raised to defray the expenses. A frame picture of St. Rocco was given our men who put up a tent on Trent Avenue and made a chapel of it with St. Rocco’s picture enshrined on a little altar. No Mass was said that year. The following men composed the committee of the first celebration: Frank DiDonna (now in Italy) president; Carl Lisco, treasurer; John Zaccaro, secretary; members were: Rocco DiDonna, Vicent De Bellis, Vito Di Piero, Angelo Spontella, Vitantonia Di Rutigliano, Vito Cochiarale, Dominic Divella, Giambattista Ippolito, Philip Biancofiore, Augustine Gallucci, Nunzio Diciolla, and John Lioce. The usual stands were set up; Sam Diana was the decorator and electrician; the Iannone band played during the two days of the feast. And so the first celebration in honor of St. Rocco was held twenty-five years ago. We may well imagine the devotion of our good women praying for the first time in such a humble place, little realizing that they, with the active work of their men, were writing the first page in the history of what in time was going to be the present complete parish plant of St. Rocco.

So passed the first celebration in honor of St. Rocco. Still no idea about a church had been advanced by anybody. Things were going to happen in the following years when the necessity of a church for our people was felt.

In May, 1916, the same committee of men started to work for the second annual celebration which was held again on Trent Avenue. The Picture of St. Rocco was put again on a little altar under a tent. This year, at the personal interest of Father Rocchi, then pastor of St. Anthony’s Church on Central Avenue, the Mass in honor of St. Rocco was solemnly carried from Trent Avenue to the church: the Lodge Giuseppe Mazzini marched with the people. The usual band concert, electric lights and flag decorations transformed Trent Avenue once again into an Italian Street Fair; fireworks gave the final touch to the celebration. John Lioce acted as president of the committee. Still no idea of a church had come out.

In 1917, the third annual celebration was organized. At this celebration things started to move a little different. Mr. John Zaccaro proposed at the first meeting of the committee that it would be better if a statue of St. Rocco could be purchased and used instead of the little frame picture, particularly on account of the procession. The idea was approved by all. All the members of the committee decided to pay with their own personal offerings for the statue of the Saint. There is no regret that this statue was destroyed by the fire we had in our present church in 1937; the present statue is exactly like the one originally purchased in 1917. In that year the blessed memory of Bishop Farley had given Rev. Damian Leone charge to take care of the spiritual needs of the Italians of the West Side, then mostly located around W. 65, 67 and 69 Sts.; and so the committee decided to ask Rev. Leone to celebrate the Mass in honor of St. Rocco. He accepted. An altar again was erected on Trent Avenue under a test. The new statue of St. Rocco was blessed the Saturday preceding the first Sunday of September. It is impossible to describe the joy and the commotion of those many good people. That blessed statue made many hopes rise in the hearts of all. The Mass was celebrated by Rev. Damian Leone on the feast day; the usual but more beautiful, imposing and devout procession took place in the afternoon. The men who carried the statue paid $225.00 for the honor granted to them. These men were: Mr. Vito Sanitate, president of the committee of this year’s celebration; Mr. Peter Loschiavone, Mr. John Baptist Ardito and Mr. Vito Carelli. After the celebration, to which for the first time Labor Day was added, it was decided to ask the pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church if it would be possible to bring the statue in that church. It was granted, but both the Rev. Leone and the people started to think of having a church for St. Rocco, where He could be put on the place of honor, where the Italians would feel at home when they wanted to go to church, where their spiritual needs could be taken care of. And so for the first time in 1917 a very definite move was started to have a little church for our people.

Here began the times of undecision and competition. As stated above the larger group was around Detroit Ave., and the Rev. Leone was being urged by both groups, the called the West Side and the one called Clark Avenue, to build the church in their respective neighborhood. Things got rather difficult. Rev. Leone finally decided with the approval Bishop Farley, to build the church in the zone of Clark Avenue. But here again things became complicated. The Bishop had given orders that as a first step, a plot of land large enough to have a church, school, etc., should have been procured. The population was not in condition to stand such a burden and it seems that they were given to understand that the sole church could be built. A single home lot was given by some man on Trent Avenue; the men started to get busy to dig the cellar and later on to build the little church that we all remember and presently is the residents of four families. Before it was completed Rev. Leone went to the Bishop and said that he could not do anything around the West Side. And so when it was completed it was not accepted by the Bishop who that, since Rev. Leone had left, nothing had been done.

Sorrowful, very sorrowful years indeed, passed for our people. The new little church fell the prey of many people and circumstances. We like rather not to go over the sad four years (1918-1922) that elapsed until union and communion with Mother Church was re-established. Even among all the difficulties the annual celebration in honor of St. Rocco was kept intact and it can be surely assumed that this great Saint prayed incessantly from heaven above for his faithful devoted people.

When our Beloved Archbishop, his Excellency the Most Rev. Joseph Schrembs, was transferred from the diocese of Toledo to that of Cleveland, some of the people who had seen in what predicament their church had been since its beginning, went to Toledo and asked him that their little church, at his coming to our diocese, be taken into the bosom of the Faith. He, ever burning with love for the salvation of the souls, promised that he would have done so as early as possible after his coming to Cleveland. He kept his word. In December 1922, the Rev. Alphonse De Maria, then assistant pastor at St. Anthony’s Church, was appointed as the first Catholic pastor of the newly created St. Rocco’s Parish. Rev. De Maria was in charge until June 1923, when the Rev. John Davidson, then assistant pastor at Blessed Sacrament Church, was appointed administrator. He had charge of the church until January 1924.

Under the date of January 22nd, His Excellency our Archbishop, who had received the religious of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy in his diocese in 1921, sent me the following letter:

Rev. Sante Gattuso, St. Anthony’s Church, Youngstown, Ohio. Reverend and Dear Father: The Fathers of the Order of Devine Mercy are hereby transferred from St. Anthony’s Church, Youngstown, to take charge of St. Rocco’s Church, Cleveland, Ohio. This appointment becomes effective Tuesday, January 29th. Wishing you God’s richest blessing in your new work, I am, Very faithfully yours in Christ, Joseph Schrembs, Bishop of Cleveland.

On the above date, January 29th, 1924, the late Rev. Fr. Martin Compagno and the undersigned reached the new field of work. It was a cold day, cold in every possible way. But let’s forget the past in the glorious joy of the 25th anniversary of the annual feast day of St. Rocco. When I took charge, as a pastor, of the little church on Trent Avenue, I found this situation. The little church had a mortgage of $8,000, the amount our Archbishop had to borrow from the Guardian Bank to pay off the various concerns who had sold the material with which the building had been erected. There was not even a single square food of land besides the single home lot on which the little church had been built. There was no Parish house; the collections were very meager; my first collection was $5.19. The attendance to the church and to the Sacraments was very small. Indifference, particularly on account of what had happened in the last few years, was predominant. Many people doubted that anything good could be ever done or that the new pastor would have lasted very long, since the others had stayed only a few months. The priest who took charge of St. Anthony’s Church, Youngstown, where we had worked for two years, made a rather gloomy picture of the situation which we were to confront.

Without any fear, putting all our confidence in God, on February 3rd, 1924, I spoke for the first time to my new flock. That day, mostly for curiosity sake, they crowded the little church to see the new pastor and hear his voice. I exposed my program: new church, school, parish house, sisters convent, a complete parish plant. I was taken for a visionary, a dreamer. And so our work began. It was hard work. It was a question of setting up some kind of discipline, order; of cutting abuses, restoring the faith. In going back to these past seventeen years I cannot find anything to do but to thank the Mercy of God for his continued, abundant assistance. You, my dear people, and I must proclaim that our parish has developed into a complete unit in such a way that it is the universal wonder. In a summary of the happenings of the past twenty-five years, particularly of the last sixteen years, you will find the reason of this statement.

When I came in this section about 17 years ago, I saw the necessity of a large church, of a school, etc., not from the attendance to the church, which was very discouraging, but form the number of the families: almost 400, without counting the families on Detroit Avenue. This number today is almost doubled.

Our School

As mentioned above, at the time of my first meeting with the people of the parish on February 3rd, 1924, I told them that were going to have a school for our children. Nobody believed that that could ever happen: the best argument was that other Italian church in the diocese had ever built a school. Still in 1926 the present combination of a church and school was built. The school could not be open that ear because the building was completed and dedicated late in December. In 1927, with the school building ready, it was very hard to get a community of Sisters who would teach. I asked the Ursulines, the Sisters of Notre Dame, the Philippini Sisters, the Sisters of the Humility of Mary, but all turned me down. But St. Rocco, as always, found the solution. As it will be said, in 1924 I started to do something for our parishioners around Detroit Avenue. In 1926, a regular chapel with Sunday Mass was started. Mass would be said sometime during the week days, whenever devout people would ask. One day in July I happened to go and say the Mass at our little chapel on West 69th St. There I saw two Sisters assist at Mass and receive the Holy Communion; the same thing happened the next two days. One afternoon I met those Sisters and questions were mutually asked. When I heard that they were teaching Sisters, I asked them if it would have been possible to have two of them to come and open our school in September. My wish was conveyed by them to their Mother Superior in Bristol, Pa., and a few days later I received a letter from Mother Teresa, the first and only Superior of our Trinitarian Sisters since their first coming in Cleveland, that she would take the school. I referred everything to our Archbishop and he approved their coming to Cleveland. On August 16th, 1927, Mother Teresa, Sister Mary and Sister Catherine came from Bristol; our school was opened for the first time on September 6, 1927, with the kindergarten, first and second grade. I shall never forget my joy and the joy and happiness of seeing those first babies in our school. Father Luna, then assistant pastor, told me: “here is your dream become a beautiful reality.”

Thirteen years have passes since then and hundreds of children have attended our school. A great religious, moral and intellectual work has been back to God and to the practice of their faith; they have been true missionaries (bitter as they may have been) in their work of teaching. The results of their labors have been most consoling. Whenever our youngsters have gone to attend the high school they did and are doing marvelously well. We are proud to see some of our former school pupils attend colleges in Cleveland and outside of Cleveland and doing so well. We look with joy to our former little school children in their work; we vision with the best hopes the new young families coming up from amongst those who attended St. Rocco’s school. God has given a call to the priesthood to one of our boys who is presently studying in Rome. Some of our girls have entered the convent life and there too, they are a source of consolation to all. Let me say that if would be humanly impossible to figure the amount of good done through our school.

I take this occasion to say that our Sisters have labored most zealously. They had to overcome serious difficulties especially in the beginning; but the Divine Providence assisted them always.

The whole parish owes a debt of profound gratitude for their work. God has blessed them in many ways. When they first came in 1927 they were only three and for two years they had to live in one of the class rooms. A house was provided for them in 1929. This house served as a mother house and a noviciate for some years. As their numbers grew another home was provided for them and so out of three sisters at St. Rocco and eight at St. John De Mata’s convent on Mapleside Rd., the only convent in the United States that belongs to [the] Community, since those of Bristol and St. Rocco belongs to the parishes; so the Divine Providence has rewarded the sacrifices of the Sisters in their work.

The first graduation was held in 1934 and since then we had 208 graduates. Our boys and girls are trying hard to advance, although financial circumstances have been and are a great handicap.

Tuition has been and is being paid for some of the best graduates and we would and could do more if contributions to the church were more regular on the part of all. The cost of running the school is heavy. It must be said that we could keep our school going during these past years of general poverty at the cost of great sacrifices on the part of the pastor and his assistants and on the part of the teaching Sisters.

St. Rocco's Parish, A Center of Expansion and Activity

When in January 29, 1924, the blessed soul of Rev. Fr. Martin Compagno and myself came to the little chapel on Trent Avenue we were told by our beloved Archbishop to go and see what we could do and do as much as possible. And so we began. From February to a part of May, Fr. Compagno attended, from Cleveland, St. Peter’s Church in Lorain, Ohio. In May 31, 1924, after several preliminary talks, His Excellency, our Archbishop addressed me the following letter:

May 31, 1924 The Rev. Sante Gattuso, 3515 Trent Avenue Cleveland, Ohio. Reverend and Dear Father: As I have mentioned to you verbally, you are appointed to take charge of the Italians in the . . . district, and to organize them as a parish unit. Definite lines between the new parish and the Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel on the East (Wickliffe) and Holy Rosary, on the South, will be given after thorough investigation by the Committee on Parish Boundaries. Wishing you every blessing in your new field of lavor, I remain, Very faithfully yours in Christ, Joseph Schrembs, Bishop of Cleveland.

On June 3rd, the details were worked out and on June 15, 1924, I said the first Mass for the new parish in a store. Rev. Fr. Compagno, to whom I had left the choice to either stay at St. Rocco or to go to the new field of work, transferred himself definitely to the place he had chosen on July 2, 1924.

At this time the following page will tell all.

He was born in Vallecorsa, near Rome. In his young age he entered the Order of Our Lady of Mercy. After having completed his studies at the Gregorian University in Rome he was sent to Mexico by the late Most Rev. Fr. Peter Armengol Valenzuela, Master General of the Order and later Archbishop. He worked very zealously in various monasteries of the Province of Mexico; he suffered a lot with other confreres when the persecution started in 1913; he was put in jail and finally expelled. From Mexico he came to the United States and here he worked in many places. New York, Texas, Minnesota, and finally Canada were the mile stones of his apostolic zeal before he asked Archbishop Schrembs to have the Order of Our Lady of Mercy admitted into the diocese in 1921. He was pastor of St. Anthony’s Church in Youngstown; in 1924 he established a new parish in the East side, in Cleveland. He gave all himself to God, to the souls entrusted to him and never spared himself in apostolic work. His memory will be in benediction more and more as time goes by. The Order and those to whom he ministered, owe much to him. He died on the battle field of his spiritual work on November 19th, 1939. We hail him with the simple words of an inscription found in a catacomb in Rome:

Frater, vivas cum Sanctis Frater, vivas in Domino Frater, dulcis simper vives Deo.

"Brother, may you live with the Saints; Brother, may you live in the Lord; Brother, you shall sweetly live to God."

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Mission

In the afternoon of Sunday, February 3rd, 1924, the first Sunday I had been in Cleveland, having been told that there was a group of my flock around Detroit Avenue and that some men’s society was holding its monthly meeting at 1257 W. 69th St., I went to get a little glimpse of some of the men who belonged to this society. After that I went to some home on W. 70th St., where there was a dead man. This was my first and only direct local contact with our group around Detroit Ave., outside of those that I would occasionally have when some baptism or funeral would require my ministration.

At the end of June, after the closing of the schools, some afternoons I went to see if anything could be started, at least some catechism for first Communion.

The first kids I met would not even pay attention to me because they were afraid I was not a Catholic priest; but finally, with the aid of people who had known me already, I started my first little Communion class. For a couple of times I had my class at St. Helena’s Church on W. 65th St. Noticing that the children did not like to come . . . so far (that’s what they told me), I asked some people if I could get some room to hold my class. The late Mrs. Santa Fasino, sacrificed a room in her home at W. 69th St., and there I started my new mission. Some pious women helped by asking to fix a little altar in the same room later on.

In the second half of July, I was invited to sing the Mass for the festival in honor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Very gladly I accepted and so my contacts with the group from the West Side (that’s the way they called the section) were getting closer. In September my first Communion class was ready and one Sunday morning they were [taken] to the little church on Trent Avenue and there they received Our Blessed Lord and Savior in the Holy Eucharist. The following year things went as in 1924. At the closing of the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, a little problem arose, where to keep the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Here again the Fasino family was most helpful and the room was completely given to erect an altar made out of an old saloon table. There the statue was placed. Flowers and candles adorned that simple and poor altar. Our good women started to gather every night and pray for hours and hours. Later on, the Mass, whenever requested, was said in that tiny chapel. So we got along until Palm Sunday, March 26, 1926. On that day, to satisfy the growing necessities of the people who were getting more and more confident in the work of the ministers of God, a wider chapel had been prepared in the old saloon of Pasquale Zitiello at W. 69th St., just across the street from the little simple and humble room where the very beginning had had its life, and the statue was carried into the new chapel.

Palms were blessed and distributed; the Mass was said for the first time there. From that day on, the Mass was said regularly every Sunday; confessions were heard regularly every Saturday. In due time the number of Masses was brought to two.

This chapel was in use from Palm Sunday, 1926, to February 28, 1933. In the month of December, 1932, the property where the chapel stands at the present time was bought. The amount of work done in this mission can be and is known only to God. But one thing will tell all: from one Mass as it was originally, we have reached the point where four Masses are being said every Sunday. Fourteen years have passed since the mission had its regular Sunday services; sixteen years since the work was begun with a simple first Communion class. The future of the mission is bright; with the splendid cooperation of our people and above all with the blessing of God, more and more work will be developed for the glory of God and the salvation of the souls.

A very important step toward future developments was taken last year, when the property at the corner of West 70th and Detroit Avenue was purchased at a cost of $11,500. We have not one penny of debt in the properties of the mission; we take this occasion to solicit the zeal of the members of the mission to give as generously as possible. Banks won’t loan money except in a small amount after we would have the greater part of the funds. Everybody can draw the conclusion.

I take this occasion to express my deepest appreciation to the members of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Mission for the splendid cooperation given Fr. Caruso and me during the past years. Their best reward is the excellent condition of the mission.

Our Vital Statistics

There are practically no vital statistics records prior to my coming to the parish. There are few baptisms before 1924. Of these 49 belong to the time before the church was taken by Archbishop Schrembs; 27 to Re. De Maria and 48 to Rev. Davidson. Since then, after the population was finally convinced that things were stable, that order had been established, the vital statistics showed a tremendous gain. Indeed while for the period of four years are registered 124 baptisms only, from January 29 to December 31, 1924. 129 babies were baptized. In 1925 the number was 150; in 1926, there was 151l; and it keeps growing, it reached the maximum of 197 in 1932. The total numbers of baptisms are 2725.

There are no records whatsoever of first Communion before 1924. The total number of First Communion is 1942. Of this number 567 belong to the Mission of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

The total number of confirmed, since 1924, (no Confirmation had been administered before that time) is 2026.

Marriages have been 737, in the great majority Catholic marriages.

The number of the dead is 702.

We had 72 converts who took instruction and were baptized. When we say converts we do not mean to include careless Catholics who went back to the church, but only those who came to the faith from a non-Catholic denomination.

Since 1927 up to this last school year, we had a number of pupils of 3794: this number obtained by adding the yearly totals of children attending the school. All should realize what work there is behind this great number of pupils, what it has cost us to keep these pupils in the school.

All the above figures, in their simplicity, tell a wonderful story of the mercy of God, of the sacrifices of the people of hard work for your pastor and his assistants and for the Sisters teaching in the school. For this, all glory be to God and to St. Rocco, our glorious Patron Saint.

Church Sodalities

At the time of my coming there were no organized church groups. The Holy Family Sodality had been in existence before, but it was practically dead when I took charge of the parish. At the request of some ladies it was revived and today it stands as the pioneer and largest among all the groups. It has 227 members, all married women. It has been a source of joy and help to me. Their generosity towards the church has been excellent. Mrs. Antoinette Manfredi is the president.

After having re-established this sodality, I organized other groups. First of all was the Young Ladies Sodality. Many of our young mothers have been members in it. Presently it has 32 members. It includes young women who are at least 16 years of age. The president is Miss Rapphi Girardi.

Another group was the Sodality of St. Agnes. At the present time it is in very fine shape under the presidency of Miss Virginia Muscarella. It has over 100 members all in uniform.

The Children of Mary’s for girls under the age of 16 years. Its president is Miss Anna Colonna. The number of members is good.

As time went by other groups were organized. The Holy Name Sodality for boys. The Conference of St. Vincent De Paul to take care of the poor of the parish in emergency cases. Its president is Mr. Anthony Manfredi, and all its members are doing a splendid work of charity, the sweet silent charity.

Still another group was organized some years ago: the Knights of St. John, Commandery No. 330. Although small in number, they keep their group well and strongly united and add so much beauty and solemnity to our church services.

Since my first years in the Parish, a dramatic club, then called The Ideal Dramic Club was begun. The club grew up and many more members joined. The Mercedes Dramatic Club as it is called today, had been a center of fervent activity. Its dramatic performances have given hours and hours of wholesome, moral and religious entertainment to the whole parish. They have given dramas even outside of Cleveland, particularly the beautiful Passion Play. The president of the Dramatic Club is Mr. Vito Sanitate, one of the most active and best actors. Rev. Severino Moltini, O. D. M. is the director.

In 1935, still another group was organized: the Sodality of Our Lady of Mercy for married men. Mr. Ettore Zannoni is the president. They are a fine group of men, zealous for the glory of God and for the advancement of our Parish. They certainly set up a good example to our young men. The pastor, as with the rest of the groups, counts on them whenever there is something special to be done for the Church.

In the Mission of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel we have the following groups:

In 1926 was organized the Sodality of the Children of Mary, with a fine number of members. They were very helpful to me in the hard beginning of the Mission, particularly by teaching the catechism to the younger ones. Miss Antoinette Zitiello, now Mrs. Di Fino, was its first president.

Later in the same year the Sodality of St. Agnes for younger girls was established. The little girls have been keeping this Sodality in fine shape.

In June 1928, at the request of some married women, after the devotion of the First Friday had been put into practice, a group of married women were united into the Sodality of the Sacred Heart. It has been and it is a magnificent group of women, well organized, perfectly disciplined and ever ready to give their cooperation whenever and however it may be needed. Its president is Mrs. Teresa Antonucci, one of the younger generation.

Few years after the Mission moved from W. 69th St. to Detroit Avenue, a group of men got together under the guidance of our Father Caruso and set up the fine men’s group of Catholic Action. Its president is Mr. Henry Zona. They are a very faithful help, working and cooperating in a wonderful way with Father Caruso.

Still some years ago the Conference of St. Vincent De Paul had its beginning. The few men who are members of the Conference have some very important and delicate work of charity and religion. They are very zealous in this work.

To all these groups, who may be called the right hand of the pastor, my sincerest appreciation and gratitude. I pray Our Blessed Mother that the choicest heavenly blessings may be their reward.

The Priest of St. Rocco's Parish

The first Catholic priest appointed as pastor of St. Rocco’s church was Rev. Alphonse de Maria. He was in charge of the parish for about six months, from December 1922 to June 1923. He had no assistant pastor.

In June 1923, when Rev. De Maria gave up his pastorate on account of sickness, the Rev. John Davidson, then assistant pastor at the Blessed Sacrament Church, was appointed administrator. He worked in our church until January 29th, 1924. During his stay he worked very zealously for our people who gave him all their cooperation. He is well remembered by many of our families.

On January 29th, 1924, the late Rev. Fr. Martin Compagno, O. D. M., and myself came from Youngstown, Ohio. Father Compagno stayed at St. Rocco until July 5th, 1924, when he went to establish another parish in the East Side.

I need to mention the Rev. Fr. Gerald Schmalz, O. F. M., who was my regular assistant over three years steady. His sermons to the youngsters are still remembered.

On Christmas day, 1925, the Rev. Fr. Firmin Luna, O. D. M. reached me. He was from our Province in Peru. He had to go through, with me, many hardships since the parish then had no house and the finances were so weak that we could not afford to have a housekeeper. He worked and helped both at the parish and at the Mission of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. In December 1928, he went back to his native country.

In September 1928, the Rev. Fr. Severino Moltini, O. D. M., then a cleric yet, came from Italy. He was ordained priest (the first one of the Order to have been ordained in the diocese of Cleveland) on May 30th, 1931, at St. John’s Cathedral. He has been at St. Rocco since his coming.

In December 1928, the Rev. Fr. Vincent Caruso, O. D. M., came from Italy. He has worked at St. Rocco, for some months at the parish in the East Side, and since ten year has been in charge of the Mission of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

In January 1936, Rev. Fr. Vito Travisano, then a cleric, came from Italy. He was ordained priest in June, 1938, at St. Rocco’s Church, by the Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese, His Excellency James A. McFadden. His the third member of the order ordained in the diocese.

In February of this year, the Rev. Fr. Raymond D. Marciano, O. D. M., joined us this year from the East Side parish.

This year the Rev. Fr. John Debski, O. D. M., came from Italy.

All these priests have been and are working zealously and in many ways for the glory of God, for the salvation of the souls and for their own sanctification. God alone knows what their work means and what sacrifices and mortifications has cost and does cost. But He Who gave us the vocation to the religious life and the Holy priesthood, gives us the strength to carry on and on. At my coming in the parish I found nothing; the finance book had only $5.27. The first years were years of fight and dire sacrifices ad mortifications. No house, no domestic service, no janitor to take charge of the church. For almost four years we had to go to eat at the restaurant. Attendance to Mass and to the Sacraments small; collections, in those years of greatest abundance, were [meager]. And if we rejoice and celebrate this 25th anniversary of the first celebration of St. Rocco’s feast day in our parish, we look, and with anxiety, to the much work to be done yet. All of you, my dear people, give your pastor and his co-workers in the vineyard of the Lord your best and most generous cooperation and they will work more and more, and their burden won’t be so heavy.

The Social Progress of Our Parish

Our immigration in the United States in general and in our section of the city of Cleveland in particular, is rather recent in comparison with other ethmical groups from Europe. The [rhythm] of the settlement of the Italians around Fulton Rd., Clark Ave., and side streets, were accelerated at the time of the destruction of the famous slums around Hill St., Orange Ave., etc. Another good number of our families came from Pennsylvania at the time of the long and disastrous strike in the coal mines. At the time of my coming in the parish there were less than 400 families; last year almost 800 were censured, with a total population of over 5000 persons; these figures apply to the parish proper.

The same remarkable growth has been going in our Mission of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. In 1925 when for the first time I took the census, there were a little over 220 families. Last year, including some families who live rather distant from the neighborhood of the Mission, about 400 families were censured.

In these past years we have seen a continual progress among our people. In 1924 there were no professionals among our group. Then the majority of the families were first generation immigrants and their children were too young yet. Today, even with the terrible economic handicap which has been scourging our people and our parish since 1929, our young people are trying hard to advance. We have already two doctors from our group, Doctors Caravona and Gulmi. There are already a number of teachers both men and ladies. We wish to mention their names, Miss Marie Gulmi, Miss Gulmi, Mis Pietrina Mancuso, the former Miss Basile, today happily married. Among the young men who have had their diplomas as teachers we mention Joseph Pavia, at present teaching at Lincoln High School, Pat Cordisco, teaching in Parma and Sam Brooks. We have some young women who are nurses: the two Misses Gulmi, cousins. Last year Mr. Al De Marco graduated from Western Reserve University as an architect and presently he is working on the plans of our new church. Miss Stella Scarano has just graduated from Notre Dame Academy; Mr. Gene Zannoni has graduated from John Carroll University. Another young man, Mr. Lolli, graduated as a pharmacist some years ago from the Ohio State University. Dr. Martuch is the first dentist from our families. The dean of our young doctors is Dr. N. D’Alessandro; Mr. Louis Morabito is a teacher; his brother James is a doctor. We wish to point with the greatest admiration Acting Police Inspector Joseph Canepe, a truly self-made man.

Other young men and women are struggling to go through colleges and other higher education institutions and we wish them the best success and the help of our prayers. I take this occasion to state that I take great joy and pride whenever our young people advance and attain the place due to them in the life of this country.

The Economic Progress of the Parish

We can sincerely say that we have not a single rich family in our parish. All our families are composed of hard workers employed in the steel mills, building construction and so on. We have few working with the city, all (except four or five) in the hard jobs. In saying that we have no rich families we do not intend to complain at all. Whatever has been done in the last sixteen and a half years, it has been done with the generous contributions of these not rich families. When they could not give the money, our men gave their free work, and that meant a lot more than money. We like our people just as they are and with them we live and like their financial situation. We have the experience that it takes the people to understand the needs of our poor church and to them we can appeal whenever the case may be.

In the first years of the coming of our groups, there were no business places in their control. The first store was a small one on W. 32nd St., and it belonged to Gennaro De Nardis. Later on, the Benevento family opened another little grocery store on W. 33rd St.

As the number of the Italian families increased other stores, mostly grocery stores were opened. At the present time there are many stores either owned or operated by our people. The business activity of our people extends from some of the best grocery stores and meat markets, patronized in a large scale even by other people, to gasoline stations, barber shops, tailors, shoemakers, automobile salesrooms, beer gardens, restaurants, up to last created necessity, the beauty shops. We can see and admire the steady progress of our families. Of course this is meant both for the parish proper and for the Mission of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. We rejoice whenever we see our people making headway in the business life.

Some Important Chronological Notes of the Parish

Sept. 1915: For the first time the feast of St. Rocco was celebrated on Trent Avenue.
Sept. 1916: The second feast in honor of St. Rocco was held. No church yet or priest.
Sept. 1917: The statue of St. Rocco was purchased and the third solemn St. Rocco’s celebration help. The statue was brought, at the closing of the feast, at the Blessed Sacrament Church. The Rev. Damian Leone appointed to work for the Italians, while he was in charge of St. Peter, Lorain, Ohio, and was chaplain of the Sisters of St. Augustine on Lake Ave.
Sept. 1918: The fourth annual celebration is held. Plans for a church are advanced.
Sept. 1919: The construction of the little church is started on Trent Ave. The fifth celebration is held in September.
1920-21-22: We may call these years the sorrowful years of our parish. The little church on Trent Ave. for various reasons, fell under an improper control, away from the Catholic Church.
Dec. 1922: The Rev. Alphonse De Maria, was appointed as the first Catholic pastor of St. Rocco’s Church.
June 1923: The Rev. De Maria gave up (on account of ill-health) the pastorate and the Rev. John Davidson was appointed administrator.
Jan. 1924: On January 29th, 1924, the Fathers of Mercy came from Youngstown and Fr. Gattuso was appointed pastor. He has been there ever since. During his pastorate these are the most important happenings in the parish.
May 1924: The first Communion was administered to about 100 children. The following Sunday, June 1st, His Excellency the Most Rev. Archbishop Schrembs came for the first time to administer the sacrament of Confirmation. The beautiful ceremony, for lack of space in the little church, had to be held on the sidewalk in front of the church.
July 1924: The first cathechism class was started in a room of a private home on W. 69th St., for the children of the families of that zone.
Sept. 1924: Eight children of our future Mission of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel received their First Holy Communion at St. Rocco’s Church on Trent Ave.
Jan. 1925: Less than a year since the coming of Fr. Gattuso, a parcel of land on Fulton Rd. (where we are now located) was purchased from Mrs. Carrie Theurer for $10,000.00.
July 1925: The Statue of Our Lady of Mt.Carmel was bought in this month. It was blessed on the little altar erected on Herman Ave. for the celebration. At the end of the feast the statue was placed in the room where the cathechism classes had been held. A little altar was put up; a group of women started to pray together every night. The chapel had its beginning.
Mar. 1926: On Mar. 28, 1926, a little chapel, prepared two weeks before, at 1255 W. 69th St., in an old saloon, received the statue of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. It was Palm Sunday. Mass was said regularly every Sunday since that day.
July 1926: The ground for the new Church-school combination was broken. The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Nicholas Pfeil officiated.
Oct. 1926: The first Communion was given to the children of the Mission for the first time on October 20, 1926, in the little chapel of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.
Dec. 1926: On December 19, 1926, the new Church-school combination was blessed by His Excellency the Archbishop. Confirmation was administered for the second time on that day.
May 1927: The construction of the new parish house was started. It was occupied in the early part of August of the same year.
Aug. 1927: The first three Trinitarian Sisters came from Bristol to take charge of our school, ready to be opened for the first time.
May 1931: The first part to the addition of the school was built.
Sept. 1927: On the 6th of September, our school opened with the kindergarten, first, and second grades.
June 1929: A home was bought from the Variano family to be adapted as a convent for our Sisters who had been living for two years in one of the school rooms.
Dec. 1932: A property at 7104 Detroit Ave. was purchased from the Smith heirs. Work to transform the first floor of the home into a church and the second floor into club rooms was started in the first half of January 1933.
Feb. 1933: His Excellency the Auxiliary Bishop, the Most. Rev. James A McFadden blessed the new Chapel of O. L. of Mt. Carmel at 7104 Detroit Ave. and said the first Mass.
Mar. 1933: The tenth anniversary of the Mission of O. L. of Mt. Carmel was celebrated.
May-Sept. 1933: The addition to the school, giving four more splendid classes, was completed with the generous free work of our men.
May-Sept. 1935: An addition to the holy priesthood, a very extraordinary happing for a parish church, was held by His Excellency the Auxiliary Bishop James A. McFadden.
June 1938: Our Most Rev. Father Master General came to visit our parish. A solemn reception was given in his honor.
Mar. 1939: A parcel of land was purchased from the Smith heirs at the corner of W. 70th St. and Detroit Ave., for future developments of the Mission of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.
Jan.-Sept. 1940: The silver jubilee of the annual celebration in honor of St. Rocco is being prepared and plans laid for the construction, to begin in the spring of 1941, of the new permanent church. All be for the glory of God and for the salvation of the Souls.

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