St. Mary's 1939-1961: A Mission Church of St. Rose of Lima Parish
Part 1: The Origins of St. Mary's
Part 2: 1922-1939: A Mission Church of Sacred Heart Parish
Part 3: 1939-1961: A Mission Church of St. Rose of Lima Parish
Part 4: Since 1961: An Independent Parish
Epilogue: Pastor's Vision for the Future
Acknowledgments: About this history
In May 1938, the Most Reverend Bartholomew Eustace became the first bishop of the Camden diocese, which Pope Pius XI had created by dividing the Diocese of Trenton in two. The Pope took this action in light of population growth in southern New Jersey.
The following year, Bishop Eustace formed St. Rose of Lima parish in nearby Newfield. Previously, St. Rose of Lima Church (as well as St. Mary's) had been a mission of Sacred Heart parish of Vineland. The Reverend Thomas Gooley, who resided at the rectory in Newfield, served as St. Rose's first pastor.
Because of Malaga's proximity to Newfield (two miles), the bishop decided to put St. Mary's under the administration of St. Rose of Lima parish rather than have it continue as a mission of Sacred Heart parish seven miles away. Thus, Father Fooley served as pastor of St. Mary's of Malaga as well as St. Rose's in Newfield.
St. Mary's First Improvements
During the period Father Gooley was pastor (1939-1944), he oversaw two main improvements in the St. Mary's physical plant: landscaping the church grounds and finishing the basement. To accomplish the former project, Father Gooley tapped the young men stationed at the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in Bridgeton. (The CCC was part of the Roosevelt Administration's effort to provide young men with training and job experience during the Great Depression, when about one-third of the nation's workforce was unemployed.)
With materials provided by Messrs. Michael and Nicholas Cesare, the CCC men graded the area around the church, seeded lawns and planted shrubbery. They constructed a concrete walk leading from the front to the rear of the church, where the entrance to the basement was then located. These projects improved the external appearance of St. Mary's markedly because the grounds had never been landscaped.
Renovation of the church basement began by replacing the original wood-burning furnace with an oil-fired heating system. This change freed space that had previously been used to store wood and stumps. Parishioners poured cement over the unfinished earthen floor and covered the resultant concrete with asphalt tiles. They installed knotty-pine paneling, a new ceiling, lighting fixtures, and food service facilities. These improvements transformed the original basement into an inviting church hall and enabled St. Mary's to sponsor spaghetti suppers, card parties, bingo games, bake sales, and other income-generating activities.
World War II
The church hall became available at about the same time that ccivilian gas rationing was imposed during World War II. Loval Boy Scouts were enlisted to patrol the area in their uniforms on Tuesday nights, when the church sponsored weekly bingo games, to discourage anyone from siphoning scare gasoline from parked cars.
On other occasions during the war years, members of the St. Theresa Society used the hall to assemble kits containing a rosary and a prayer book. They mailed the kits to servicemen from St. Mary's, who served in the United States and in the Pacific, North African, and European Theaters of War.
Women were not included in the regular military services during World War II. However, they had the option of joining the WACs (Women's Army Corps) or the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), the women's auxiliary of the U.S. Nacy. Most of the women of St. Mary's contributed to the war effort by working on family farms or in nearby factories that converted to production of military clothing.
During the 1940s, the families of American servicement and servicewomen hung a rectangular flag with a white field in their front windows. A blue star for each person serving in the military was sewn on the white field.
Because the church's founders of 1922 had had large families and many of them had draft-age sons at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the front windows of virtually all of St. Mary's appriximately 100 families had flags with one, two, or more blue stars. Fortunately, no family of St. Mary's Church had to go through the agony of replacing a blue star with a gold one--the sign of a fallen soldier, sailor, or airman. However, several were severely wounded in battle.
The Postwar Era
August 1945 saw the end of the war and the return of St. Mary's veterans to their homes and families. Gas rationing ceased and this enabled the Reverend Leonard Naab, who had been appointed pastor of St. Rose of Lima parish and of St. Mary's Church in 1944, to use his car to visit every Catholic family withing St. Mary's boundaries. These visits better acquainted him with his parishioners and helped him develop an accurate, up-to-date census.
During Father Naab's tenure, the church acquired its first stained-glass windows. Parishioners contributed funds for creatinig and installing twenty-two stained-glass windows, dedicated to various saints (see Figure 5). Father Naab insisted on first-rate materials and workmanship. "The color in this glass will never fade," he said on numerous occasions. More than half a century has passed since he uttered these words, and his prediction has proven to be correct.
Church Organizations
At this point in St. Mary's history,
three religious organizations existed: the Holy Name Society, the
Sodality of the Blessed Virgin, and the St. Theresa Society. The Holy
Name Society had been active for years; its men contributed many hours
to maintaining the church's physical plant. Under the guidance of
Father Edmund Aherne, pastor from 1954 to 1955, the Holy Name men built
St. Mary's Shrine (located on the west lawn).
The Sodality of the Blessed Virgin can be credited with enriching the spiritual lives of St. Mary's young women during the church's middle years, and the St. Theresa Society--named after St. Theresa of Lisieux (France)--contributed to the purchase and maintenance of altar linens and church vestments. Miss Antoinette Cesare served eighteen years as its first president.
The 1950s
National prosperity was the hallmark of the postwar era, and this prompted the building of new homes on undeveloped land in the Malaga area. To accommodate the growing population, the church offered a second Sunday Mass for the first time. Thus, someof the Masses were celebrated not by the pastor, but by other priests. These included Fathers Peter Hughs, Cletus Moran, Cornelius O'Leary, and James Villani.
In the early 1950s, the church wasin need of expansion and refurbishing. Under the leadership of Father Edward O'Connor (later Monsignor O'Connor), who succeeded Father Naab in 1950, the church was enlarged by lengthening the altar end about fifteen feet.
Father O'Connor moved the sacristy into the newly constructed area and used the space previously occupied by the sacristy to accommodate a new, reconfigured altar (funded by the St.Theresa Society). This made it possible to increase seating at the front of the church. Father O'Connor also made more seating available at the rear of the church by moving the organ and choir from the main floor to a newly constructed loft, located above the main entrance.
During the renovations, workmen removed the original tin coverin gonthe interior walls and ceiling of the church and replaced it with modern wood panelingand dry wall. To completment the structural changes, parishioners contributed funds for anew crucifix, tabernacle, and hand-carved statues (see Figure 5).
The Reverend Patrick Madden (later Monsignor Madden) was pastor from 1955 to 1961. He provided leadership for additional changes, including the installation of a new altar rail in 1957 and the acquisition of land across the street from the church (where the rectory now stands) the following year.
Despite subsequent changes, the church's interior retains the aspect set by the 1950s renovations. On the outside, the architectural elements of St. Mary's remain the same as those set by the founders. Embellished by both Gothic and Romanesque features, the church has served many well for seventy-five years (Figure 6).