When Holy Guardian Angels Parish was formally established in Hyde Park in 1929, it began with fewer than 100 families. Many of its earliest parishioners were Italian immigrants who had settled in Temple during the 1920s. With limited transportation and the nearest Italian [...]
There was a time in Hyde Park when one building held nearly everything a parish needed. It stood along Kutztown Road, built of rough-textured brick with contrasting trim, seventy-eight feet long and fifty-seven feet wide. Its architecture was described as English Norman, but [...]
Monsignor John J. Grabish has devoted over five decades to serving the Catholic Church and its communities, embodying a life of faith, leadership, and an unwavering commitment to helping others. From his ordination in 1972 to his present role as pastor of St. [...]
Theodore Ignatius Heizmann began the construction of St. Cecilia's Chapel in 1892-1893 in memory of his mother, Mary Cecilia Heizmann. Theodore Ignatius Heizmann was born in Reading Dec. 14, 1838. He attended the private schools of the city and later Mount St. Mary’s College, [...]
Holy Guardian Angels Roman Catholic Church, Hyde Park, was established in 1929 for a group of Italian immigrant families who settled in Temple in the early 1920s. The nearest Italian Catholic church, Holy Rosary, located in Reading was about five miles away and [...]
By the beginning of the 20th century in Reading there was an urgent need for a Catholic secondary school. In order to meet the advanced academic needs of the Reading high school-age population, St. Peter High School was founded in 1911. St. Peter’s [...]
As a number of immigrants from Eastern Europe continued to migrate to the shores of the United States in the early pan of the twentieth century, a group of people of Polish descent sought to establish a second Polish parish in Reading on [...]
The celebration of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America by the Catholic of this city took place on October 12, 1892. A number of private and business houses were decorated with flags and streamers. St. Paul’s church, pastoral residence, school building [...]
By the dawn of the 20th century Reading was undergoing notable industrial expansion. The lure of jobs brought significant population growth to the area. Among the newcomers were many Catholics. Monsignor George Bornemann of St. Paul’s Parish recommend to Edmund F. Prendergast, Archbishop of [...]
Count Berthold von Imhoff was a famous painter of religious art works. He was born Jan. 14, 1868, in Karlsruhe, Germany. At age 12, he started studying at various European art schools including Oberwinter, Halle-an-der-Halle, and the art institute at Karlsruhe, Baden. In [...]
