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A LITTLE HISTORY
On October 8,
1952,
Bishop
John J. Wright founded a
new parish and named
Father Thomas J. O’Rourke as
its pastor.
On April 11, 1954, Mass was
celebrated in the newly constructed church, which is now
the parish hall.
The first Mass in the
present church was celebrated on April 14, 1963.
Because the parish property is
located on the site of a former Indian village, the
parish was dedicated to the eight North American
Martyrs, missionaries of the Society of Jesus who came
from France to preach the Gospel to Indians in Canada
and the Upstate New York region. The address number 8
commemorates the eight martyrs and the date of the
Immaculate Conception feast day.
Wyoma, the name of the
street, was the word for the outstanding girl in each
tribe, was later reserved among Christian Indians for
the outstanding girl of all tribes -- Mary, the Mother
of God.
The statue near the outside
stairway to the church is that of Blessed Kateri
Tetakwitha, an Algonquin born about ten years after the
death of Isaac Jogues and his companions.
She is called the first
fruit of the martyrs’ blood.
As you enter the church, the
statue to the left
is that of Saint Isaac
Jogues, the most famous of the North American Martyrs.
About
800
families make up the people of God in our parish.
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