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Parish
Mission Statement
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We, the parish
of Holy Family, Latrobe, PA., are a large and diversified parish
founded over one hundred and forty years ago. The primary function
of our parish is to guide and strengthen its members to love
and serve God.
We will continue
to foster Christ's example of loving respect for each other.
We will reach out to all ages so that each may experience God's
compassion and love. We will through service and workshop, promote
Catholic spiritual and moral values.
We will build
upon the parish tradition of community fellowship by invitation
to our parish activities and our participation in ecumenical
and community functions.
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Chronological
History of Holy Family Parish
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Holy Family
began its long and venerable history when on June 13, 1856, the
Most Rev. Michael O'Connor, first Bishop of the Pittsburgh Diocese,
authorized the establishment of a Parish at Latrobel Pennsylvania,
to care for the Catholics in that area.
Prior to
this, Catholics attended services at St. Vincent's, which was
run by the monks of St. Benedict.
As the Pennsylvania
railroad stretched westward,a station was established at Beatty
in the year 1852. The area surrounding was incorporated and streets
were mapped by Oliver Barnes, who named the newly formed town
"Latrobe"~ after a friend, Benjamin Latrobe of Baltimore,
Maryland.
When property
lots went on sale, David Williams, a Catholic and a contractor
for the railroad, secured the block between Chestnut and Walnut,
fronted by Ligonier Street, for a price of $250, which he donated
for the construction of a CathGlic Church. Four years later,
in 1856, building began of a church 60 x 40 feet, facing Chestnut
Street. It was completed and
dedicated in 1857 under the title of Holy Family.
Six years
later, in February of 1863, a violent wind storm lashed the area,
destroying the Church. Little was left standing, except the two
side walls. By spring, reconstruction was underway and, on September
6, 1863, the Church was rededicated. A rectory house
was built in 1864 at the corner of Ligonier and Chestnut Streets
to be a residence for pastors.
The Catholic
population of Latrobe increased rapidly and the cornerstone for
a new and larger church was laid in 1905. It was completed in
1907 and the original church, which seated only 300, was abandoned
and parishioners moved into the present edifice which
faces Ligonier Street.
A tall church
steeple originally topped the bell tower, but it had to be removed
after being struck by lightning several times, giving the church
its present definition.
When the
Church was completed, it was pronounced one of the finest in
Western Pennsylvania. The architectural style of the Church is
modern English Gothic. The entire exterior of the building is
constructed of Holmsburg granite trimmed with Indian limestone.
The roof is green slate. The Church tower is twenty feet square
and was originally one
hundred sixty-four feet high. The overall length of the Church
is one hundred and fifty feet high. The width through the body
of the Church is sixty-two feet and through the Transept it is
seventy-three feet wide. The vestibule is lined in dressed stone
from the floor to the ceiling, which is paneled in wood. The
columns are dressed in Indiana limestone. A five foot wainscot
of fine chestnut lines the interior walls of the Church and the
floors are marble. Altars of the best Carrara marble were brought
from Italy and installed in 1919. The windows were designed and
executed by the late Harry E. Goodhue, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The magnificent window back of the Main Altar depicts the Crucifixtion"-.
The theme of the Family of God was carried out in other windows.
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