2014 -- H 8309

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

CELEBRATING THE 170TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF ST. MARY'S

CHURCH IN WEST WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND

     

     Introduced By: Representatives Serpa, Ackerman, Nunes, Morgan, and McLaughlin

     Date Introduced: June 11, 2014

     Referred To: House read and passed

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     WHEREAS, It has been known by several names in its long history, but St. Mary's

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Church has been a mainstay in the tiny village of Crompton, in the Town of West Warwick for

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the past 170 years; and

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     WHEREAS, By 1844, the Irish settlers of Crompton had grown tired of the ten mile trek

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to Providence for Catholic Mass.  Mary Doran, the wife of a printer in the Crompton Print Works

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purchased an acre of land and donated it to Father Fitton for the purposes of building a church.

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The cornerstone for the church was laid on October 15, 1844 and a small church was built upon

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it.  The Irish of the Pawtuxet Valley finally had a church of their own; and

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     WHEREAS, The church started out as a mission church served by priests from the

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Cathedral in Providence.  The church became a separate parish and was renamed St. Mary's under

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its first Pastor the Rev. Daniel Kelly in 1850.  Less than a year later, the Reverend James P.

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Gibson came to St. Mary's.  Under Father Gibson, the transepts and sanctuary were added in

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1856; giving the church its distinctive cross shape.  The church's bell tower was added in

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1859.  Reverend Gibson served until his death in 1892, and is buried adjacent to the church; and 

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     WHEREAS, After Father Gibson's death, the church was once again a mission church for

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traveling Catholic priests from Providence.  On August 6, 1926, the church was devastated by

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fire.  The church was re-opened on Easter Sunday, 1927.  In 1946, the church was returned to

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parish status and Rev. Barton Daggett was appointed pastor; and

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     WHEREAS, The church continued to grow spiritually, although the building itself had

 

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suffered the ravages of time.  In 1978, the church's 133rd year, the parish undertook the task of

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planning and funding an extensive renovation.  Work on the project began in April of 1980.  The

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structure was lifted and moved while a new foundation was built.  After returning the building to

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its original location, interior renovations revealed evidence of previous fires.  After the

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renovation, the building was rededicated on January 25, 1981, by Bishop Louis Gelineau.  In

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1994, St. Mary's held its 150th Anniversary Celebration; and

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     WHEREAS, Today's parishioners are acutely aware of the history of their church.  St.

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Mary's and the adjacent St. Mary's Cemetery are now entered on the National Register of Historic

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Places.  From high atop the hill, the church looks over the village of Crompton and the other

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villages that would eventually become the Town of West Warwick; and

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     WHEREAS, Most of the original parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel are buried

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behind the church.  Many of their gravestones indicate their Irish birth places.  Among their

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graves are the graves of Mary Doran and Father Gibson.  There are also the graves of those who

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have served our country, and the graves of thousands of other parishioners that have found their

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way to this little building on Church Street; now, therefore be it   

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     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

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Providence Plantations hereby joins the parishioners of St. Mary's in celebrating the 170th

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Anniversary of their church. May she continue to serve as the Mother Church of the Pawtuxet

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Valley and may she continue to grow with her 18th generation of parishioners from this day forth;

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and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, Rev. Paul Reynolds,

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and Rev. Douglas Spina, and Richard S. Hughes.

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