About Our Lady of Perpetual Help · Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a Roman Catholic parish in the Diocese of Raleigh serving Rocky Mount, North Carolina, at 331 Hammond Street. The parish is also the parent community of the Mission Church of the Immaculate Conception (721 E. Virginia St.), and operates the oldest Catholic school in the Rocky Mount area. Worship is offered in both English and Spanish, and the parish maintains a St. Joseph Adoration Chapel with extended daily adoration.
- Established
- 1939 (school/parish history pages reference Father McNerney's arrival in 1939; the current parish website does not separately state the parish's founding date, but the school opening on September 5, 1939 marks the parish's organized Catholic presence in Rocky Mount).
- Patron
- Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Blessed Virgin Mary under this title); feast day is celebrated in many dioceses on June 27.
- Rector
- Reverend Paul Nicholas Cottrill
- Diocese
- Diocese of Raleigh
Why belong here
Our Lady of Perpetual Help offers a warm, bilingual Catholic home in Rocky Mount with Mass in English and Spanish, daily and weekly confessions, and perpetual adoration in the St. Joseph Adoration Chapel. Families can also enroll their children in the parish's historic Catholic school — the oldest in the area, dating to 1939 — and the parish supports the Mission Church of the Immaculate Conception, giving worshippers a way to be part of a long-standing Catholic tradition of worship, formation, and service in eastern North Carolina.
Mass times at Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday: 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
- Wednesday: 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM (per parish site; 5:15 PM – 6:00 PM also reported by another listing)
Adoration times
- St. Joseph Adoration Chapel: Monday–Friday, 6:00 AM – 11:55 PM (or to midnight). Access code available by contacting Elaine at [email protected].
Welcome to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish is a Roman Catholic community in the Diocese of Raleigh located at 331 Hammond Street in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The parish worships in English and Spanish, maintains extended weekday adoration in the St. Joseph Adoration Chapel, and serves as the parent parish for the Mission Church of the Immaculate Conception. The parish office is located across the street at 328 Hammond Street.
- Address (church): 331 Hammond Street, Rocky Mount, NC 27804
- Parish office/mailing: 328 Hammond Street, Rocky Mount, NC 27804
- Phone: (252) 972-0452 | Fax: (252) 972-4780
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: olphrm.com
- Diocese: Raleigh
Parish History
Catholic life in Rocky Mount was small but determined when Father Peter McNerney arrived in 1939 — only about 145 Catholics in a population of 28,000. He purchased the Brewer estate mansion on Hammond and Pearl Streets for $6,500 and opened the parish school on September 5, 1939, under four IHM sisters from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Father Charles McLaughlin's pastorate brought growth and community visibility. In the 1955–56 school year OLPH integrated its classrooms before public-school desegregation, a story the sisters recorded in detail. A new school building across Hammond Street was dedicated on September 15, 1957.
- 1939: Father Peter McNerney arrives
- March 19, 1939: Brewer estate purchased ($6,500)
- September 5, 1939: School opens, 35 students K–5
- 1955–56: First African American students enrolled
- September 15, 1957: New school building dedicated
Parish School — Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School
The parish school is the oldest Catholic/parochial school in the Rocky Mount area, founded in 1939 by the Diocese of Raleigh and originally staffed by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The current school building has been in use since 1957. Today lay teachers serve students from Pre-Kindergarten through elementary grades; the school continues to welcome both parish families and families of other faiths and remains focused on spiritual development and academic excellence.
- Oldest parochial school in Rocky Mount
- Founded 1939 by Diocese of Raleigh
- Current building dedicated 1957
- Originally staffed by IHM sisters; now lay faculty
- Pre-K through elementary grades
Mission Church of the Immaculate Conception
Our Lady of Perpetual Help sponsors the Mission Church of the Immaculate Conception at 721 E. Virginia Street, Rocky Mount. This historically African American mission was founded under Bishop McGuinness, the second Bishop of Raleigh, originally staffed by Redemptorist missionaries. It celebrated its 80th anniversary with Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama in October 2022.
- Address: 721 E. Virginia St., Rocky Mount, NC 27801
- Sunday Mass 11:00 AM (English)
- Historically African American Catholic community
- Redemptorist missionary origins
- 80th anniversary celebrated October 2022
Diocese of Raleigh
Our Lady of Perpetual Help is one of the parishes of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, which serves eastern North Carolina. The parish's profile is published on the diocesan website along with clergy and Mass schedule information.
- Diocese of Raleigh
- Listing: dioceseofraleigh.org/parish/our-lady-perpetual-help-rocky-mount
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Peter McNerney1939
Arrived in 1939; purchased the Brewer estate and opened the parish school in September 1939.
- Father Charles McLaughlin
Pastor during the early growth years; made a strong community presence and drew non-Catholic families to the school.