About St. Elizabeth of Hungary · Colonial Beach, Virginia
St. Elizabeth of Hungary is a Roman Catholic parish in Colonial Beach, Virginia, on the Potomac River in the Northern Neck. It is one half of a combined parish with St. Anthony of Padua Mission in King George, 15 miles away, and together they serve more than 1,400 registered parishioners within the Diocese of Arlington. The parish offers daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, a robust Catholic school of thought in adult formation, and an unusually active charitable apostolate that includes the Guadalupe Free Medical Clinic. Its patron, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, has been venerated here since the first wood-frame church was built in 1905.
- Established
- 1905
- Patron
- St. Elizabeth of Hungary
- Rector
- Rev. Francis M. de Rosa
- Diocese
- Diocese of Arlington
Why belong here
St. Elizabeth's offers the rare combination of a daily-Mass parish (Mass every morning of the week) with a vibrant apostolate of charity in one of Virginia's most historic corners. The parish feeds the needy every Wednesday, runs the Guadalupe Free Medical Clinic for the uninsured of Westmoreland County, hosts a Catholic therapist on a sliding scale, and welcomes a wide array of faithful — homeschool families, converts, and lifelong Catholics — through three choirs, three Legion of Mary groups, a Knights of Columbus council, a youth group, and an annual adult conversion course from September to Easter.
Mass times at St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday: before all Masses
- Saturday Vigil: before the 5:00 PM Mass
Adoration times
- Wednesday: Eucharistic Adoration after the 8:00 AM Mass until Noon
About the Parish
St. Elizabeth of Hungary is the Colonial Beach church of the combined Catholic Parish of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and St. Anthony of Padua, which together serve more than 1,400 souls across Westmoreland and King George Counties in Virginia's Northern Neck. The two churches are part of the Diocese of Arlington and are bound by daily Mass, shared clergy, and a remarkably active Catholic charitable and devotional life.
History of St. Elizabeth and St. Anthony
Catholic life in the Northern Neck traces back to the late 1600s, when George Brent — the only Catholic in the colonial Virginia House of Burgesses — helped defend the peninsula. The first St. Elizabeth's, a wood-frame church, was built in 1905 in the fishing and resort town of Colonial Beach; the present church replaced it in 1962 and has been beautified since 2009. St. Anthony's original 1917 sanctuary, built by the children of Fielding Lewis (a descendant of George Washington's sister Betty), still stands and is one of the oldest buildings in the Diocese of Arlington.
- 1905: first St. Elizabeth's wood-frame church built in Colonial Beach
- 1917: St. Anthony's original sanctuary built in King George County
- 1922: Rev. Thomas Bernard Martin founds the formal Northern Neck parish at St. Elizabeth's
- 1943: Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity (Trinitarians) take pastoral charge
- 1962: present St. Elizabeth's building replaces the 1905 original
- 1966: Northern Neck divided into St. Elizabeth's (Colonial Beach) and St. Francis (Kilmarnock) parishes
- 1974: Diocese of Arlington formed; Northern Neck falls under Arlington
- 1986: St. Anthony's expanded
- 1992: Diocese of Arlington takes direct pastoral responsibility for St. Elizabeth's
- 2017: Sacred Heart Chapel at Dahlgren closed
- 2019: Blessed Trinity Catholic Cemetery opens on Route 301
Parish Staff
The parish is staffed by two priests and lay ministers serving both St. Elizabeth's in Colonial Beach and St. Anthony's in King George.
- Rev. Francis de Rosa — Pastor ([email protected])
- Rev. Richard Carr — Parochial Vicar
- Susan Smiga — St. Elizabeth Secretary ([email protected])
- Terri Tolley — Director of Religious Education ([email protected])
- Shelley Buckles — St. Anthony Secretary ([email protected])
Parish Life and Ministries
Although the daily Mass is the center of the parish's life, an unusually broad range of groups and activities surrounds it. The parish supports a Knights of Columbus council for men, three Legion of Mary Praesidia, periodic adult-education mini-courses, a Youth Group for teens, a Homeschooling group, three choirs, and an Adult Conversion Course running from September to Easter. The parish also operates three rental cottages one block from the Potomac River beach in Colonial Beach.
- Knights of Columbus Council
- Three Legion of Mary Praesidia
- Adult Education mini-courses
- Youth Group for teens
- Homeschooling group
- Three parish choirs
- Adult Conversion Course (September to Easter)
- Three rental cottages in Colonial Beach
Outreach and Charitable Works
St. Elizabeth's runs an unusually active social apostolate for a parish of its size. Food is distributed to the needy each Wednesday, a Mobile Care unit visits Colonial Beach once a month with basic necessities, a Catholic therapist sees clients weekly on a sliding scale, and the parish operates the Guadalupe Free Medical Clinic for the poor and uninsured of Westmoreland County.
- Wednesday food distribution at St. Elizabeth
- Monthly Mobile Care unit in Colonial Beach
- Weekly Catholic therapist on a sliding scale
- Guadalupe Free Medical Clinic for the poor of Westmoreland County
Blessed Trinity Catholic Cemetery
In 2019 the parish established the Blessed Trinity Catholic Cemetery on Route 301, within the heart of the parish territory. All graves face east in anticipation of the Coming of the Lord, and the cemetery will eventually hold the remains of about 1,200 loved ones.
- Established in 2019
- Located on Route 301 in the heart of the parish
- Graves face east
- Capacity for approximately 1,200 interments
Visit and Contact
St. Elizabeth of Hungary stands at the corner of Boundary and Lossing Avenue in Colonial Beach, Virginia, on the Northern Neck. The parish office can be reached by phone at (804) 224-7221 or by email at [email protected]; mail may be sent to 11 S. Irving Avenue, Colonial Beach, VA 22443. The parish shares its life online through its website and an active Facebook page.
- Physical address: corner of Boundary and Lossing Ave, Colonial Beach, VA 22443
- Mailing address: 11 S. Irving Avenue, Colonial Beach, VA 22443
- Phone: (804) 224-7221
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: saintselizabethandanthony.com
- Facebook: St. Elizabeth of Hungary / St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Thomas Bernard Martin1922-
Pastor of St. Mary's Fredericksburg who moved to Colonial Beach and founded the formal parish headquartered at St. Elizabeth's, comprising the entire Northern Neck. Honored with a stained glass window at St. Anthony's.
- Fr. John Cregan1992-
First Arlington-Diocese pastor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary after the diocese took direct control in 1992.
- Fr. William Schopps
Pastors of the parish from the Diocese of Arlington, listed in the parish history.
- Fr. John Melmer
Listed among the six Arlington-Diocese pastors since 1992.
- Fr. Thomas Vanderwoude
Co-founder (with Fr. Jerome Magat) of the parish's Guadalupe Free Clinic; listed among the six pastors since 1992.
- Fr. John Zeigler
Listed among the six pastors from the Diocese of Arlington since 1992.
- Fr. Francis M. de Rosa2012-present
Appointed Pastor by the Bishop of Arlington on June 27, 2012. Originally arrived in the parish in 2008; studied philosophy at the Ateneo della Santa Croce in Rome and holds a licentiate in moral theology from the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.