About St. Monica · Chest Springs, Pennsylvania
Saint Monica Parish is a small Roman Catholic parish in the borough of Chest Springs, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, serving the rural Chest Springs area along Colonel Drake Highway. Administered within the Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown, the parish celebrates Mass three times a week — Saturday Vigil, Sunday morning, and one weekday — and is twinned in pastoral care with nearby Saint Augustine Parish in Dysart. A Faithful remnant of central Pennsylvania's 19th-century immigrant Catholic settlement, the parish maintains an active cemetery, a tradition of volunteer groundskeeping, and is sustained by a tight-knit multi-generational community.
- Established
- 1860
- Patron
- St. Monica of Hippo
- Rector
- Rev. Robert P. Reese
- Diocese
- Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown
Why belong here
Saint Monica Parish offers a deeply rooted, multi-generational Catholic community in a small rural Cambria County borough — the kind of place where parishioners care for the cemetery, the grounds, and one another year after year. With its Saturday Vigil, Sunday, and weekly weekday Masses, regular Saturday confessions, a parish cemetery maintained by retired volunteer parishioners, and a pastor shared with neighboring Saint Augustine Parish, it is a welcoming home for Catholics who value tradition, continuity, and being known by name.
Mass times at St. Monica
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:00 PM – 3:45 PM
About Saint Monica Parish
Saint Monica Parish is a small Roman Catholic parish serving the borough of Chest Springs in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Listed in the Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown parish directory at 3037 Colonel Drake Highway, Chest Springs, PA 16624, the parish offers Mass three times a week — Saturday Vigil at 4:00 PM, Sunday morning at 8:00 AM, and a Wednesday or Friday weekday Mass — together with Saturday confession from 3:00 to 3:45 PM. The parish shares a pastor with neighboring Saint Augustine Parish in Dysart, and is reached at (814) 674-5613 or [email protected].
Parish History
The Chest Springs Catholic community was founded as a mission chapel of Saint Augustine Parish on March 20, 1860, when Father John Burns blessed a small wooden structure known as 'the Chapel.' For nearly thirty years the mission was served by priests living at St. Augustine's. In 1889, Monsignor Martin Ryan laid the cornerstone of the present church (dedicated 1890), followed by the church hall (1892) and rectory (1893). A parochial school, opened in 1921 under Father John Duggan and taught by the Sisters of Mercy, served generations of local children for decades. The parish cemetery adjoining the church contains the graves of pioneer area families; today its care remains the quiet ministry of a small group of retired parishioner volunteers.
- First chapel blessed March 20, 1860 by Rev. John Burns
- Cornerstone of present church laid 1889; dedicated 1890
- Church hall dedicated 1892; rectory completed 1893
- Parish school built 1921 under Fr. John Duggan, staffed by Sisters of Mercy
- Faithfully served today as part of a cluster with Saint Augustine Parish, Dysart
Clergy & Pastoral Succession
Saint Monica's current pastor is Rev. Robert P. Reese, who on July 3, 2023 was appointed by the Bishop of Altoona–Johnstown to also pastor Saint Augustine Parish in Dysart (while continuing as pastor of Saint Joan of Arc, Frugality). The most recent diocesan directory entry also names Rev. Justin P. Treon as Administrator. They succeed Rev. Jerzy M. Auguscik, OFM Conv., who served the parish from his 2019 appointment through his reassignment in July 2023. The 19th- and 20th-century succession — from John Burns and Msgr. Martin Ryan through Fathers McCarn, McKenna, Duggan, Padden, Lenz, Wileshal, Cummings, Strittmatter, and Oeler — is preserved in the Chest Springs Bicentennial history.
Parish School Legacy
Saint Monica School was built in 1921 by Father John Duggan and taught by the Sisters of Mercy for decades. The building, remembered vividly by alumni such as Paul Burke, Jack Rieg, and Leonard Rieg, now serves as a nearby apartment building — but its legacy as the place where generations of parish children learned reading, writing, and arithmetic alongside Catholic faith endures in the parish's collective memory.
- Founded 1921 under Fr. John Duggan
- Staffed by the Sisters of Mercy
- Original school building still standing nearby as an apartment residence
Parish Cemetery
The Saint Monica parish cemetery, adjoining the church along Colonel Drake Highway, holds the remains of multiple generations of Cambria County's founding Catholic families — Kelly, Weakland, Litzinger, Douglas, Kearney, and others, including a Civil War veteran (Samuel Wills, d. 1930, per the Patton Courier). Volunteer parishioners keep it in careful repair: spring cleanup of shale from winter plowing, summer landscaping, handyman fixes, and resetting sunken headstones.
- Civil War veteran Samuel Wills interred here (d. 1930)
- Generational graves of the Kelly, Douglas, Weakland, Kearney, and Litzinger families
- Ongoing volunteer maintenance by parish retirees
Parish Volunteers & Community Life
A tradition of parish volunteer labor — groundskeeping, cemetery care, maintenance of the church building — has long defined life at Saint Monica's. The diocesan Proclaim! publication has highlighted Paul Burke, Jack Rieg, and Leonard Rieg, who carry on a tradition they remember from childhood, when 'a whole gang of men' would gather at the parish in the evenings for projects. Their example, praised by former pastor Fr. Jerzy Auguscik, OFM Conv., as 'beacons to the young people in the parish,' remains an essential element of the parish's identity.
- Paul Burke – groundskeeping and cemetery care
- Jack Rieg – buildings and grounds
- Leonard Rieg – buildings and grounds
Contact & Location
Saint Monica Parish is located at 3037 Colonel Drake Highway, Chest Springs, PA 16624, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Parishioners and visitors may reach the parish office at (814) 674-5613 or by email at [email protected]. The parish is clustered with Saint Augustine Parish in Dysart and Saint Joan of Arc Parish in Frugality, both served by the same pastor.
- Address: 3037 Colonel Drake Highway, Chest Springs, PA 16624
- Phone: (814) 674-5613
- Email: [email protected]
- Diocese: Altoona–Johnstown
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. John Burns1853–1866
Pastor of St. Augustine who also said Mass at the Chest Springs chapel; blessed the first chapel March 20, 1860.
- Msgr. Martin Ryan1879–April 1890
Laid the cornerstone of the present St. Monica Church in 1889, dedicated 1890; built the church hall (1892) and rectory (1893).
- Rev. James McCarn1889–c. 1891
First resident pastor; boarded with a local family until the rectory was completed.
- Rev. Francis McKenna
Succeeded Fr. McCarn after his early death.
- Rev. John Dugganthrough October 1928
Built the parish school in 1921; taught by the Sisters of Mercy.
- Rev. James PaddenLate October 1928 –
Longest-serving pastor in parish history per the Chest Springs Bicentennial history.
- Rev. (now Msgr.) Paul A. LenzDecember 4, 1951
- Rev. Carl J. WileshalJuly 1953
- Rev. Joseph C. CummingsMarch 8, 1955
- Rev. Innocent A. StrittmatterJune 8, 1956
- Rev. Gerald J. Oeler
Celebrant of many funerals in the 1970s–80s per local obituary records.
- Rev. Jerzy M. Auguscik, OFM Conv.October 30, 2019 – July 3, 2023
Appointed Administrator of Saint Augustine and Saint Monica; named Pastor effective September 16, 2020; reassigned July 2023.
- Rev. Robert P. ReeseJuly 3, 2023 – present
Pastor also of Saint Augustine Parish, Dysart, and Saint Joan of Arc, Frugality.