About St. Patrick (St. Patrick & Assumption/All Saints Parish) · Jersey City, New Jersey
Saint Patrick & Assumption/All Saints Parish is a Roman Catholic parish in the Bergen-Lafayette neighborhood of Jersey City, New Jersey, part of the Archdiocese of Newark. Formed in the 1980s by the merger of three earlier parishes, the combined community worships today at two historic churches — the grand gothic St. Patrick's at Ocean, Grand and Bramhall Avenues and the modern red-brick Assumption on Pacific Avenue — and serves an immigrant, multilingual congregation that includes English-, Spanish-, French-, and Creole-speaking Catholics, with a particularly large Haitian community. The parish runs religious education, RCIA, a food pantry, a Rosary Society, a Cursillo/Ultreya movement, a concert series, and outreach to the sick and homebound.
- Established
- 1869
- Patron
- St. Patrick (Apostle of Ireland)
- Rector
- Rev. Marc-Arthur Francois
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Newark
Why belong here
Saint Patrick & Assumption/All Saints is a historic Jersey City parish where three immigrant-era congregations — Irish, Hispanic, and Haitian — have come together into a single multilingual Catholic community that still celebrates Mass in English, Spanish, and French/Creole every Sunday. Parishioners can worship in the soaring 1877 Keely-designed Gothic cathedral on Bergen Hill, take part in religious education for their children, join the Rosary Society, walk a Cursillo/Ultreya, volunteer at the Assumption food pantry, or simply find a home in a parish where the doors were opened wide to newcomers for nearly 150 years.
Mass times at St. Patrick (St. Patrick & Assumption/All Saints Parish)
Weekly Mass schedule
Adoration times
- Holy Hour / Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament immediately after the 9:00 a.m. daily Mass at Assumption/All Saints Church
- First Friday Holy Hour at 7:30 p.m. at St. Patrick Church, followed by Mass
Parish History
The story of Saint Patrick & Assumption/All Saints Parish spans the growth of Jersey City itself. Founded in 1869 as a mission for Irish Catholic immigrants, the parish built one of the most ambitious Gothic Revival churches in New Jersey, served generations of families through a renowned parish school, and reinvented itself in the late 20th century as a multilingual home for new immigrant communities — eventually merging with All Saints and Assumption in the 1980s to form today's combined parish.
- 1868 — Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley deeds land for a small wood-frame mission church, St. Joseph's, near Communipaw Avenue in Bergen.
- October 5, 1869 — the cities of Hudson and Bergen merge with old Jersey City.
- December 23, 1869 — Bishop Bayley raises the mission to full parish status and names it St. Patrick.
- 1872 — the chapel adjoining the main church opens for Mass.
- 1877 (August 19) — the gothic church is completed and dedicated by Bishop Michael A. Corrigan at a Solemn Pontifical Mass.
- 1913 — Father Edward A. Kelly arrives as the parish's fourth pastor and begins the parish's greatest era of growth.
- 1916 — the Black Tom explosion shatters the church's stained-glass windows.
- 1971 — Patrick House, the first drug-treatment and family-services center in Hudson County, opens at 287 Clerk Street.
- 1976 — A French/Creole Sunday Mass is begun for Jersey City's Haitian Catholic community.
- 1980 (March 17) — Governor Brendan Byrne adds the St. Patrick Church and School complex to the New Jersey State Register of Historic Places.
- 1980s — St. Patrick, All Saints and Assumption parishes merge to form Saint Patrick & Assumption/All Saints Parish.
- 1982 — Father Jean F. Salomon, one of New Jersey's first Haitian priests, arrives to serve the parish.
Architecture of St. Patrick Church
The principal church is a pure Victorian Gothic Revival cathedral designed by the Irish-born, Brooklyn-based architect Patrick C. Keely, who emigrated from Ireland in 1841 and would design some 600 churches in the United States over his career. It is built of blue flintstone from the nearby Pennsylvania Railroad cut (today the path of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail), trimmed with silver-colored hammered granite from Hallowell, Maine.
- Architect: Patrick C. Keely of Brooklyn
- Style: Gothic Revival / Late Victorian Gothic
- Seating capacity: about 2,000
- Length: 272 feet; width: 138 feet
- Spire: 225 feet tall on a 33-foot-square base
- Interior: ribbed vaulting, 16 granite columns supporting the clerestory, 86-foot nave, chancel, side chapels, black-walnut and white-ash woodwork, stained-glass windows (replaced after the Black Tom explosion)
- Bells: 13, donated by the congregation, inscribed with names of 19 parishioners killed in World War I
- On the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP #80002489)
Parish Staff
In addition to its priests and deacon, the parish relies on a team of lay ministers, religious-education staff, trustees, and maintenance personnel.
- Anna Maria Padilla — Lay Minister (RCIA, Baptism, Local Safe Environment)
- Sr. Myriam Meus, FMA — Religious Education
- Naida Larose — Receptionist
- Norman Padua — Music
- Greg Chapman — Accountant
- Victorina Figueras — Bookkeeper
- George Marucha — Maintenance at Assumption
- Nelson Gonzalez — Maintenance at St. Patrick
- Keith Davis & Cheryl Dawkins — Parish Trustees
Liturgical Schedule
Mass is offered every day of the week, in three languages on Sundays (English, Spanish, and French/Creole), at both the Assumption/All Saints Church and St. Patrick's Church. The parish switches between a summer schedule (June–November) at Assumption/All Saints and a winter schedule (roughly December 8 through May 25) at St. Patrick's.
- Sunday, Assumption/All Saints (Summer): 9:00 a.m. English; 11:00 a.m. Spanish; 12:30 p.m. French/Creole
- Sunday, St. Patrick's (Winter): 9:30 a.m. English; 11:30 a.m. Spanish; 1:00 p.m. French/Creole
- Daily Mass: 9:00 a.m., Monday through Saturday
- Adoration: Holy Hour immediately after the 9:00 a.m. daily Mass at Assumption/All Saints Church
- First Friday: Holy Hour at 7:30 p.m. at St. Patrick's, followed by Mass
Creole-Language Haitian Community
Since 1976 the parish has welcomed Jersey City's growing Haitian Catholic community with a Sunday Mass in French/Creole. The community gathers around the Legion of Mary Guild Mary (Monday evenings), the Charismatic Renewal Prayer Group (Friday evenings followed by Mass), and the First Friday Holy Hour. Hundreds of Haitians have been baptized and married at St. Patrick's over the decades, and the community enriches the parish's annual Festival of Music with traditional Haitian music and dance.
- Legion of Mary Guild Mary — Mondays, 7:30 p.m., St. Patrick's
- Charismatic Renewal Prayer Group — Fridays, 7:30 p.m., St. Patrick's, followed by Mass
- First Friday Holy Hour — 7:30 p.m., St. Patrick's, followed by Mass
- Sunday French/Creole Mass — weekly, rotating between Assumption/All Saints (summer) and St. Patrick's (winter)
Faith Formation and Religious Education
The parish sponsors religious education for children from Pre-Kindergarten through high school, including preparation for the Sacraments of First Communion, Reconciliation, and Confirmation. Adults seeking full communion with the Catholic Church are served through the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) program. A Spanish-language Cursillo / Ultreya movement meets every other Monday for prayer, Scripture study and reflection.
- Religious Education (Pre-K through high school)
- First Communion preparation
- Reconciliation preparation
- Confirmation preparation
- Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) — contact Anna Maria Padilla through the parish office
- Cursillo / Ultreya — contact Edgar Rodriguez through the parish office
Ministries and Outreach
Parishioners run a wide range of ministries to serve the spiritual and material needs of the Bergen-Lafayette community. The food pantry at Assumption Church distributes groceries on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month; donations of bags of food can be dropped off at either church.
- Food Pantry — Assumption Church, 344 Pacific Avenue; 2nd & 4th Tuesday, 5:30–8:00 p.m.
- Rosary Society — devotion to Mary through the rosary; contact Brenda Santana through the parish office
- Eucharistic Ministers — assist at Mass and bring Communion to the sick and homebound
- Ministry to the Sick and Homebound
- Lectors — proclaim Scripture at Mass
- Altar Servers — children in 4th grade and above; contact Deacon Jesus Reyes
- Concert Series — sacred and secular music at St. Patrick's, running 25+ years
Three Churches, One Parish
The combined parish worships today at two of its three historic churches. St. Patrick's, the grand Gothic cathedral at Ocean, Grand and Bramhall Avenues, is the spiritual heart of the parish and seats about 2,000 under its 225-foot spire. Assumption Church at 344 Pacific Avenue is a modern red-brick church that hosts the summer Sunday schedule and the parish food pantry. All Saints, the smaller Gothic church also on Pacific Avenue, is part of the merged parish's heritage.
- St. Patrick Church — Ocean / Grand / Bramhall Avenues (Rectory: 91 Grand Street)
- Assumption / All Saints Church — 344 Pacific Avenue
- Sunday Mass rotates between the two churches by season
Contact and Visiting
Parishioners and visitors can reach the parish office by phone at 201-332-8600. The rectory is at St. Patrick Church; the Assumption/All Saints Church office is on Pacific Avenue. Those interested in any ministry listed above are encouraged to phone the parish office to be put in touch with the appropriate coordinator.
- Phone: 201-332-8600
- St. Patrick Church / Rectory: 91 Grand Street, Jersey City, NJ
- Assumption All Saints Church: 344 Pacific Avenue, Jersey City, NJ
- Website: http://stpaasjc.org
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Patrick Hennessey1869–
First pastor of St. Patrick Parish; visionary Irish-born priest who commissioned architect Patrick C. Keely to design the grand gothic church at Bramhall and Grand.
- Rev. (Father) Carroll
Began the parish school but ill health prevented him from seeing its construction to completion.
- Msgr. John A. Stafford
Succeeded Father Carroll; completed and opened the parish school.
- Rev. Edward A. Kelly1913–
Fourth pastor; ushered in the parish's greatest era of growth and influence.
- Msgr. Hamilton
Found a 'new relevance' for the parish as urban demographics shifted; one of the parish's own, per the parish history.
- Rev. Francis Schiller
Member of the team ministry mentioned on the parish history page.
- Rev. Eugene Squeo
Team ministry member, later Pastor Emeritus.
- Rev. Fritz Ligonde
Team ministry member named on the parish history page.
- Rev. Jean F. Salomon1982–c.1992
One of New Jersey's first Haitian priests; served the Haitian community at St. Patrick for about a decade before transfer to Elizabeth.
- Rev. Marc-Arthur Francois
Current pastor; Haitian priest granted a second term by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin beginning July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2028.