St. James Church 1880

In the middle of the 19th Century the possibility of a Catholic Parish in the vicinity of Falls Church was a silent prayer, fervently said. It became later an often repeated request – that seemed never to be answered.

In Northern Virginia then, there were two Catholic Parishes, St. Mary’s at Alexandria, established in 1795, and St. Peter’s at Harper’s Ferry—then in the state of West Virginia—established in 1830. It was from Harper’s Ferry that the first Pastor of the Parish in between the two was to come: Rev. Edward M. Tearney.

St. James Mission: Frame Church. In 1874 he saw the founding of a Catholic Mission at West Falls Church. Its original Chapel was served by Father O’Kane of St. Mary’s, Alexandria. Each Sunday morning the priest would journey over the rolling hills to West Falls Church to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the faithful few who lived in the small but proud village. At the dedication of the Chapel, in 1880, a newspaper in Georgetown chronicled the fact that a special train had been engaged to carry from Alexandria to West Falls Church the proud Catholics who were anxious to take part in the dedication of the new mission church. The Georgetown Courier reported that the Knights of St. Patrick, the Catholic Benevolent Society and parishioners of St. Mary’s boarded the train at Alexandria for the 13-mile ride to the new church which was situated one-half mile from the railroad station. There was great pride among the Catholics of Northern Virginia on that grand occasion, but they dreamed of the day when the small wooden structure could be replaced by a Church which “would stand forever” as evidence of the Catholic faith in this section of the Old Dominion.

St. James Parish—Its 1st Pastor. In the year of Our Lord, 1892, the young priest, Father Tearney, filled with zeal which came only from the knowledge that the Word is God, saw the fulfillment of his fervent prayers. The Mission of St. James was established as a Parish to serve a small Virginian village with a population of approximately 1,000. He was appointed Pastor of St. James Parish, between the Parish of St. Mary’s in Alexandria and St. Peter’s in Harper’s Ferry. Father Tearney took up residence in a frame house next to the Church.

The Stone Church—1902. Years passed. The faith remained strong, and the prayers of that small band of pioneers to whom we owe so much were answered when, in 1902—to quote an old history of Falls Church—“the present handsome and imposing edifice was erected…” The same history quoted reports that the edifice was made possible “through the munificence of Mrs. Thomas Ryan of New York City.” The history referred to was published in 1904 and records the fact that “the membership (of St. James Parish) is at present about 325.”

The School—1905. Father Tearney, having proven the power of faith and seen the erection of the beautiful church set his heart on the erection of a parochial school. He demonstrated what could be accomplished through the cooperation of all the members of his flock and in 1905 saw the opening of the original St. James School for the children of the Parish. The school was a two-story brick structure consisting of three classrooms on the first floor and an auditorium on the second. In 1905 it was an imposing building and the parishioners of Old St. James felt confident it would be adequate for their needs for many years.

Two years later, in 1907, Father Tearney blessed a new brick building which was to serve as a home for the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary who had come to teach the children attending the parochial school. Attached to this building was a beautiful Convent Chapel for the Sisters. These buildings still stand, on Spring Street, adjacent to the Church.

The Second Pastor. Father Tearney served as Pastor at St. James from 1892 until 1910, with the exception of an interval of two years when the parish was cared for by Father John J. Bowler who was born in Ireland, but came to the United States as a boy. He grew up in St. Peter’s Parish in Harper’s Ferry, where his body was finally laid to rest. Father Bowler served, after leaving St. James, as Rector of the old Cathedral in Richmond and a Vicar General under Bishop Van DeVyver. After the latter’s death Father Bowler served as Diocesan Adminstrator until the appointment of the Most Reverend Bishop Dennis O’Connell.

The Third Pastor. In 1910, Reverend Amadeus Joseph Van Ingelgem, a native of Belgium, still affectionately referred to by old-timers at St. James as Father Van, came to the struggling little parish. Father Van had come to the United States in 1900 and was invited to come to the Baltimore Diocese by one of America’s greatest Prelates, the late James Cardinal Gibbons. Father Van served his Church in Newfoundland and in Oklahoma before coming to Virginia. His first assignment in the Richmond Diocese was the establishment of a colored church in Lynchburg. On January 10, 1910, Father Van was notified by the Most Reverend Bishop Van DeVyer of his transfer to “West End to succeed Father Tearney.” St. James Parish was thus referred to because of its geographical location and because of the railroad station which bore the appellation “West End.”

St. James Grows. When Father Van came to St. James there were over three hundred parishioners. There was a parochial grade school and a convent-boarding school. In addition to his parish duties he and his assistant, Father James A. Brennan, cared for several missions located at Fairfax Station (now St. Mary’s Parish), El Nido (now St. John’s Parish), Herndon (now St. Joseph’s Parish), Pleasant Valley, Leesburg (now St. John’s Parish), and Purcellville. Men, still active in the parish, recall that Sunday collections in those days ranged between twenty and twenty-five dollars.

Father Van celebrated his Golden Jubilee while at St. James—he was then in his seventy-third year. He left Falls Church in 1931 to become Chaplain at the Convent of Monte Maria, Sisters of the Visitation, in Richmond, Virginia, where he is still well remembered. He died there January 14, 1935.

A Glance Backward. It is not possible to record this brief history of the parish without indulging in a little retrospection.

When the cornerstone for old St. James Church was laid in 1902, the parish Church at Harper’s Ferry—St. Peter’s—was seventy-two years old. That parish had literally been carved out of the wilderness. Its history goes back to the most loved name among all the Catholics in the history of the Church in Virginia, Father John Dubois. Father Dubois, a native of France, came to the United States in 1791. He celebrated the first Mass ever held in the City of Richmond, in the state Capitol, at the express invitation of the Virginia General Assembly. In1792 Father Dubois journeyed to the Valley of Virginia where he worked for many years in the vicinity of Harper’s Ferry and laid the ground work for St. Peter’s Parish.

One hundred years later that parish celebrated its One Hundredth Anniversary and presiding over that grand occasion was its young pastor, Reverend Edward Vincent Mullarkey, the present beloved pastor at St. James Parish.

The Fourth and Present Pastor. In June of 1931 when Father Mullarkey was appointed Pastor of St. James by Bishop Brennan, he faced many problems. Economic and other worries beset many of his parishioners. Believing in the stout faith which had created and sustained St. James, he immediately embarked upon a program which called for close personal acquaintanceship with every member of his flock. In 1931 there were 85 families in the parish and there were 85 children in the school. In that first year of his pastorship 10 children made their first Holy Communion, and the Blessed Sacrament was received 8,199 times. There were 13 Baptisms. In addition to serving the mission chapels throughout the countryside, the pastor and his assistant offered two Masses in St. James Church every Sunday.

Growth of the School. The community was growing and, though the necessary funds were not readily available, the new pastor recognized that additional facilities would be necessary to attend to the educational needs of the many families who were making their homes in the expanding town. First the stage in the auditorium was turned over to the Sisters for an additional classroom. It was not long after, that the auditorium was abandoned for parish meetings and with the erection of some partitions additional classroom space was provided.

Within ten years after the Pastor had arrived at St. James it was obvious that drastic steps were called for if he was to keep pace with the rapid growth of the area to which God has called him.

The number of Sunday Masses was increased, every possible measure was taken to provide additional classroom space for the rapidly increasing number of children who sought admission to the school. It was hard to get teachers.

The Sisters Who Taught. In 1905, when St. James School was opened, The Sisters of Perpetual Adoration were the first instructors. These good sisters remained at St. James until 1923 when the present Nuns, “The Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” came here. The school opened that year on September 17 with an enrollment of 92 pupils in the parochial school and 8 in the high school. Mother M. Josepha was in charge of the small band of seven sisters who had come from their Mother House in West Chester, Pennsylvania. In addition to teaching at St. James School, the Sisters conducted Catechetical classes in nearby parishes, at one time journeying as far as Front Royal, Virginia, on Sunday mornings to prepare the little ones for the Sacraments. In 1935, to help defray the Convent and the Convent Chapel the sisters opened a boarding school. This school has recently moved to more elaborate quarters in Lynchburg, Virginia.

During the years since 1923 the Mother Superiors have been Mother M. Cyrenia, Mother M. Salesia, Mother M. Clotildis and Mother M. Severa who is the present Superior.

The original small band has been increased from time to time until presently there are twenty sisters in the Community, sixteen of whom teach in the parochial school.

The New School. Harried by the ever-increasing appeals for admission of children to the school and conscious of the fact that it was rapidly becoming unsafe and unsanitary, the pastor determined to provide additional classrooms. At a cost of $11,500.00 the parish purchased land adjacent to the then existing building. The land as cleared and construction of new classrooms commenced immediately. The war years had come on and it was nearly impossible to get materials such as steel and cement but through considerable personal effort the pastor was able in 1944 to get two spanking new classrooms built. These two grew, within a year, to four. The entire new structure which was to serve as a parochial school and Catholic Community Center was completed in 1948. There were ten classrooms, a library, a cafeteria and an auditorium. It was believed then that this beautiful building would be ample to care for all foreseeable parish expansion.

It Becomes Crowded. The new building had not been completed before it became obvious that with all its well-planned facilities it was too small to accommodate the children from the hundreds of Catholic families which were moving to Falls Church. The library was the first to become a classroom. Then the Common Room was converted and next the lovely stage was turned over to the children during their school hours. The auditorium itself was put to use to provide vitally needed classroom space.

An Addition. Lacking nothing in courage and supremely confident of the cooperation he would always receive from his people, the pastor in 1950 committed himself to still further expansion. Additional land was purchased—all the land which could be obtained at the time—and the new wing of the school was built. This structure contains nine classrooms together with meeting rooms for the Parish Societies. The school today, including the frame structure on Broad Street which the pastor purchased, provides accommodations for 1744 children.

The School Playground. Children require playground facilities and the pastor has always been conscious of this need. To make it possible for the children of St. James to have adequate playground space the pastor had the area immediately adjacent to the school paved and purchased still more land, at the corner of Oak Street and Park Avenue, where healthy and wholesome athletic contests could be conducted without danger to the small children who played their games in the school yards.

The Need of a New Church. By 1950 the number of Masses had been increased to six and the pastor was calling on the services of the Holy Ghost Fathers and the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement to provide sufficient priests for Sunday masses at St. James and the outlying missions. On Christmas Eve, 1950, Midnight Mass was celebrated in the Church, in the Convent Chapel and in the school auditorium, as well as at St. John’s in El Nido and St. Joseph’s at Herndon. All the Masses were uncomfortably crowded. In the fall of 1950 it was decided that the school auditorium must be converted to a chapel on Sunday and Masses offered there, duplicating those in the Church proper. Still the problem grew greater. In addition to the pastor many were concerned because of the crowded conditions which existed at every Mass. Not only was there a safety hazard involved but the pastor felt that there was interference with the devotional aspect of attending at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The pastor consulted with the Most Reverend Bishop and after receiving His Excellency’s approval, called in a competent and efficient firm of architects, Gleason and Mulrooney of Philadelphia, Pa., to prepare plans for a new church.

Work Begins. As has always been his policy the pastor explained the entire problem to his parishioners at all ten Masses on the first Sunday of July, 1951. The response was immediate. He was assured of their support. On July 1 work started on the removal of the rectory. The old church was closed on the following Sunday, Mass was held in the school auditorium and in the school cafeteria. The work of expanding the original St. James Church to care for the greatly increased number of parishioners was under way.

The Parish Religious Growth. During the twenty-one years that Father Mullarkey has presided over the destiny of St. James Parish the number of families has grown from 85 to 1698. The number of Baptisms were 13 the first year, 314 in the past 12 months. In that first year in St. James 10 children received their First Holy Communion. Las year the number was 254. There were 8199 persons who received Holy Communion in 1931. In 1951 this number had grown to 62,500.

St. James Parish has given the Richmond Diocese two fine priests who are brothers, Reverend Robert Beattie, Pastor at St. Anne’s, and Reverend Dixon Beattie, Pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes, both in Arlington, Va. At the present time there are eight boys, all products of St. James, studying for the Holy Priesthood, four for the Diocese and four for Religious Orders. A sister of tow of these boys is presently studying for entrance into the Order of Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In Addition. Not content merely to accomplish so much for the children of St. James and their parents, our Pastor inspired the acquisition of twenty acres of land upon which there will be erected one day soon, a great Catholic High School, to serve this area. We all pray for the accomplishment of this noble design.

A Resume. It is timely, as we enjoy this festive occasion, to recall three significant dates in the life of our Pastor:

In 1930 he presided over the One Hundredth Anniversary of the founding of St. Peter’s Parish in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, where helped Catholicity to flourish.
In 1944, he celebrated the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of his ordination to the Holy Priesthood, and used the War Bonds, which he received as a gift from grateful parishioners, to pay for the erection of the first two classrooms, which were the nucleus of the present St. James School.
In 1952—FIFTY GOLDEN YEARS after the laying of the cornerstone of the old St. James Church we witnessed the dedication of the new, beautiful stone edifice.

If is fitting that on this grand occasion we offer fervent thanks to Almighty God Who has permitted us to benefit so much by the ministrations of the Holy and Generous Priest who has been our Pastor during these trying years.

May God continue to bless all of us and may He, in His Divine Wisdom, preserve for us—for many, many golden years—our beloved pastor, Father Edward V. Mullarkey.

SPECIAL ASSISTANTS

Since 1942 Priests of the Order of the Holy Ghost have given unstintingly of their time and efforts to help with the work at St. James. Principal among them have been Rev. Regis Guthrie and Rev. Patrick Holmes.

In addition to Reverend Provincial, Father McGlynn, and the former Provincial, Father Collins, have often aided the Pastor.

For the past five years the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement have helped with mission work. Best known, perhaps, among the Friars is Rev. Kenneth Dougherty.