St Mary of the Mount High School - St Mary Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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Jjishops of zL itisbalgk Since the CstaUiskment of St. 3ialy of the 3iount S alisli Most Rev. Michael Domenec, CM 1860-1876 Most Rev. John F. Regis Canevin 1904-I92I Most Rev. John Tuigc 1876-1889 Most Ri . Rkhard Phelan 1889-1904 Most Rev. John F. Dearden, S.T.D. 1950- Most Rev. Hugh C. Boyle 1921-1950

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Interior of Church Before Redecoration

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On September 1, 1873, Father Cosgrave purchased two lots on the corner of Beloilda (at that time called Bedford Street) and Kearsarge Streets. Here, the first chtirch of St. Mary of the Mount was erected. The cornerstone was laid October 20, 1873 and the chiuxh was dedicated October 18, 1874. An unpretentious frame building, 70 feet in length and 30 feet wide, it served the needs of the parish from 1874 to 1897. Efforts to start a school in the basement of the church had to be aban- doned because of the financial diffictilties of the congregation, difficulties that were the result of the panic of 1873. St. Mary of the Motmt Church was considered a mission from St. Malachy ' s until 1877. Assisting Father Cosgrave in his administrative duties were Father J. Tobin, Father Thomas Neville, Father Peter McMahon, and Father Kiernan. Then, in October, 1877, Bishop Michael Domenec appointed Father Peter McMahon first resi- dent pastor of St. Mary of the Mount. Originally, the parish extended from Grand- view Avenue to Warrington Avenue and included what is now St. Justin ' s Parish. Successive pastors to Father McMahon were Father Edward Brennan, 1878-1881, Father Thomas Devlin, 1881-1883, Father J. F. Tobin, 1883-1891, and Father Kier- nan, February, 1891 to April 5, 1891. Father Tobin spent himself in his work at St. Mary of the Mount. An epidemic in 1891 took, its toll among the clergy of the diocese and Father Tobin sticcumbed to the disease on February 11, 1891 in the thirty-ninth year of his age and the six- teenth year of his holy priesthood. He was buried in St. Mary ' s Cemetery. Following the death of Father Tobin, Father Kiernan assumed the direction of the parish, but for a very short time. Two months after his appointment to St. Mary of the Mount, Father Kiernan was assigned to St. Patrick ' s Parish in Noblesto vn with St. Alphonsus ' Parish in McDonald as a mission. In April, 1891, Father John W. O ' Connell was appointed pastor of St. Mary of ihe Motmt and he labored zealously here for twelve years. Dtuing Father O ' Connell ' s l)astorate the present church was erected on the site which he purchased on the corner of Grandview Avenue and Ulysses Street. The building stands on a high point of Grandview Aventie and overlooks the lower city. It is Gothic in architecttire and was erected at the cost of seventy thousand dollars. The dedication of the new St. Mary of the Motmt Chtirch took place on Sunday, December 19, 1897. The Right Reverend Bishop Phelan, being unable to officiate because of illness, appointed Reverend Regis Canevin, Rector of St. Paul ' s Cathedral, to act in his stead. Father James Cosgrave was the celebrant of the Solemn High Mass and the deacon and stib-deacon Tvere Father Schram and Father Burns respectively. The sermon -was preached by Reverend John T. Murphy, C.S.Sp., president of Pitts- btngh College of the Holy Ghost (now Duquesne University) vho chose for his sub-