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History
Origins
The Founding
oof the Parish
The Early Days
oof the Parish
Depression &
oConstruction
Recent Years
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Recent Years
Recent
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Father Crescenti undertook his responsibilities when the parish had a
tremendous debt due to the purchase, renovation and running of the school.
He initiated several projects to alleviate the debt, including the
introduction of Bingo games. The school reached a peak enrollment of 260 in
1968. While maintaining the school the parish managed to reduce the debt to
$260,000.
The Second
Vatican Council, which met from 1962 to 1965, began to have an impact on the
parish. No longer was the Mass celebrated in Latin, but in English. The
priest now faced the people during the liturgy. A portable altar was
installed in the sanctuary of the church so that this liturgical reform
could be implemented.
The parish was undergoing other changes. Many parishioners had moved to
more affluent areas. Some returned to Mount Carmel for Mass; others did
not. A new wave of immigration from Italy brought many from the province of
Avellino, primarily from the village of Aquilonia, to the parish. There had
always been a number of non-Italians, especially from Montclair and Glen
Ridge who regularly attend Mass at the church. Their numbers increased and
Black Catholics also found a welcome at Mount Carmel.
Nurses and physicians from Mountainside Hospital, many of whom were from the
Phillippines and India, were added to the parish family. Occasionally, new
parishioners would arrive from the Caribbean, from Haiti and from Latin
America. The parish was changing from an almost strictly ethnic parish to a
microcosm of the universal church. Father Crescenti saw only the beginnings
of these changes before he died suddenly in June 28, 1969.
The year before, Reverend Emmanuel M. Capozzelli had been appointed
Assistant Pastor. He now succeeded Father Crescenti as Administrator. The
Religious Sisters Filippini, who had served the parish since 1939 were
experiencing difficulties due to the resignation of many sisters and the
lack of replacements. In January, 1971, the Mother Superior informed the
parish that the sisters would be withdrawn the following June. The
parishioners were stunned. Much work and sacrifice had been expended on the
creation of the parish school. The presence of religious sisters was seen
as essential to its continuance. The Parish Council requested the parish
School Board of Education to initiate a poll of the families involved with
the school. With deep regret it was concluded that it would not be possible
to continue the school. Many parents could not afford the increased tuition
that the loss of the sisters would necessitate. Others believed that the
school would lose its Catholic character without the presence of the
religious.
The Mount Carmel Guild showed interest in the now empty building, The Parish
Council and the Board of Trustees decided to transfer title to the building
to the Guild on the Guild’s assumption of the parish’s obligations of a
demand not of $245,000. The Guild agreed to allow the parish to use the
building for religious education purposes. Mount Carmel School had given
ten years of service to the parish and the entire community.
The closing of the parish school brought renewed focus on the religious
education program of the parish. After a period of adjustment, a full-time
director of Religious Education, Mrs. Betty Salerno, was hired to coordinate
these activities.
The seventies were a time of much change. The liturgical life of the parish
was enhanced by the renovation of the church and the installation of a
permanent marble altar facing the congregation. The participation of the
congregation in worship was encouraged by the installation of a new two
manual pipe organ constructed by the firm of John Peragallo and Sons. Lay
lectors and lay ministers of the Eucharist expressed the growing
participation of all the people in the liturgy. The importance of
liturgical life was emphasized by the hiring of a full time organist and
choir director, Mrs. Marge Anderson.
Lay participation in direction of parish life grew as the Parish Council,
organized by Father Capozzelli, became an important force in the community.
Two men of the parish, Henry Haas and Stephen Marzano, have been ordained
Permanent Deacons, and serve the parish in this ministry.
The parish societies, the Holy Name Society and the Rosary Altar Society,
continue to function and flourish alongside the new organization of recent
years. The vibrant life of the parish is witnessed by the enthusiastic
participation in the Renew program begun October 3, 1978. This program of
spiritual renewal was a major event in the lives of many.
Increased interest in the spiritual life has encouraged the establishment of
a branch of the Third Order of Carmelites under the direction of Reverend
Pasquale A. Papalia, Assistant Pastor. Father Papalia also directs the
fifty member Altar Boy Society and coordinates the liturgical services of
the parish. In addition, he serves as chaplain to the Sierra Club of
Montclair and West Essex.
The pastor and the parish are very active in community affairs. Father
Capozzelli, chaplain of both the Police and Fire Departments of Montclair as
well as of the Lion’s Club, is a director of the Union Development
Corporation. Several parishioners serve on the Board of Directors of this
corporation. Union Development Corporation had constructed the 87 unit
Union Gardens, the 126 unit Lackawanna Plaza Garden Apartments and most
recently, the six story Senior Citizens Apartments (First Montclair House)
at 56 Walnut Street. All these buildings are in the vicinity of the church.
The past seventy five years have been a time of great change in the world,
in the church, in the parish. Our Lady of Mount Carmel, originally
established to serve the Italian immigrant, now serves a racially,
ethnically and economically diverse community; a community drawn from
Montclair, Upper Montclair, Glen Ridge, Bloomfield, Verona, Caldwell, Cedar
Grove, West Orange and Orange.
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