St Helena's Church

History

In May 1940, His Excellency the Most Rev. Francis J. Spellman, Archbishop of New York, announced the establishment of a new parish in the Bronx in a new massive development known as Parkchester. The parish was dedicated to St. Helena, the saint who found the true cross, and it would also serve as a permanent remembrance of the Cardinal's own mother, Helen Spellman. The parish replaced the beer garden of Loeffler's Picnic Park. The new parish's very first Mass took place on June 9, 1940. Mass was celebrated by Msgr. Arthur J. Scanlan, S.T.D. in the Loeffler building, and about 1,000 parishioners attended it. The Christmas Midnight Mass in 1940 was celebrated by Msgr. Scanlan in the newly constructed Loew's American Movie Theatre. St. Helena Elementary School began in September 1940 at Loeffler's Tavern, and 600 children were registered, taught by eleven Dominican Sisters of Sparkill. The first principal was Sr. Purissima Reilly, O.P.. The new school building opened in September 1941. S

Specialties

The Church of St. Helena is a Roman Catholic parish church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at Olmstead Avenue at Benedict Avenue, Bronx, New York City, in the Parkchester neighborhood. It was established in 1940, and the church building built in the same year to the designs by the prominent architectural firm of Eggers & Higgins. The parish also has St. Helena Elementary School, also established in 1940, which educates children from age three up to eighth grade.