It’s always easy to travel through time at Holy Cross Parish in Rumson.

On the campus, where lush lawns and gardens are crowned by the graceful spires of the Victorian gothic church, the past is very much present.

Take a step inside the new addition at Holy Cross School though, and the 19th and 20th centuries slip easily into the 2lst. The school, wired and ready, affords students and members of the community access to the most up-to-date technology.

And when history and technology combine, as they did during the 125th anniversary celebrations at Holy Cross which kicked off last June 22 and concluded this June 14, the result was a seamless convergence of three centuries of Catholicism at the Jersey Shore.

The merger is most easily seen in the pages of the souvenir booklet – “Deo Gratias, The Legacy of our Heritage” – in which eight parish historians tell the story of Holy Cross pastor by pastor over the decades.

In addition, they’ve rolled out the story of the parish by creating a much more complete biographical “book” or album of the tenure of each pastor for parishioners to enjoy over the coming years.

The amount of research that went into these works and the time spent gathering artifacts that help tell the story of Holy Cross was phenomenal said the current pastor, Father Michael Manning, who joined some of the research team for a sit down interview a few days before anniversary festivities concluded on June 14.

“We were literally excavating history,” said Father Manning. “The history of this parish is so much more than the building. It’s a long, rich history."

The way they were
To see it now, it’s clear that Holy Cross Parish is situated in one of the most affluent corners of Monmouth County.

Tucked amid glamorous estates, nestled on a bit of a promontory over looking the Navesink River and just a stone’s throw from the Atlantic Ocean, Holy Cross is a spiritual home to a flourishing community of 2,120 families.

But back in the late 19th century, the Catholic community there consisted of a relatively small number of faithful who labored on the estates of the “cottagers” – Episcopalians and Presbyterians comfortable enough financially to keep homes in the city and the seashore.

The first Catholics of this area share a history familiar along the shore, coming in from Ireland, Italy, England, France, Germany and other European countries to work as domestics and farm hands as they set down new roots in America, said Father Manning.

He focused on how this early development set the stage for all that would come later. “We knew about the history, but it didn’t all begin and end the same way. It’s such a bigger story than that.”

In so many ways, it’s about how things changed and evolved, said Father Manning and pastoral assistant Eugenia M. Kelly, who devoted her considerable talents to the anniversary celebrations.

“What we worked hard at doing was showing how things developed,” she said.

Father Manning, Kelly, sacristan Sue Symington and pastoral assistant Lori La Plante presided over a brief excursion through Holy Cross history, unveiling photos, albums and posters designed to capture the highlights.

They spoke of the first stirrings of recognition among Church officials that there was a growing need for a church presence in what was then called Seabright.

By 1883, Bishop Michael J. O’Farrell, aware of the growing Catholic community, sent Father John H. Fox to investigate the feasibility of starting a parish in the area and the rest is history. It wasn’t long at all before children were being baptized and marriages were being performed in the officially incorporated Holy Cross Church meeting at the Knights of Pythias Hall, Kelly pointed out.

On May 18, 1885, the Church of the Holy Cross engaged John Burke, “carpenter and builder” from Asbury Park, to build the church as designed by Patrick Charles Keely. Keely, a noted Irish architect, specialized in Roman Catholic churches and designed nearly 700 of them over the course of his career, she noted.

The Rumson Borough Bulletin this year noted that among the donors who supported this church were “many immigrants who passed the hat and donated what they could…some Cottagers also contributed generously to the Church of the Holy Cross.”

On the scene at the time was a Spanish entrepreneur who owned a lot of property in what was then Seabright, Symington said. Jose de Navarro would donate $4,000 to cover the cost of the building lot and endow the windows depicting St. Anthony and St. Alphonsus – the names of his sons – in memory of his parents. His sons are believed to have donated an altar that may still be in existence in the area, the historian team agreed.

The original Victorian style rectory was built at the same time as the church and a parish hall with its one room school house was erected behind the rectory and church by 1893.

The parish grew with astonishing speed, LaPlante said. More and more Catholic families moved into Rumson necessitating a second worship site. Around 1915, property was acquired on West River Road which would become the location of Holy Rosary Mission Church, dedicated in 1923. The little church served the community until it closed in 1994, the historians pointed out.

Other missions which sprang from Holy Cross included Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Highlands; St. Agnes, Atlantic Highlands, and St. Mary Chapel at Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook.

With the need for more school space increasing as well, the second Holy Cross School was dedicated in 1941. It started out with classes being held in a former private estate known as “The Corners” which also housed the convent.

A new school building was constructed in 1953 and additional classrooms and a new convent built in 1962. Sisters of Mercy from North Plainfield staffed the school between 1941 and 1979 and the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Infant Jesus operated it between 1979 and 1992 when they were succeeded by lay educators.

Kelly took pleasure in noting that many of the sisters who served the school and were such an integral part of the community would be returning for the grand finale as would surviving former pastors. Family members had also been invited.

She wondered what everyone would make of the new addition.

In 2007, under the stewardship of Father Manning, the new addition to the school, with its gymatorium, media center, interactive learning classrooms, science lab and library, was dedicated, giving the institution and indeed the entire campus firm footing for the 21st century.

A grand finale
Over the years, the parish has continued its sure and steady growth. More than 25 ministries are part of parish life and more than 400 parishioners donate their time and talents to serving the Church.

They were among the aspects of parish life celebrated during the festive anniversary year which began with a Turn of the Century lawn party outside the church and concluded just last week in much the same fashion.

Father Michael Manning, along with Kelly, LaPlante and Symington talked about what a grand year it had been.

The 12 months sparkled with historical lectures, a concert featuring John Michael Talbot, and a kitchen tour enhanced by a cookbook of recipes contributed by parishioners.

A special edition of Holy Cross Wine was bottled as a souvenir and a commemorative book, “Deo Gratias: The Legacy of our Heritage,” written by church historians, was readied as a keepsake.

On May 16, the parish held its gala 125th anniversary dance and on June 14, festivities culminated with a Mass celebrated by Bishop John M. Smith followed by a reception, once again, on the lawn.

On a brief walking tour as the gymatorium and school were being prepared for the grand finale, they pointed out the photos shared by parishioners of life at the parish dating back to its early years.

They showed off the display case with documents, photos and artifacts reflecting the history including the contents of the cornerstone laid so long ago.