By Christina Leslie | Correspondent

New Jersey’s oldest parish, Sacred Heart in Trenton, will kick off a year-long series of events Dec. 1 to celebrate two centuries of faith-filled ministry to the people of the Capital City.

The anniversary celebration, scheduled to span the liturgical year, will commence Dec. 1, the First Sunday of Advent, when pastor Father Dennis Apoldite will bless the church’s renovated stained glass windows at the 11:15 a.m. Mass.

The 14 windows in the Romanesque Revival-style church were recently releaded and cleaned at a cost of $14,000 each. To defray the cost, families were asked to contribute funds toward the project and memorialize their loved ones. “Within six weeks, every window was taken,” Father Apoldite said happily.

The parish, originally located at Market and Lamberton Streets, was first dedicated as St. John the Baptist June 12, 1814. Increasing immigration to the state capital necessitated a much larger structure be built in 1848; a devastating fire in 1883 destroyed all but the building’s exterior walls and belfry.

Despite the setback, Father Thad­deus Hogan, pastor, inspired his congregation to build a new church on South Broad Street dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The new Sacred Heart Church was dedicated June 30, 1889 by the Trenton Diocese’s first bishop, Most Rev. Michael S. O’Farrell, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Other upcoming anniversary events reflect the strong historical and familial ties evident in the Trenton parish.

Long-time members will be asked to share their heirloom pictures of the church decorated for Christmas, Easter or their First Holy Communion day. In February, World Marriage Day will be celebrated with a blessing of couples once married in the church and the display of their wedding day photos. Father Apoldite and the committee also plan to organize pilgrimages to many nearby shrines dedicated to American saints, including those of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, Fonda, N.Y.; St.

Elizabeth Ann Seton, New York; St.

Katharine Drexel, Bensalem, Pa.; and the Shrine of the American Martyrs, Auriesville, N.Y. Closer to home, the parish faithful will continue their outreach to the community with a monthly food drive and their “The Lord’s Table” food distribution ministry.

The culmination of the anniversary festivities will be a weeklong celebration spanning two important dates on the Church calendar. “We will have a parish mission and retreat beginning June 24, the Feast of St. John the Baptist, the original name of our church,” Father Apoldite noted, “and concluded with a picnic June 27, the Feast of the Sacred Heart.”

Father Apoldite’s first served a five-year term as pastor beginning in 1992 following the retirement of Msgr.

Leonard Toomey, then returned as the parish’s chief shepherd in 2007. He expressed his joy at being affiliated with the diverse South Broad Street parish of about 900 families. “Only about 10 or 12 families can walk here, the rest come from all over and across the bridge [in Pennsylvania],” he noted.

The pastor continued, “All are treated equally, it’s a great place to be. There are no divisions, no classes, whether you are Spanish or Italian or have old Irish roots.”