About Our Parish

A Brief History

The Church of the Holy Spirit is the sole successor of the previous four parishes of Gloversville, New York: St. Francis de Sales (closed in 1976), St. Mary's (closed in 1990), and Sacred Heart and St. Mary of Mt. Carmel (merged in 2009). The Church of the Holy Spirit was established anew on the former site of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish on South Main Street.

Gloversville is rich in history when it comes to the Roman Catholics, On March 22, 1873 St. Mary's Church was the first church occupied by Roman Catholics in Gloversville. It was located on West Pine Street and was purchased by local German-speaking Catholics. It was deeded to Bishop Francis McNeirney. The Irish Catholics, also needing a place of worship, joined the German Speaking Catholics.

In the Spring of 1977, Fr.Michael Killeen was sent to St. Mary's as its first resident pastor. As Gloversville grew the need for a larger church building became necessary. In 1890 a lot was purchased on Fremont Street and in March 1893 the first was Mass was celebrated in this new building.

St. Mary's was closed on June 24, 1990 and the community joined those worshipping at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to form St. Mary of Mt. Carmel Parish.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church had its beginnings date back to the 1890's, when the Italians immigrated to Gloversville attracted by the glove industry. The Italian Catholic community served by St. Mary's and St. Francis De Sales church during the early years but by the end of World War I it was obvious the Italian community would need a church that would accommodate their own customs and language.

On October 13, 1921 Bishop Edmund Gibbons appointed Fr. Dominic Ottaviano to organize and care for the new parish. Fr. Ottaviano purchased an acre of land at 149 S. Main Street and coverted two housed there into a temporary chapel and rectory. As the Italian Catholic community increased in number a new church was built and dedicated as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church on July 16, 1930.

In June of 1921, Sacred Heart was formed, as Rt. Reverend Edmund F. Gibbons recognized the need for a new parish in the Kingsboro section of Gloversville due to the increase of many Roman Catholics in the area after World War I. Bishop Gibbons appointed Rev. Francis A. Kelley to for the new parish and the cornerstone was laid on October 14, 1921. On Christmas Day of 1921 the first mass was celebrated at the new Sacred Heart Church. The Rev. John McCall succeeded Fr. Kelley and during his 15 year tenure many structural improvements were made including the parish hall which was constructed in 1931.

Sacred Heart became linked with St. Mary of Mt. Carmel in 2003, sharing a pastor, until its closing in October of 2009 where the parish community joined St. Mary of Mt. Carmel to form the Church of the Holy Spirit Parish.

‘Fully alive’ NCYC youth challenged to celebrate mysteries of faith, science and self

30 Nov, 2023

by OSV News (OSV News) — Grace Stecker of the Diocese of Helena, Mont., pulled out her cell phone and called her dad, right in the middle of a talk during the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC). In fact, teens all around her were talking on their phones, even as the speaker stood on the stage. But they had his permission. “I want you right now, in one minute, to just make a call to somebody in your life whom you love, who’s pretty special, whom you appreciate,” Scripture scholar and astrophysicist Father John Kartje asked of the more than 12,000 NCYC participants. The request came as part of his talk on the oneness of God and the universe — faith and science — that served as the topic of the opening session of NCYC in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Nov. 16. He began the talk echoing words spoken by Archbishop Charles C. Thompson just moments before. “The line that really struck me amongst everything he said is this,” Father Kartje noted: “You’re not a problem to be solved, but you are a mystery to be encountered.”

New book explores how Our Lady of Guadalupe sparked millions of conversions

30 Nov, 2023

by Katie Yoder Joseph Julián and Monique González still remember the moment they decided to write a book shedding new light on Our Lady of Guadalupe: May 10, 2016, the month of Mary and the date of Mexico’s Mother’s Day. “After years of initial research, we were sitting in a coffee shop and looked at each other and made a formal commitment to see the book’s writing through to the end, no matter what that meant,” the husband-and-wife team told Our Sunday Visitor. Today, that book presents a new interpretation of Our Lady of Guadalupe by delving into the past ahead of her feast day on Dec. 12. “ Guadalupe and the Flower World Prophecy: How God Prepared the Americas for Conversion Before the Lady Appeared ,” published on Nov. 21, explores how Our Lady’s encounters with Juan Diego at Tepeyac Hill in Mexico in 1531 marked the culmination of thousands of years of evangelical preparation of the people of Mesoamerica.

Advent trust

29 Nov, 2023

“Trusting in God’s Grace” by Cathy Donovan in Family Faith on the Go The hardest prayer I have ever uttered was, “God, you know best; your will be done.” I immediately felt a sense of fear at having given over my control of the situation and asking God to take over. And then I felt a sense of acceptance knowing that God’s response would be better than anything I could manage. We have been surrounded with challenges lately: a tough economy, natural disasters of biblical proportions, political unrest and violence in many countries. Watching the news can be downright depressing! Maybe you feel a bit like Job right now, facing personal life challenges that rattle your soul and shake your faith. During Advent we are in the a liturgical season of hope. It is hope in our God, who loves us so much he sent his Son to join us in our humanity, in our challenges and triumphs, in our joys and in our sorrow. This is the season of “Emmanuel” — God with us. God does not promise to fish us out of our struggles. Rather, God promises to be with us in them. God stands ready, with arms open wide, to embrace us when we need it most. We need only trust and fall into God’s embrace. This content comes to you from Our Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.

Intertwined priorities

29 Nov, 2023

Faith Focus for the Week What are my priorities? Do they reflect Jesus’ intertwined commandments of loving God and loving neighbor as self? What would our lives look like if we really took to heart the two intertwined commandments that Jesus succinctly places before us, to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves? (See Matthew 22:34-40) Would we reorder our time so that Sunday Mass, daily prayer and regular participation in the Sacrament of Penance are always on our calendar? Would we carve out time for serving others? Might we recognize our talents as gifts from God and discern the ways we might give the gifts back, with increase, at home, in our parish, in the workplace and in the world? Would we consider that the ways we spend time, money and attention are signs of our priorities? It is likely that most of us considering the list above would say “yes” to each question. As we hear and reflect on the Gospels, let us take Jesus’ challenge to heart and act accordingly: love God, love neighbor. This article comes to you from Our Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.