Philadelphia’s First Catholic Cathedral

  Old St. Mary’s traces its history to 1763, when a second church was needed for the growing number of Catholics in the city. Built on land originally bought to serve as a cemetery for Old St. Joseph’s, Old St. Mary’s was referred to as “Mission Number 1” as St.

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Liturgical Music and Peter LaManna

Dr. Peter LaManna was born in Reading, PA on August 15, 1930. He became one of the youngest church organists in Reading when he accepted the position of organist at Saint Anthony’s Lithuanian Catholic Church at age 16. Years later, in 1964, he became director of the Reading Choral Society,

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Starting from Scratch: The Story of Msgr. Hawks and St. Joan of Arc Parish

Msgr. Edward Hawks was born Feb 17, 1878 in Southern Wales. He moved to Canada to study for priesthood in the Anglican church. During the Open pulpit controversy, he converted to Catholicism and was ordained by Archbishop Prendergast in 1911. He served as a chaplain in the Canadian Expeditionary Force

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Serra Club of Philadelphia

The goals of Serra International are twofold. First, Serra clubs are to foster vocations and assist in the education of young men to the priesthood. Second, they are to further Catholicism through enduring friendships among Catholic men. These goals were aligned with the creation of the Pontifical Work for Priestly

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