St. Patrick Catholic Church celebrates 75 years

On the evening of Tuesday, June 10 – exactly 75 years from the first Mass celebrated at Saint Patrick Catholic Parish inside Saint Ann’s Home for the Aged – clergy, parishioners, former parish school students, special guests and friends gathered to celebrate a milestone anniversary at Saint Patrick Catholic Church.

The festivities featured a “Walk Down Memory Lane” photo exhibit of the construction progress of the “Church that the People Built,” while attendees enjoyed a wine and cheese social. More than 100 photos were available for viewing, including a black and white photo of the first Mass in the completed church.

Archbishop Coakley celebrated a 75th Anniversary Mass, along with concelebrant Father Joseph H. Arledge, pastor of Saint Patrick.

Special guests included Masters of Ceremony Father Stephen Bird and Father Rodrigo Serna; additional concelebrating priests Father Joseph Irwin, Father Cristobal de Loera and Father Raul Sanchez; and assisting Deacon Duane Fischer, Deacon Dennis Frazier and Deacon Fernando Marin.

Prelude music featured Brad Kenna on the bagpipe playing “The Little Spree” and “The Highland Cathedral.” The processional hymn “The Church’s One Foundation” set the tone for the Holy Mass.

Immediately following Mass, participants gathered around the Saint Patrick statue at the church entrance for a commemorative photo before processing to a catered reception in the parish hall.

About Saint Patrick Catholic Church
Saint Patrick Catholic Church began in Northwest Oklahoma City on June 10, 1950, fulfilling the vision of Bishop Eugene McGuinness. The first Mass was celebrated by the first parish pastor, Father Michael McNamee, in what is now called Trinity Gardens (formerly Saint Ann’s Home for the Aged), located west of the church property.

Beginning with 120 families and a priority to construct a school, Father McNamee successfully raised the funds to break ground in January 1951. The Saint Patrick Parish Grade School soon opened in September 1952, serving first-through-eighth grades with an enrollment of 200 students. The Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, Kansas, were the first teachers to teach the students in the new school.
 
By 1955, a growing parish of 550 families and a new school under then-pastor Monsignor Kanaly, readied plans to build a new church. The new church needed to be practical, liturgically in keeping with the “mind of the church,” and a work of art. These tenets of design guided the plans for a modern church within a church. Built almost entirely by the parishioners numbering in the hundreds, who worked day, night and weekends over more than a two-year span, the new church was dedicated on Sept. 23, 1962.

The modern cathedral, which was designed by architect Robert Lawton Jones of the Tulsa firm Murray Jones Murray and engineer Felix Candela, was awarded the Cardinal Lercaro Gold Medal in 1962, by the North American Liturgical Conference as the outstanding Catholic church built in the country over a three-year period. Among other honors was one of four equal awards given by the National Council of Churches and the Church Architectural Guild of America in 1963.

The church's design elements have won numerous awards since it was built.
 
The church also was listed among the "Top Five Favorite Sites for Oklahoma City Architecture at its Finest," featured in Oklahoma Today in 2000, and was featured in The Oklahoman as one of the "Ten Architecturally Significant Religious Buildings in Oklahoma City" by Oklahoma City metro architects in 2002.

The Saint Patrick parish is a culturally diverse parish serving the needs of many including Anglo, Asian, African and Hispanic families. English, Spanish and bilingual Masses are a celebrated part of special events and certain Holy Days within the Saint Patrick Catholic Church community.

For more information, visit the website, saintpatrickokc.org or follow on Facebook.

A celebration was held on June 10 for the 75th anniversary of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Oklahoma City. Photos Fran Kozakowski/Sooner Catholic.


Archbishop Coakley, Fr. Joseph Arledge and parishioners from St. Patrick Catholic Church in Oklahoma City gathered on June 10 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the church. Photo Felix Pinto