Parish History

The story of any church is a story of faith. This is uniquely true of this parish. Started as a mission church, OLS was founded to meet the needs of Italian immigrants in the Greenville section of Jersey City. In 1905, an unused Presbyterian church at 73 Claremont Avenue was purchased for a worship space, and the seeds of the future parish were planted.

The parish grew rapidly and in 1918 property at 93 Clerk Street was purchased. A barn on the property was converted into a Parish Hall and the ministry of the parish expanded to education and other spiritual and charitable societies. OLS became a parish in its own right.

For many years parishioners dreamed of a new church, but these were lean years for a mostly poor, laboring immigrant community. Faith, conviction, and generosity raised the money that made a new church, a school, rectory, and convent a reality by 1935. In thanksgiving for the blessings that God had bestowed on the young church, a shrine was erected to Our Lady of Sorrows. A magnificent replica of Michelangelo’s “Pieta” was built on the southeast corner of Claremont and Ocean Avenues. It remains, newly refurbished, to this day...a sign of compassion in the community.

The 60's brought change. OLS, like all parishes, was forever effected by this change. The Second Vatican Council called the whole church to renewal. The laity were challenged to greater involvement than ever before. Change came to the urban neighborhood, too. Most of the original population moved out of the city to the suburbs. In 1971, the school closed and there seemed more “sorrow” than “joy” in the OLS parish family.

Then, in 1976, an energetic and charismatic priest asked to come and pastor the parish. Father James O’Brien was well known to the Jersey City community. He was a passionate advocate for social justice. His dream for the parish was that it would be a “mustard seed” caring community of light in the midst of what most called “urban decay”. Under his leadership the parish started to come to life again. People were attracted by the small family atmosphere and outreach in the community putting the gospel into action. As the Lord had done with the five loaves and two fish, Father O’B brought his faith, hope and love to the limited resources of the parish and God blessed his efforts with success.

The core of OLS parish life is its Sunday Eucharistic Worship. It is a family celebration of shared faith. All other ministry flows from it. This is the often hidden beauty of “smallness”. All are known by name and if you are not there, you are missed. By the time the 90's arrived, this parish which began as a parish of workers’ families had come to life again as a working parish. The membership of the parish is truly inter-racial and inter-cultural. Celebrations of the cultural diversity are frequent. Building upon a growing working relationship with the other parishes of our deanery, our special charism for social concerns ministry continues to grow.

In February of 1998, our brother-pastor, Father Jim, died suddenly. The parish was plunged into a deep mourning of the loss of our “heart.” Already in the midst of a Deanery Ministry Renewal Study, the parish searched its soul for direction into the future. Supported by the compassion and generous ministry of the priests of the neighboring parishes, OLS has come through this difficult time and continues to grow.