Saint Stanislaus Kostka <\/a>church was becoming overcrowded due to the ever-increasing\nnumber of parishioners. The parish priests were having difficulty in\nministering their pastoral work and tending to the needs of all their\nparishioners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Land purchase<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The first efforts were\nmade, in 1944, to purchase a Protestant church at the corner of Dundas and\nDovercourt as many Polish families, which to date had settled around Saint\nStanislaus, began to move out to the western part of the city. However, the\npurchase did not take place. This was, perhaps, an omen for the creation of the\nnew Polish parish, because in January 1945, the Protestant church was destroyed\nby fire. Only the church\u2019s auditorium was spared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The search for a\nsuitable site for the construction of a new church did not stop. This time, the\nfocus was on the Sunnyside district. On April 1, 1948, the parish priest of Saint\nStanislaus Kostka Father P. Klita, OMI, purchased land for the construction of\na church for $15,000, at the corner of Roncesvalles Ave. and Garden Ave., from Mr.\nFrankfurt. Two weeks later, an adjacent house which became the presbytery, was\npurchased for $15,000. The joyful news of this transaction was announced at the\nmass celebrating the Resurrection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Parish hall<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Organizing a new parish,\ndedicated to Saint Casimir, was entrusted to Father Michael Smith, OMI, assistant\npastor of Saint Stanislaus Kostka church. It was a huge undertaking, uncertain and\neven risky as only 80 families would be the foundation of the parish faithful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On July 25, 1948, Father\nS. Puchniak, OMI, pastor of St. Peter and Paul in Welland blessed the land for\nthe construction of the parish hall as a key building block of the new parish. The\nnext day, the basement excavation began and soon after the foundation was laid.\nConstruction moved forward quickly. On September 26 of the same year, His\nExcellency Fr. Bishop Webster blessed the cornerstone. Thanks to the generosity\nof the parishioners and their unselfish help, the parish hall was completed as\na bare structure at the end of 1948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Easter Sunday, April 17,\n1949, was not only a day of thanksgiving to God but also a day of pride and joy\nfor all the faithful of this newly formed parish. In the newly built parish\nhall, on the upper floor, the first Holy Mass was celebrated. \u2013 Resurrection at\n6 am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The chapel was full. Sixteen\naltar boys and twenty beautifully adorned girls led the resurrection\nprocession. Father Smith OMI, Father L. Engel OMI and Father L. Cali\u0144ski OMI, concelebrated\nthe first ever Mass of the new parish. This was also the beginning of daily\nMass celebrated at. 9 and 11 in the morning. On that Sunday, the first baptisms\nwere performed and on Easter Monday the first wedding of the new parish took\nplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On April 24, the first dance\nwas held in the new parish hall, filled to the brim and vibrant with joy. On\nApril 25, the first Easter baskets were blessed as pride and joy reflected off\nthe faces of the parishioners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In May, devotions to the\nMother of God, so dear to the Polish heart, began. On Mother\u2019s Day, first Holy\nCommunion was administered to twelve children who were prepared for this great\nday by the Felician Sisters ministering at the parish of St. Stanislaus Kostka.\n\nOn May 22, 1949, His Eminence, James\nCharles Cardinal McGuigan officially opened the\nparish and dedicated the chapel.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The beginnings In 1944, plans for the creation of a third Polish parish in Toronto were initiated by the Oblate Fathers ministering at Saint Stanislaus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kazimierz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kazimierz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kazimierz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kazimierz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.kazimierz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.kazimierz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":997,"href":"http:\/\/www.kazimierz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions\/997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.kazimierz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}