Our Lady of Victory Church (Bronx) explained

The Church of Our Lady of Victory
Location Town:	Tremont, Bronx, New York City
Location Country:	United States of America
Architect:	John Vredenburgh Van Pelt^[1]
Client:	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York
Style:	Romanesque Revival

The Church of Our Lady of Victory is a Roman Catholic parish church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at Webster Avenue, Tremont, Bronx, New York City. The parish was established in 1909.^{[2] [3]}

Buildings

The church complex consists of a church-and-school and separate rectory. The address is 1512 Webster Avenue, at East 171 Street, a block south of Claremont Parkway.^[2] The present dark brown brick Lombardo Romanesque-style church building dates from 1911, apparently providing for a parish school above; the parish does not currently have a parish school but offers a vigorous CCD program.^[2] The architect was John Vredenburgh Van Pelt,^[1] who designed the similar Guardian Angel Church (Manhattan) in 1930.

History

Reverend Bartholomew J. Galligan formed the parish and said the first mass in a temporary chapel on September 12, 1909. The church and school were opened on December 25, 1911, after construction was completed. The Reverend John F. Quinn was rector at this church until he was transferred to Holy Name of Mary (Montgomery, New York) in 1919 and replaced by the Rev. Thomas B. Brown.^[4]

The parish of St. Augustine merged with Our Lady of Victory to form the parish of St. Augustine - Our Lady of Victory.^[5] St. Augustine's was closed in 2011 and demolished in 2013.

Dedication

The church's "Victory" dedication is not clear, it is believed to celebrate the Battle of Lepanto (1571).^[2]

There are at least two other Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic churches in New York City:

• Brooklyn's appears to be the oldest, with the present church building, located at Throop Avenue and McDonough Street, Brooklyn, built 1891-1895 to the designs by Thomas E. Houghton.
• Manhattan's is the most recent, being founded during World War II in 1944 by Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York and Apostolic Vicar for the U.S. Armed Forces; the present church was built 1944-1946 to the designs by the prominent New York City architectural firm of Eggers & Higgins^[6]

Notes and References

1. Book: Shelley , Thomas J. . 2007 . The Archdiocese of New York: The Bicentennial History . Editions De Signe / Archdiocese of New York . New York City . 535 .
2. See Thomas J. Shelley, The Archdiocese of New York: the Bicentennial History, (New York: Archdiocese of New York, 2007), p.474; Our Lady of Victory, Webster Avenue, Tremont (Accessed 7 February 2011)
3. Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., Censor, The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg Together with some Supplementary Articles on Religious Communities of Women.. (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p.391.
4. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/10/06/118161376.pdf CLERICAL CHANGES IN ARCHDIOCESE; New Assignments of Pastors and Assistants Announced by Chancery Office. TWENTY-NINE NEW PRIESTS Many Army and Navy Chaplains Have Now Returned to Diocesan Work. Assistants Promoted to Pastorates. Interchange of Pastors. Army and Navy Chaplains. Interchange of Assistants. Assignments of Newly Ordained Priests.
5. https://www.saolv.org/ St. Augustine - Our Lady of Victory
6. http://wscya.org/olov/ourhistory.htm Our History, Church Website