Saint Mary’s in Wappingers Falls became the forth parish in Dutchess County, New York in 1850. The parish territory covered most of today’s Towns of Wappinger, Fishkill, East Fishkill, LaGrange and Marlboro and Milton on the other side of the Hudson River. The need for a mission church to serve the immigrants in the Beekman area was soon recognized, so Saint Denis was built in 1860. In 1899 Saint Denis was established as a parish. The overwhelming growth of Hopewell Junction in the 1960’s made the need to establish another parish urgent. Saint Denis- Saint Columba School was built in 1965, and immediately Masses were celebrated to overwhelming crowds in the gym. In 1989 Saint Columba Church was built, and the parish was established in 1992.
The growth of Dutchess County along the Taconic Parkway continued, and Msgr. Dominick Lagonegro, the pastor of Saint Columba’s, recognized the need to establish a mission church in LaGrange. Property was purchased along Route 82 and permission was given by Cardinal John O’Connor to start a mission church. He gave Msgr. Lagonegro two choices to name the new mission; Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha or Saint Francis Cabrini. Msgr. Lagonegro’s family often visited the North American Shrine at Auriesville, where Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha was born, so he chose to name the new church by that name. Construction began on the mission church in 1997. Members of the Mohawk tribe were invited to the blessing of the property, and some of the young people remember sleeping under the stars the night before the blessing by Cardinal O’Connor. The first Mass celebrated in the new church was a Christmas Mass of 1998. The church was not completed, so people tell of bringing lawn chairs to a building with unpainted walls and plywood floors for the first Mass. The building was dedicated on August 6, 1999.
The new mission of Saint Columba grew quickly, and Religious Education classes were introduced in the four basement classrooms in the Fall of 2001. Mrs. Mary Biasotti was appointed the Director of Religious Education at the new mission. The Mission church immediately established its own music ministry, lectors, Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist, and Altar Servers. A committee was developed to care for the grounds, and Jerry and Ella Murphy maintained flowers around the building with the help of the choir.
By 2002, Cardinal Egan saw the need for a new parish in this section of Dutchess County and decided that Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha could be established as a parish. The first pastor, Msgr. William Belford, was appointed on July 1, 2002 with the mandate to start a new parish and consider building a new church. A private residence at 1810 Rt. 82 was purchased to serve as the first residence/rectory. Msgr. Belford immediately set about establishing the parish and planning for a new facility. The parish decided a new church should be built. Several proposals were presented to the parish. The most outstanding, and the choice of the parish, was the plan presented by Mr. Donald Swartz. He was chosen to be the architect of the new magnificent Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Church.
Msgr. Belford was told by Cardinal Egan to build a church that would be a standard and model for future churches built in the Archdiocese of New York.
The purchase of an additional 71 acres on Route 82 was necessary to build the new facility. Construction commenced in 2006. While construction was under way in 2007, Msgr. Belford was asked by Cardinal Egan to become the Chancellor of the Archdiocese and on July 1, 2007, Msgr. Desmond O’Connor was appointed pastor. In the fall of 2008, Cardinal Egan along with numerous priests and deacons, dedicated the new building on Sunday, November 23, before a standing room only crowd. The Poughkeepsie Journal video cast the ceremony so that it could be watched by people world-wide. See it here Dedication Ceremony
Here are some noteworthy aspects of the new church. On the Feast of the Holy Family in 2007, all families were encouraged to bring in stones with their family names on them. These were blessed and deposited in a large barrel directly beneath our Altar Stone. A Relic of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha was obtained and placed in the Main Altar. The tabernacle came from Our Lady of Vilnius in Manhattan. The beautiful stained glass windows came from Saint Thomas the Apostle Church in Harlem. These two churches were closed shortly before Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha was built. The beautiful Rosary Garden was completed as an Eagle Scout project by Spencer Coffin, with the assistance of many parishioners. The cross built by John McFadden for the dedication, and placed by the workers atop the steel during construction, was placed in this Rosary Garden. See the video tour of Blessed Kateri's church by McGovern Interiors and Design here.
During 2008 the Old Church was transformed into a Faith Formation Center, a Parish Office wing was added, and a new Priest’s Residence was built. It was truly a busy year for Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish. Parishioners got used to attending a facility in competition with all types of construction equipment.
Some New Church firsts: the first Mass was celebrated on Sunday, September 27, 2008. Parishioners symbolically brought over all the liturgical items and chairs from the old church that are used in the chapel so work could begin immediately on the old church. We needed the classrooms for Religious Education immediately. The first classes in the renovated building were on November 5, 2008. The first baptism was October 18, 2008. The first wedding was October 4, 2008. The first funeral was October 25, 2008. The first R.C.I.A. catechumens baptized and candidates received into the church was at the First Easter Vigil, April 11, 2009. The first RCIA class had 14 members. The first First Holy Communion was on May 2, 2009. The first Confirmation, celebrated by the founding pastor, Bishop Dominic Lagonegro was May 27, 2009.
During this short time the parish has been blessed with the services of several members of the clergy. Father Joseph O’Hare, SJ, the former President of Fordham University served as a Weekend Associate from 2004-2009. Father Nimal Mendis, Prison Chaplain, resided at Blessed Kateri from 2003 until his death on January 7, 2006. Father Joseph Farone was the first Parochial Vicar, appointed in 2006. Father Ronald Perez, a newly ordained, was appointed in June 2008. The first Deacon ordained for the parish was Deacon John Barone, ordained on June 9, 2007. Deacon Robert Horton was ordained the following year on June 7, 2008. Deacons Andrew Daubman and Deacon Theodore VanDeVen were assigned to the parish in 2008.
Since the foundation of the parish in 2002 there has been a very active Parish Council and Finance Council. The Altar Rosary Society and Saint Vincent de Paul Societies are made up of members of all three parishes. St. Denis- St. Columba School is the parish school for all three parishes. Before the new facilities were built, we did have the Parent-Child Connection, Bible Study, Hospitality Hour, and a Sunday Children’s Liturgy program. The new facilities enabled us to host many more groups. In April of 2008 the parish conducted a Sign-Up Sunday at which over 400 volunteered for different groups and societies. The list on the Parish Directory page give an idea of the several parish groups and organizations.
When you realize that we have only been around for 10 years, and our new building is planned to last at least 400 years, we can truly Thank God for a great start, and seek His Blessings on all we will accomplish to build up the Body of Christ in LaGrangeville at Saint Kateri Tekakwitha.
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin, was canonized on 10/21/2012 by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome at the Canonization Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Many of our St. Kateri parishioners were blessed to be in attendance while on pilgrimage to Rome with Msgr. Desmond O'Connor..
Blessed Kateri Mission Church First Mass was Christmas 1998.
2002 Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha was established as a parish.
Groundbreaking ceremony
St. Thomas the Apostle's stained glass windows
Cardinal Egan dedicated the new building on Sunday, November 23, 2008.
The Rosary Garden
The first R.C.I.A. catechumens baptized and candidates received into the church was at the First Easter Vigil, April 11, 2009