The establishment of Our Lady of Angels goes back before 1922 with the arrival of the Franciscan Fathers. The property on the Rocky River Valley, just a few blocks north of Kamm's Corner, now known as Rocky River Dr., was bought by Franciscan Priests to build a seminary. This very same seminary became a parish for people in the surrounding area.
By 1905, a small chapel was built for the Brothers and Fathers, with temporary living quarters. The chapel was known as The Stigmato of St. Francis. It was dedicated as Our Lady of Angels on July 13, 1903.
It was on November 26, 1922 when the official document establishing Our Lady of Angels as a parish, was read to the people by their first pastor, Fr. Columban Valentine. Fr. Columban was officially installed as pastor of Our Lady of Angles parish on December 3rd, 1922.
In 1923, Fr.Columban established four organizations, two of which included the Holy Name Society and the Women's Guild. The Holy Name Society which was composed of parish men joined in a common purpose to do honor to the holy name of Jesus. The Women's Guild was formed one week after the Men's society. The object of this group was to foster the members and to assist the Priests with the tasks of the church.
General contractors broke ground on July 1, 1923 and the cornerstone for the new Our Lady of Angels School was laid August 5, 1923. School opened on September 10, 1923 with one class held in the chapel and the other two classes in the reception rooms of the monastery. The total enrollment was 103 children. Enrollment increased from 103 to 400 in the first ten years of operation. Sisters of St. Joseph were in charge of the education program when the school first opened.
During the early years the population was constantly growing. This growth demanded an extension of the existing faculties. In 1926, four more rooms were added to the original school building. On June 17, 1928 the church was enlarged and renovated. In 1937 more property was purchased and arranged as a playground with basketball, handball and tennis courts.
Due to the fast growth of the parish, the decision was made in 1940 to build a new church. By Easter of 1942, the new church was completed. On June 26, 1955 the blessing and ground breaking ceremony was held for Linus Hall. Linus Hall is a tribute to Fr. Linus in whose honor it was named. To complete the parish plant as we know it today, the primary building was built in 1962.
For the month of July, we had a float in our neighborhood fourth of July parade. We had a fun-filled parish picnic behind Saint Joseph Academy High School. We had our annual parish festival in September. It was complete with food, games, raffles, and most importantly, rides!
October brought on more excitement with the production of"And the Angels Sing." It told the story of the beginning of our parish. The show started with a scene from the 1920's and ended with the thrills we experienced today during our Diamond Jubilee(75th anniversary). Most every person from the student body was a part of it. Here is a picture one of our seventh graders drew showing the costumes of the different decades.
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