Our Lady of Mount Virgin Church is a Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of Pastor Peter Palmisano. Mount Virgin Church has a rich hundred-year history as a community of faith serving families from Garfield, New Jersey, and surrounding communities. All are welcome!
Growing in grace, growing in gratitude, and growing in faith by living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our Lady of Sorrows was a mission of Our Lady of Mount Virgin that opened in 1917. The original mission church is located on Jewel Street in Garfield and is still operating today for weekday and holy day celebrations. As Garfield's large faith community grew, Our Lady of Sorrows served as an extension of Our Lady of Mount Virgin so that the church could expand.
Our Lady of Sorrows Mission was raised to the status of a parish on Sept. 9, 1930, and Father James Orsini was named its first pastor. He was followed by Father Francis Auriemma, Father Thomas Rainone, and Father Lawrence Cardelichio. All of these men labored alone. The first assistant pastor assigned to Our Lady of Sorrows was Father Charles Brown who arrived in 1948. He was replaced by Father Al Kowalski who served OLS from 1951 until 1972. Father Al was loved by all.
Father Vincent Garoffolo was appointed administrator in 1955 and Archbishop Boland encouraged the building of a new church and school which was dedicated on December 22, 1957. In 1973, Father Michael Guba was appointed parochial vicar and his assignment continued until his retirement in 2015. Father Michael was a blessing to his OLS parishioners. He designed and launched the first-ever ceremony booklets - handmade by him for marriages and all other sacraments that were celebrated at OLS. He was the heart of the OLS community for more than four decades.
The last mass at Our Lady of Sorrows was celebrated on June 25, 2016, by Bishop John Walter Flesey. Upon closure of Our Lady of Sorrows, a procession carrying its namesake statue was lead by our community to welcome her back home to Our Lady of Mount Virgin. The statue of Our Lady of Sorrows now resides in Our Lady of Mount Virgin in a place of honor. She is adourned in her flower crown as a sign of tribute, gratitude, and a "welcome home" from the Our Lady of Mount Virgin community. Please visit Our Lady of Sorrows at Our Lady of Mount Virgin Church. She is located on the right front side of the church where she watches over all of us, and serves as a symbol of our reunited OLS and OLMV community.