Warm Embrace: Generations find spiritual peace in only parish they’ve ever known
By Erick Rommel
Head Staff Writer
Very rarely when asked the same question, do people give the same answer. An exception to that rule can be found in St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Port Reading, which celebrated the start of its centennial year with a Nov. 12 Mass.
When asked, “What does this parish mean to you?” the answers were remarkably similar.
“It’s a home,” said Deacon Albert “Mickey” Coppola, who joined the parish more than 20 years ago and was ordained in 2001.
Father Jonathan S. Toborowsky, who was a member of the parish before ordination, Terri Seibert and Barbara Lasek all echoed Deacon Coppola, “It’s a home.”
“It’s everything,” said Stanley Gurney and Virginia Reuben.
“A lot of people who are here — their parents are here and their grandparents are here,” explained Eileen Gurney, who spent the past year creating a history display that filled the entire parish hall. “Think of all the people who came before us who made it the place it is today.”
The first people to celebrate Mass in what would become St. Anthony of Padua Parish were ministered to by Father Clementi Cardelli, who came to Perth Amboy in 1904 to meet the spiritual needs of Italians in the area. On July 3 of that year, the first official Baptism was recorded, Phillippis Farrue. Several months later, Oct. 8, 1904, the parish celebrated its first marriage.
Bishop James A. McFaul formally established St. Anthony of Padua as an ethnic parish Nov. 13, 1906. Although its church was constructed in 1914, it was not until the arrival of Father Stanislaus Milos in 1943, after the conversion of the community to a territorial parish, that there was a resident pastor.
Father Milos served the parish for 32 years as pastor, then as pastor emeritus. The effects of his tenure can still be felt throughout the Port Reading community where landmarks still bear his name.
“He was involved in our community,” said Father William J. Smith, pastor. “He helped form the first aid squad. During World War II, he helped create a monument to those who served.”
“Father Milos was a very special person in Port Reading,” recalled Albina D’Alessio. “He was responsible for not only providing us with religious instruction but also introduced many of the children to cultural and educational experiences. [He] was responsible for the first public library in Port Reading. How great it was to walk to the library and borrow a book.”
“Father Milos was a father to everyone,” explained Mary Simone, parish member for 86 years and the only remaining original member of the parish Rosary Society, which was created in 1946. “He’d go across the street to the parish hall with a pack of comic books for the kids who couldn’t be left at home when their parents played bingo.”
Throughout the years, many memories were formed in St. Anthony of Padua Parish. Many people will never forget Father Milos starting a fife and drum corp. Several former members still own their fifes. Others will never forget a visit from the apostolic nuncio to Morocco, Archbishop Domenico DeLuca, for the celebration of St. Anthony’s 800th birthday in 1995 and the parish choir opening a concert for Bon Jovi, during Father Robert G. Lynam’s pastorate, or the building of parish ministries during the pastorate of Father Michael G. Krull.
Marty and Pat Martino were both baptized in St. Anthony of Padua Church and married there as well. Both their families came from Italy and settled in Port Reading. While looking at the parish history, they paused at a photo from 1915 that shows his parents, Sabatino Martino and Johanna McNulty, on the day they received their First Communion.
“When we were kids, my mom was in charge of opening the church and ringing the church bell. When she couldn’t, I did,” Marty Martino recalled. He also remembered when his grandfather lived next to the church. “Because he was a carpenter, he became the church carpenter. When [he] passed on, his house became the convent for nuns.”
Seibert, a member of the parish since 1958, remembers of that is being of service to the community at large.
“I’m amazed at the number of people who say to me when they bring the difficulties of their lives, that I understand what they’re experiencing,” he said. “That gives me the ability to continue — being available to people in that way.”
In St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Father Smith has found a close-knit community that opens its arms to new members. “There’s a sense of community and a sense of wanting to help,” said Father Smith. “Every time I’ve brought family members or friends, they’ve always sensed a welcoming community from the moment they came to visit.
“This is the place God really wants me to be,” said Father Smith. “This is the place where I belong.”
*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law