1983: REMEMBERING "ST. ANTHONY'S" TRENTON

Were it not for an unpleasant occurrence in the past, St. Anthony's would be my current parish. I have many fond memories of my years at that great old church on South Olden Avenue. I grew up as a sometimes go to church Protestant Episcopal, only occasionally attending St. James P.E. Church on Greenwood Avenue. When I married into the Irish Catholic Britton family back in 1954, I was still "un-churched." When I married in April, 1954,. Father Thomas Coffee was the Priest who presided at our wedding ceremony. We had to stand in front of the altar rail, and the marriage knot was tied in front of the bronze gate that was once a part of the altar. Judy's steadfast loyalty to the faith led me to convert.  I took "Instructions" under the tutelageof the late Msgr. Leonard Toomey and Msgr. Michael P. McCorristin, It was the best move I ever made in my life. My life at St. Anthony was interesting, to say the very least. When Vatican II brought change to the church in the early 1960's, the music liturgy was a mess. Roman Catholics never heard of old time hymns like "Faith of our Fathers," "We Gather Together," "Abide With Me," and other classic and timeless Protestant hymns. As a new Catholic with a working knowledge of those melodies, I was one of the parishioners who assisted with the new music. I worked many hours with no musical accompaniment going over many of those old hymns. Msgr. McCorristin told me that "Faith of our Fathers" was one of his very favorite hymns. As the years piled on in my St. Anthony years, I became a Lector, Eucharistic Minister, president of the Holy Name Society, and during our childrens' years at St. Anthony Grammar School, my wife Judy and I became President and Vice President of that august organization. The graphic above is part five of a five week series I wrote on the history of St. Anthony from the time Fr.Bernadine Ludwig sent out mission Priests to start what would become St. Anthony of Padua parish in Trenton. One day, when the infirmities of old age prevent the weekly journey to Sacred Heart Parish in Trenton, I will probably once again renew old acquaintances with St. Anthony, the parish of my youth.