Holy Rosary Homecoming - October 8, 2022

There will be no floats, no royalty, no football game or parades. There WILL be Mass at 10:00 am on Saturday, followed by refreshments (coffee, donuts, Potica Mexican pastries) and memories in the school cafeteria.

You don't have to be a current parishioner (although you are always welcome) - you just have to love Holy Rosary. Were your grandparents married here? Did any of your family attend school or church at Holy Rosary? Sing in the choir? Act in a school play? Attend the church bazaar? What teachers do you remember? 

Join us! Bring your photos, scrapbooks, notebooks, recipes, posters, and stories. (You might even discover a distant relative). Look for updates and information on the Holy Rosary website and Facebook page

www.holyrosarydenver.com

http://www.facebook.com/HolyRosaryChurchDenver

Students returning to school after Mass

Cinderella school play

Holy Rosary Parish

Among the Eastern European immigrants seeking religious liberty, economic opportunity and freedom from serving in the Austrian army were Slovenes and Croatians, who began arriving in Globeville during the 1880s. They had been farmers in the old country, but with little education, few urban skills and no knowledge of the English language, they were relegated to industrial jobs in mills and smelters. Their one avenue for spiritual and cultural expression, as well as a connection to the Old Country, was their Catholic faith, and it was their hope to build a church of their own. 
Slovenes and Croatians in Colorado had already established ethnic parishes - St. Mary's in Pueblo in 1894 and St. Joseph's in Leadville in 1899 - but it would be a longer process for those in Globeville.
Denver's Bishop Nicholas Matz urged all of Globeville's Catholics to attend St. Joseph's Polish Catholic Church and discouraged the establishment of another ethnic parish just a block away. But St. Joseph's was very small, the Polish pastor Father Jarzynski didn't speak Slovenian or Croatian and made no arrangements to bring in a priest who could. Periodically, Slavic priests from Pueblo, such as Reverend Ignatius Burgar or Father Cyril Zupan, would travel two hours by train to say Mass, hear confessions and conduct funerals at St. Jacob’s Tavern. With such sporadic attention to their spiritual needs, many people just quit attending Mass. 
Leaders in the community decided to take matters into their own hands, and on October 20, 1916, held a meeting in St. Jacob's Tavern with leaders from several fraternal lodges, dramatic societies and glee clubs. A decision was made to begin raising money in the neighborhood, appeal for funds from lodges in Leadville, Aspen, Salida and Pueblo and wait. With the death of Bishop Matz in August, 1917, a committee approached his successor Bishop J. Henry Tihen for permission to start a parish for Slovenians and Croatians. Years of planning and saving allowed the parish to move quickly after receiving the Bishop's blessing, with the ground breaking ceremony on May 27, 1919, and the completion of the building on February 20, 1920. The church was dedicated on July 4, 1920 with Bishop Tihen praising the parishioners for their efforts - reminding them that poor people, rather than princes, built the great churches of Europe.
Holy Rosary now serves the descendants of the Slovenian and Croatian founders, the Hispanic community of Globeville and new urban pioneers settling the neighborhood.

Laying the cornerstone, 1919 photo ® Mary Lou Egan

Dedication, July 4, 1920. Photo ® Mary Lou Egan

Holy Rosary Church, 2012. Photo ® Mary Lou Egan

Holy Rosary Parish

The youngest of the three churches receiving historic designation in Globeville, 

Holy Rosary Church, convent and school State Register 3/10/1999, 5DV.349

Commemoration of Holy Rosary School

The original photo is 24 inches long and shows Father John Judnic and 152 students posing in front of the Holy Rosary School building in September 1930. Completed in September 1928, the school was the dream of Holy Rosary parishioners, Slovenian and Croatian immigrants who sought to preserve the faith and heritage of their homeland.
Southern Slavs had arrived in Globeville during the 1890s and worked 12-hour days in the smelters, railroads and meat packing plants in hopes of building a better life for their families. Hard working and painfully frugal, they built their parish church in 1919, a handsome brick rectory in 1921 and began to collect funds for a parish school in 1927.
The school opened in September 1928, on the eve of the Great Depression, but was sustained by volunteer labor, bake sales, choir performances, raffles, and the dedication and perseverance of the Slovenian and Croatian community. For 40 years, Holy Rosary School provided a faith-based education to the Catholic children of Globeville.
The construction of two interstate highways through the neighborhood and industrial encroachment forced many residents to move from Globeville, and enrollment at the school dwindled. The school was forced to close in May 1969. 
Photos of each of the 40 graduating classes of the school were discovered in the former rectory in February 2010 and have been assembled, along with the students' names, in a small booklet. The publication is a touching tribute to the faith of these immigrant families and is available from the parish for a donation of $10.
http://holyrosarydenver.com
303-297-1962

                                       1929: Mary Marolt, Ignatius Mearsha, Rev. John J. Judnic, 
                                        Amelia Lesser, Lenore Theisen