Excerpt from St. Hilary's 50th Anniversary Anthology. Fifty years is a long enough time for many significant events to take place; and at the same time, it is a short enough time for people of a certain age to remember those events.
Krol, with Reverend John P. Cosgrove, who had just celebrated his 25th Anniversary as a priest, as the first pastor. Father Cosgrove had formerly served at St. Five new parishes were established in , and named after saints who were defenders of the Christian Faith. Archbishop Krol made a gift of a chalice to each of the five parishes.
Rydal is a small residential community which began around , when its railroad station was a stop on the Reading Railroad. Additional acres were added and purchased by Archbishop Krol on December 12, The first Masses offered for the people of St. At an organizational meeting on the afternoon of June 17, the Pastor and parishioners decided to add an Mass to the Sunday morning schedule, as Father mentioned in his first letter to the parishioners. The founding members of St.
There was one tree on the property, a pin oak that still stands on the south side of the Church. He and a realtor walked to the rear section, where there was a charming old barn. He thought it could be renovated and made into a lovely rectory. The realtor advised against it, telling him that no matter what would be done, the smell of cows could never be removed and would linger perpetually. It was demolished when construction on the property began.
While the parish buildings were being completed, daily Mass for St. Father Cosgrove had tried to purchase a house at Old Huntingdon Pike, closer to the parish property; but his request for a zoning variance was denied; and so he stayed at Our Lady Help of Christians until December, , when he rented and moved into a house at Llanfair Road in Abington Township and also in St. The first baptism recorded at St.
