As a way to honor the Catholic Church’s roots in South Jersey, the community of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is holding a pilgrimage from the historic site of the old Saint Mary’s in the Pines Church to Saint Nicholas Church on May 2.
Also known as Saint Mary of the Assumption Church, Saint Mary’s in the Pines was the fourth Catholic church in New Jersey – and the first in what is now the Diocese of Camden.
“This will be a good thing to bring together various ages and cultures, intentional in their faith, and evangelizing in prayer,” noted Father Gerard Marable, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Galloway.
The pilgrimage will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Saint Mary’s in the Pines Cemetery, Mullica Township. Pilgrims will pray the Stations of the Cross along the route to Saint Nicholas Church, Egg Harbor City – a parish worship site of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The 8.5-mile walk will be followed by Eucharistic Adoration at 2 p.m. inside Saint Nicholas Church.
Danays Hernandez, one of the event’s organizers, said the pilgrimage offers participants time for inner healing “and fellowship with others as we draw closer to God.”
“It will show where we come from as a Church, and teach faithful of all ages that they have a faith heritage and history that they need to own and live,” she said.
The walk is titled, “Faithful Immigrants: A Historic Pilgrimage,” as the two churches share a connection as places of refuge and worship for early immigrants.
Saint Mary’s in the Pines was built for Irish and German Catholics who worked at Batsto Furnace and Iron Works. The company’s owner, Jesse Richards, recognized a need for his employees to practice their faith, and donated the property in 1826.
After collecting enough funds – some reportedly from Richards, as well – Saint Mary of the Assumption was established and dedicated on Aug. 15, 1830.
After the furnace and iron work declined in the area in the latter half of the 19th century, and workers sought employment elsewhere, the church was boarded up. When it closed in 1885, it was under the jurisdiction of Saint Nicholas Church.
In 1900, a forest fire destroyed the church, but its graveyard remains.
Saint Nicholas’ history can be traced back to 1858, when the Redemptorist Fathers from Philadelphia would make their way to Egg Harbor to minister to German Catholic immigrants. In 1864, Father Franz Junker, newly arrived from Bavaria, was assigned as the area’s first resident priest.
In 1860, the cornerstone of Saint Nicholas Church was put into place with permission from Bishop James R. Bayley of Newark, but construction was delayed by the Civil War. The church was dedicated on Nov. 9, 1873.
In 2012, the church merged with Assumption in Pomona to form Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Today, it serves a diverse community that includes Hispanic, Haitian and Vietnamese Catholics.
“Like those before them, our members want a place where they can freely practice their faith,” Hernandez noted.
In making the journey from Mullica Township to Egg Harbor City as a visible sign of their faith, pilgrims will “learn to be stewards of this Catholic legacy that has been passed to us,” she said. At the same time, the walk will allow pilgrims to reflect “on how they can use their gifts to leave their own mark that will remain 100, 200 years from now.”
“Faithful Immigrants: a Historic Pilgrimage,” will take place on Saturday, May 2, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Saint Mary’s in the Pines Cemetery, 4332 Pleasant Mills Road, and continuing to Saint Nicholas Church, 525 St. Louis Ave., Egg Harbor City.
The pilgrimage is open to everyone. Anyone younger than 17 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian and register with the parish. For more information, contact the parish rectory at 609-652-0008.
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