“The Miracle of St. Stanislaus”
In the late 1800’s, America was thriving due to the emergence of electricity and the ongoing Industrial Revolution. At that time, the U.S. government sent delegations to Poland to invite Poles to emigrate and strengthen America’s workforce. Because of political and social unrest in Poland, Poles responded in large numbers, and in 1807 a vast emigration to America began. The Washington Avenue Immigration Station was a major point of entry and processing center for immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe between 1870 and 1915. From that center at Delaware and Washington Avenues, the newcomers began their journeys into America and settled in the South Philadelphia area and in many other regions of the city and tri-state area.
Since the Immigration Station was on the river, the Polish community in South Philadelphia grew along the Delaware riverfront where many were ultimately employed. Those who emigrated from Poland were faithful Catholics and for several years attended Mass at St. Laurentius Church in Fishtown and the former St. Alphonsus Church at 4th and Reed Streets in South Philadelphia. With a growing population, in 1890, the Polish community in South Philadelphia asked the pastor of Philadelphia’s first Polish parish, St. Laurentius Church, to petition the Bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to approve the purchase of a former Protestant church building on the 200 block of Fitzwater Street to begin a second Polish parish. Within that petition they asked that the new parish be named in honor of Poland’s patron saint, Saint Stanislaus. With permission from the Diocese, the community moved forward under the guidance of their first pastor, Rev. Michael Baranski, and St. Stanislaus Church became a reality. In 1890, the new immigrant community had little money, faced a frustrating language barrier, and worked ten to twelve hours a day for deplorable wages, so the formation of the new parish was viewed as a long lasting and positive accomplishment for the new immigrant community. They held events and raised money to buy the church building and began its transformation into a Catholic Church. The first Mass was celebrated on April 12, 1891.
Between 1890 and 1915, thousands of immigrants continued to arrive in America through the Port of Entry at Delaware and Washington Avenues. Each year thousands emigrated from Poland, Italy, Lithuania, Ireland, and many other countries. During that time Poles were emigrating from the farm regions of Poland where they were surrounded by modest churches, schools, and towns. Upon arrival at the South Philadelphia Port of Entry, they were more fortunate than other immigrants since they only had to walk across Delaware Avenue to find themselves not only in the new land of opportunity, but in a neighborhood where there was a church and school named after the patron saint of their homeland.
The immigrants began to call their new community, “The Miracle of Saint Stanislaus.” Understanding the struggles faced by all new immigrants— and as beneficiaries of an existing neighborhood with a Polish church, school, stores, and social and fraternal organizations where people spoke Polish and shared their culture—Saint Stanislaus Church and its parishioners helped the new Americans by providing assistance with clothing, housing, jobs and translations. Meanwhile, Saint Stanislaus School helped to introduce the English language to the young Poles. For many years the Polish people referred to that area of South Philadelphia as “Stanislawo,” which means “from the neighborhood around St. Stanislaus Church.”
As Polish immigrants continued to arrive in America, they began to move throughout the area and extend what they called “The Miracle of St. Stanislaus” to neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia and the surrounding counties. Within a ten-year period, Poles wee also populating Richmond, Bridesburg, Nicetown, Manayunk, Conshohocken, and Chester, Bucks, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties. From the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s, several new Polish parishes, schools, and organizations were established, and many of these continue to serve the Polish American community today. Many residents from the South Philadelphia area can trace family members making their first stop in America to St. Stanislaus Church and school, where they were welcomed, baptized, educated, married, and became part of the American way of life. “The Miracle of St. Stanislaus” was experienced by thousands of immigrants and for each of them became the beginning of an American Dream come true.
Under the leadership of capable pastors and with the collaboration of the parishioners, St. Stanislaus Parish prospered for many decades as a parish for people of Polish language and heritage. St. Stanislaus’s fine parish school was built in 1906 and was faithfully staffed by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth from 1891 to 1982.
The construction of Interstate 95 led to a steady decline in the number of parishioners in this area of South Philadelphia, just south of Center City, which had long been a working class neighborhood with a large Catholic population of Poles, Irish, Lithuanians, Italians, and Germans. Dwindling enrollment led to the closure of the school in 1982.
The Queen Village neighborhood where St. Stanislaus Church is located, because of its close proximity to Center City, has become a desirable area for young professionals to live. It now embraces a much more diverse population than it did in the past. On July 1, 2006, St. Stanislaus Church became a worship site of St. Philip Neri Parish.
St. Stanislaus Church remains a place where Mass is celebrated and cherished Polish devotions and customs continue—now part of our increasingly vibrant parish community.
