IN Mt. Lebanon Summer 2014 | Page 45

St. Anne Parish Celebrates 125 Years Church and school celebrate more than a century of history in the South Hills. BY MARK BERTON I n the same year that The Wall Street Journal published its first issue, and four new states joined the union, St. Anne Parish celebrated its first mass. However, back then, it wasn’t the St. Anne Parish that parishioners of the South Hills know today. In 1889, St. Anne was a mission of St. Michael, located on Pittsburgh’s South Side in a private home that furnished one room in the likeness of a chapel. Masses were monthly, but work was already underway to form a new church. By the early 1890s, a new St. Anne was rising, and by the spring of 1893, St. Anne was dedicated and celebrating weekly masses. Three years later, it had its own resident pastor. For nearly 70 years, St. Anne continued its weekly vigil, interrupted only by necessary maintenance and renovations, including removal of its tower. However, time erodes all, and St. Anne was falling victim to its own popularity with swelling numbers of congregants. The final sign that St. Anne was no longer a viable place of worship came at the conclusion of World War II, when returning soldiers forming new families and settling down in the area proved to be the bursting point of the church’s capacity. Church leaders started a fundraising campaign in 1957. By the fall of 1961, groundbreaking ceremonies were underway, and the new, new St. Anne became a reality, opening its doors on April 14, 1963