St. Mary's Catholic Church | |
 Front of the church | |
    | |
| Location | 317 N. New Jersey St.,Indianapolis,Indiana |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°46′20″N86°9′0″W / 39.77222°N 86.15000°W /39.77222; -86.15000 |
| Area | Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1910 |
| Architect | Hermann Gaul |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 77000020[1] |
| Added to NRHP | November 9, 1977 |
St. Mary Catholic Church (St. Marienkirche) is aparish of theRomanCatholic Church inIndianapolis, Indiana, in theArchdiocese of Indianapolis.
Originally founded in 1858 to serve the city's growingGerman population, it is noted for its historicparish church at the corner of New Jersey and Vermont streets, which was completed in 1912. Designed by architectHermann J. Gaul in the lateGothic Revival style, it follows acruciform plan modeled after theCologne Cathedral inGermany. The church is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.
In 1856 Reverend Peter Leonard Brandt arrived fromVincennes, Indiana, to establish a German-speaking parish among theGerman Catholics of Indianapolis.[2] The parish's first permanent pastor was Reverend Simon Siegrist.[3] St. Mary's parish built their first church at 117 East Maryland Street in 1858. Parish priests conducted services in Latin andGerman, and the church retainedOld World traditions.[2] In addition to the area's German-speaking population, St. Mary's served the neighborhood's Italian immigrants until the Diocese of Indianapolis established Holy Rosary Catholic Church, an Italiannational parish, in Indianapolis in 1911.[3][4]
After the turn of the century, when the neighborhood become commercial, the parish purchased property at New Jersey and Vermont streets, where they built the present church, which was under construction from 1910 to 1912.[2] St. Mary's has adapted to its changing ethnic neighborhood over the years. In 1967, as the city's Spanish-speaking community began to grow, the parish began offering Sunday mass in Spanish. German-language services have since been discontinued.[3][5]
ArchitectHermann J. Gaul, a native ofCologne, and an admirer of the Cologne Cathedral, designed the church in the lateGothic Revival style.[2][6] St. Mary's follows acruciform plan with anarthex and semi-octagonalapse. Its walls are dressed in stone.[7]
The church'sfaçade is divided into three sections. Thegabled two-story center section is flanked with symmetrical towers. The upper portion of the central gable contains atrefoil motif andfinial. It also includes a statue of theVirgin Mary in a bracketedniche. The centralportal is set betweenbuttresses and the façade's centraltympanum is filled with a relief sculpture of theCrucifixion. Afrieze of blind arches flanks the doorway. Broad steps lead to the narthex.[7]Gargoyles decorate the façade of the church at the entry portal and towers.[2] The first three stories of the two four-story towers are square; the fourth story is octagonal in shape. Each tower one topped with aspire. The tympanum of the north tower depicts the birth ofChrist; the south tower's tympanum depicts theAscension of Jesus.[7]
Stone walls on each side of the church include buttresses with a vaulted arch over each bay. The end wall of each transept contains arched windows flanked with buttresses. The gable decoration on the south transept has a statue ofSaint Henry set in a niche; the north transept niche holds a statue ofSaint Boniface.[7]
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The interior has a vaulted ceiling and a semi-octagonalapse. The sanctuary has many statues, several skylights, and art glass windows. On the north side, a stained-glass window depicts St. Boniface, the saint who converted the Germans toChristianity. On the south side, another window depicts St. Henry of Uppsala, the "church builder."[2]
As of 2019 the parish remains under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.Mass is celebrated on Sundays, 8 a.m. (bilingual:English and Spanish), 10:30 a.m. (English), and 1:15 p.m. (Spanish); Saturdays, 5 p.m. (English); Weekdays, Mon.–Fri., 12 p.m.; and Holy Days, 12 p.m. (English) and 7 p.m. (Spanish).[8]
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