Page 81 - ROCHESTER

cHurcH of tHe nativity of tHe BleSSed virgin mary cHurcH
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church originally served Irish immigrants
in northwest Monroe County.
FFather William O’Reilly celebrated the parish’s rst Mass at the Brockport village hall beginning
in 1848.
Three years later, the foundation for the church building was laid under the direction of Father Thomas Walsh, who served as the rst pastor. It was completed and consecrated in 1855 by Bishop John Timon from the Diocese of Buffalo.
The current building at 152 Main Street in Brockport was dedicated in 1927 and served a large portion of the surrounding area towns. The area served by the single parish in its early years includes the Newman Community at the State University of New York at Brockport and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, which were founded in 1968 and 1982 respectively. In the late 1970s, the parish began ministering to a large Hispanic migrant population. That ministry expanded in 1991 to cover a wider area surrounding Brockport.
A Sunday afternoon Mass celebrated in Spanish continues to this day. In the early 2000s, the church also formed a cluster with several area churches to become the Northwest Monroe County Catholic Community.
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