All of the following text was written for the 100th Annivesary of the Parish, in 1973.

Saint Cecilia's Grammar School
In 1895, construction started on the parish school. Located on East One Hundred and Sixth Street, between Second and Third Avenues, it was opened on September 14, 1896. Amply evidencing the result of its pastor's rectorate (it was said that Father Phelan had a "constitution to which hard work is only exercise"), the school was considered a beautiful and most serviceable structure with all the modern appliances necessary to carry out his ideas. Termed a "giant stride" in the records of pastoral work, it was six stories in height and contained an assembly hall on the first floor capable of seating one thousand. The five upper floors provided space for eighteen classrooms, while the steel-framed roof was covered with concrete so that it could be utilized for the recreation of the pupils.

Monsignor knew the importance of a real, solid education - an education producing men and women who would come forth from the halls of learning imbued profoundly with a true love of God and Country. He knew, as did the Church he represented, that the soul of education is the education of the soul. So it was that when the doors of St. Cecilia's were opened wide to all the children of the parish they found women of God, the Sisters of Mercy, with Sister Mary Dolores Rooney, R.S.M., the principal, awaiting them. The work of education was confided to these most competent teachers. That they discharged this trust with the utmost efficiency was attested to by the high standards for which the school became known throughout the entire diocese.

Directly to the rear of the institute and fronting on One Hundred and Fifth Street, was the Lyceum - St. Cecilia's Parish Clubhouse whose motto was "A Club for Young Men of the Right Kind". Forty by one hundred feet in dimension, this building had a bowling alley, billiard and poolroom, gymnasium, library, reading rooms, baths, and a unique tiled corridor. Because they "did not appreciate it as well as they might" the young men of the parish were to relinquish their use of the clubhouse in favor of a nursery and kindergarten a decade later.

The beautiful Regina Angelorum, staffed by the Sisters of Mercy a home for working girls that could house one hundred and twenty-five young women, and the Sisters of Mercy Convent, found a place right alongside the church. Although all these allied buildings were erected at the staggering total cost of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, so capable was Father Phelan's management of funds that the enormous debt was reduced by 1917, enabling the church to maintain its prosperity.

Lustrous Jewels of Priestly Service
Adding to Monsignor Phelan's long list of achievements that included the school, the convent with its home for working girls, and the formation of a day nursery and kindergarten for the children of working mothers, were the number of organizations that first saw the light of day during his tenure. Included were the Big Brothers, who opened a community house for wayward boys; the Alumni Players, organized in 1911, whose first appearance, in The College Widow by George Ade, was a resounding success and led to years of light hearted entertainment for the enjoyment of all by these graduates of St. Cecilia's School; the Holy Name Society for men, and the Junior Holy Name Society for boys over fifteen years of age; the Society for the Propagation of the Faith; the Rosary Society; the Children of Mary Sodality for the young ladies of the parish; the League of the Sacred Heart; the Angels' Sodality for girls who had received their First Communion; the St. Aloysius Sodality, for boys who had received their First Communion; and the Auxiliary of St. Cecilia's Day Nursery, composed of a group of women concerned with the well-being of these children.

Despite this tremendous involvement by his parishioners Monsignor Phelan was quote as feeling that there was "still a surplus of energy in Wish to be devoted to whatever worth work may be suggested in the future."

'When Monsignor Phelan celebrated his golden jubilee as a priest, the appreciation of the flock under his care was beautifully expressed by Most Reverend Archbishop Hayes, who wrote: "Your life as a priest has been an example to all of us. Your devotion to duty - your zeal in the ministry - your marked executive ability are today lustrous jewels in your golden diadem of priestly service."

Sorrow and Joy
We are thinking to-night of the large number of our fellow?members who are thinking of us to-night in all parts of our country, in France and on the high seas. They are prepared to do all things for the love of their country, to suffer any sacrifice that may be demanded of them that America may help to destroy the greatest enemy of civilization. "God speed them, " we say to-night, "God bless them. "
(St. Cecilia's Alumni Society Program, 1917)

On April 13, 1921, Cecilians held their first large reunion since the closing of the "war to end all wars." The entertainment and receptions of various groups and societies had continued through the war years; "programmes" such as Fighting For His Country, featuring comic songs with titles like "When Sara Saw Theda Bara" were sung to kicky melodies and skirts were getting shorter. When the boys came marching home, milk was twelve cents a quart, delivered to your door, and a pair of shoes could be had for as little as two dollars and fifty cents. We had reason to be thankful, for most of our boys who were in the brunt of the firing line were once again at our sides, and the Giants were knocking 'em dead in the Polo Grounds. One year later, in 1922, Father Patrick J. Lennon became the fourth pastor to serve St. Cecilia's, replacing our beloved Monsignor Phelan who had passed away.

The Reverend Patrick Lennon was born in Ireland and came to the United States as a small boy. Completing a six-year classical course at Fordham College, he entered St. Joseph's Seminary in Troy, New York, to study philosophy. In 1889, Father Lennon was sent to the North American College in Rome to complete his Theological course, and after that he served the Archdiocese of New York in various capacities.

The good Father was not a stranger to the community when he was appointed pastor of St. Cecilia's. He had been an assistant in the earlier days of the parish, from 1899 to 1901, serving for a short time with another very good friend of the congregation, Father James E. Kearney, who had been appointed curate of St. Cecilia's in 1900, and was later to become supervisor of St. Cecilia's School.

Bringing scholarly learning as well as priestly endowments to St. Cecilia's, which was now a community of over five thousand adults, Monsignor Lennon rapidly undertook a major renovation program. His first task was the refurbishing of the church itself, with three beautiful new marble altars to adorn the sanctuary, stained-glass windows, a new communion rail, and new organ. Then came the school. Thirty years of hard usage had left its mark, and Father Lennon took upon himself the task of seeing that it, too, was completely renovated. With church and school needs fully met, the laity of the parish decided to raise a rectory fund and provide suitable living quarters for their priests whose home had been an old wooden structure in existence for over forty-five years.

The new parish rectory was built on East One Hundred and Fifth Street, and was called "a place for God's Priests to live." Of particular interest was the schedule of payments called for from among the heads of homes and all of the wage-earning young men and women who helped the cause. Ranging from ten cents a day for sixteen months which was the equivalent of a fifty dollar subscription, to sixty dollars a month which would equal a total subscription of one thousand dollars, there was ample opportunity for all the people to participate in showing their fine spirit of cooperation and love for their pastor and his assistants.