Our Parish

The second Roman Catholic parish to be established in Elizabeth has baptized and buried 6 generations of Christians in its 170 year history. It has been served by 35 pastors (18 at St. Michael's and 13 at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary) ; Mass has been celebrated in German, English, Spanish, and French/Creole.

Immigrants established the parish and immigrants continue to be the most numerous population served by the combined parish. The recent past has been a time of great hope and terrible sorrow. The hope has come from the influx of large numbers of Catholics from Spanish speaking Latin American countries and from Haiti. The energy, youth and enthusiasm of these groups have injected new life into the parish with their prayer group, youth groups, choirs, retreats, vigils, processions, etc. However, we have also experienced the terrible sorrow caused by the closing of the Holy Rosary Church building and its demolition as well as the closing of the two schools.

We give thanks to God for all our blessings. We especially thankful to all those who have gone before us and have left us this wonderful legacy. The vibrant spiritual life of the parishioners and the beautiful well maintained buildings are two of our greatest treasures. The German immigrants who build the buildings associated with St. Michael's parish as well as those who built the Holy Rosary complex are still contributing to the life of the parish through the income generated by the leasing of the School building, the rental of St. Michael's Hall and the interest earned from the money realized by the sale of the Holy Rosary complex of buildings.