St. Joseph Calasanctius Parish owes its origins to a small group of the faithful who requested a Mass in Jefferson from Bishop Josue Young of Erie, Pennsylvania. On May 24, 1858, Bishop Young visited at the request of Mary Smalley, a girl only 13 years old at the time, and celebrated Holy Mass on the apple orchard of the Stoekel Farm. As was the case in many places in the United States at the time, there was a strong anti-Catholic sentiment in Jefferson. Missionary priests visited sporadically throughout the next several years to celebrate the Sacraments and offer Mass with the few Catholics.

In response to the growing Catholic population in the area, in 1869 work was begun to build the Mission Church in Jefferson, which was dedicated in September under the patronage of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After only six months, an arsonist burned the original church to the ground. Only five Masses had been offered in the building. Work began immediately to plan and build a new church for the growing congregation. In the meantime, a new parcel of land was purchased, where the current church is now. The property included a residence that was constructed in the 1820’s, which still serves as the Parish Rectory. Finally, in 1876, enough funds were acquired to begin construction of a new frame church, which was dedicated in August 1876, under the patronage of St. Joseph Calasanctius. He a Spanish priest who lived in the 16-17^th Centuries, who dedicated his priestly ministry to serving and educating under-privileged children.

At the beginning 1920’s, the parish had grown too large for the church building. A campaign was put in place to raise funds so that a new, modern church could be built. Due to the generous response of the parishioners, and with the permission of Bishop Schrembs, ground was broken for the new church, which is made of stone and red brick in the Spanish-Romanesque style. It was dedicated on April 2, 1925, and has served the stable congregation well for 90 years. In the 1970’s a renovation of the Church was undertaken to correspond to the liturgical rubrics in force since the reform following the Second Vatican Council. An attempt was made to emphasize the noble simplicity called for by the Church in our modern time.

Throughout its long history, many priests have served the parish as pastors and missionaries. When the Diocese of Youngstown was created, Bishop McFadden invited the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate to staff St. Joseph, which they did until 1980. Many parishioners remember the Oblates with fondness, especially Frs. Murphy, Tighe, Waggett, and King. In 1980, priests of the Diocese of Youngstown took over the staffing of the parish. Frs. Frederick Slaven, James Cassidy, Bernard Vacca, Joseph Malik, Stephen Wassie, Charles Poore, John Sheridan and John Ettinger have served as pastor in these years. Since 2020, the pastor of St. Joseph Calasanctius also serves as pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish-Andover & Kinsman.

Script from

Jefferson Church Walk 2023

Introduction by Saint Nick   Herkese merhaba, ve Herkese hoş geldiniz!

For those of you fluent in Turkish, you may have understood my saying hello and welcome to everyone. My name is Nicholas. I was born in the

third century in a city that was a part of Greece, but is now present-day Turkey. I have been called Nicholas of Bari and the Bishop of Myra, but I

am more commonly known as Saint Nicholas. I lived during the end of the third century and into the early fourth century; around the same time

of the great Roman Emperor Constantine. Since I am traditionally associated with Christmas, and since Christmas will soon be upon us, I decided

to do some time traveling this weekend and to speak with the good folks in Jefferson this afternoon. But before I get to talking about me and

how I came upon the title of saint, please let us take a moment to give a brief tour of the church in which we are gathered. 

Offering the Church History

According to history (or legend) first mass for Saint Joseph parish was celebrated in an apple orchard in 1858. Without a church, permission was

granted for services to be held in the town hall. In 1865 there were only 14 Catholic pioneer families in the area and intolerance for Catholics was

high, however in 1868 the frame structure for the first church named “Church of the Assumption” was started. Unfortunately In 1870, the church

burned down after mass being offered only 5 times. Six years later and after two years in planning, in 1876 a new wood frame church was built on

this site and dedicated with Saint Joseph Calasanctius as the patron saint. Finally, at the request of the parishioners at that time, plans for

constructing a larger church were started. First, the existing wooden church had to be relocated out of the way of the new construction zone. It

was placed in the area of what is now the parking lot south of the current church, and eventually ended up being moved to Plymouth Township

where it was used as a dance hall until it burned. The cornerstone for the new Romanesque Style brick church was laid on July 6^th in 1924. And

so next year, we will be celebrating the 100 year anniversary of this building! This new church was designed to seat about 300 people, and was

adorned with numerous beautiful stained glass windows. 

Offering the detail of the Stained Glass Windows

Similar to the other churches here in Jefferson, ours is a Christian faith. We worship our Almighty God through our Lord Jesus Christ.   Front and

center above our sanctuary you see the stained glass window depicting Our Lord asking that children be brought to him.

Our predecessors provided us with quite a few stained glass windows in our church. Many of these depict images of people who have played

particularly important roles in church history. The saints - the individuals who appear in these windows - are honored not so much for who they

were, but they are to remind us of the good works they performed in God’s service. Their imagery helps us see them as fellow human beings who

by devoting their lives in serving the Lord were able to perform astonishing good works. Wouldn’t our world be a great place if we all could have

the courage to dedicate our lives in similar fashion.

The stained glass windows in the church were made by the Riordan Studio of Cincinnati which is possibly one of the oldest stained glass

companies in North America.  On the east side of the church these windows show (from sanctuary to rear) St. Joan of Arc, St. Elizabeth of

Hungary, St. Anne with Mary as a child, and St. Cecilia. On the west side are the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Under each

stained glass window is a plaque offering information about the saint along with the name of the person who donated the window.  The cost of

the stained glass windows in 1924 was $2,500.

You also may notice that our church is displaying relatively few holiday decorations even though Christmas is rapidly approaching. Although we

will use an Advent wreath to keep us focused on the approaching Christmas Day, we hold the view that the actual Christmas season begins with

the Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve and ends with the baptism of the Lord.  For that reason, the Church counsels that we should wait until Christmas

to fully put up decorations. While things may look quite ordinary today, you are invited to visit us anytime during the Christmas Season when

things look quite different! 

Saint Nicholas Life Story – told by St. Nick

Now, as for me, I was brought up in a wealthy and very devout Christian family. While still young, my parents died in an epidemic leaving me an

orphan. Recognizing the needs of the people in my town, I began giving away my large inheritance to the poor and needy. When I was old

enough, I was ordained a priest, and later became the bishop of Myra. I was particularly concerned for the safety of sailors since my hometown of

Myra was a port town where many of the villagers took to the seas to make a living. Stories of me have spread far and wide from subsiding a

storm at sea to saving innocent soldiers from execution to bringing back to life three boys who had been murdered. Based on the stories of my

life, I am considered a patron of sailors and those traveling by sea as well as a patron of children. Over the years I have been known throughout

Europe and have been particularly popular in the Russian and Serbian churches. 

For everything for which I may be known, I am perhaps best remembered for my generosity and kindness. One such story is of an impoverished

father who had no money to offer as a dowry for his three daughters to get married.  In those days, a woman had to offer something called a

“dowry” to her future husband in order to be considered for marriage. When dowry money was unavailable, the woman would be considered

unmarriageable, and would often be sold into slavery.  Well, this man had three daughters and no money for any of their dowries.  Horrified at

the thought of having his daughters sold into slavery, the man prayed for help.  I heard of the man’s plight, and, on three separate occasions, I

secretly threw a bag of gold down the man’s chimney. The bags of gold landed in the stockings/shoes of the family members who had placed

them near the fireplace to warm.  With the money, the man was able to offer the dowry his daughters needed in order to marry, saving them

from ending up as slaves.  Because of this story, children began placing their own stockings and shoes near their fireplaces in hopes that I would

leave them a gift. 

For more than 1000 years, I was the most popular saint in Europe. I remained a celebrated figure in Europe until the early 1500’s. It was at this

time of the Reformation when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged that my popularity began to wane in the Protestant countries of

Europe. The exception to this was Holland where my legend persisted under a Dutch variant of my name St. Nicholas. The name they gave me

was Sinterklaas.  Dutch colonists took this tradition with them in the 17th century to New Amsterdam which is now known as New York City. In

the American colonies my name Sinterklaas was again modified by the country’s English-speaking majority to the name we commonly associate

with jolly old elf in the red suit. Over the years many different cultures, customs and legends have merged to form the Sinterklaas, the Father

Christmas, Père Noël, Kris Kringle, Papa Noel, or simply Santa that is known today. What is important and hopefully unchanging is that we never

lose the generosity and kindness for which I was well known. I just love being associated with Christmas which celebrates when we received the

Ultimate Gift.

My time with you is about to end. Thank you for letting us share our church’s history with you. 

Before you depart, we would like to offer you a small gift in memory of the gold coins once given to the family with the three daughters. Our

parishioners will be handing these out as you venture on to your next destination…         

Thank you for visiting us. Please feel free to return anytime.