Photo of the Day: St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Bogota NJ

Once or twice in the past, I had driven by this longtime religious institution in Bogota. But only two days ago did I approach St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church on foot and took this photo.

I have a special reason to be interested in this parish: it was founded by the Carmelites, who, from their base in my church, St. Cecilia’s of Englewood, went on to set up other parishes in New Jersey’s “Northern Valley” in the first half of the 20th century. 

In Bogota, the first mass in the parish was celebrated in 1913 in Bogota’s Central Avenue. It would be another 16 years before the present Romanesque structure, designed by the architectural firm A.F. DePace of New York, was dedicated.

Over the next eight decades, the Carmelites—including several who, at one point or another, also served at St. Cecilia—led the parish. But, as the order’s ranks thinned out, it felt unable to continue in this role. Starting in 2013, the parish has been run by archdiocesan priests outside the Carmelite order.

This Day in Religious History

January 18, 1155 -- St. Berthold settled with 10 ex-Crusaders on Mt. Carmel, the reputed site of a deep, personal visit by God to the Old Testament prophet Elijah c. 900 B.C. Like the small group that gathered around the ancient prophet in the Holy Land, Berthold and his comrades lived in the mountain’s cave as hermits. The small movement planted the seeds of the Carmelite Order, a group that would spread throughout the world – including St. Cecilia Church, in my hometown of Englewood, N.J.

My favorite priest, who served in one capacity or another in my parish, off and on, for two generations, once said that he hoped to bring to his work “the Carmelite flavor” of preaching. If his style is an example, it is one I associate with combined tolerance and concern for the well-being of others, and a belief that, despite our sinfulness, human beings are saved by a gentle, forgiving God (one that I personally believe speaks in a very noticeable brogue -- but that’s a story for another day).