St. Mary Magdalene had a humble beginning. It first appears in the
pages of the official Catholic Directory in the year 1911 as a mission of the
Church of the Immaculate Conception, Magnolia Park, Texas. Before the original
church was built on the corner of Avenue F and Higgins Street in Humble in 1915,
masses were held in the home of the parishioners. Later the church was moved to
the present site on South Houston Avenue.
Most people refer to our parish as "St. Mary's"; however, that is
short for St. Mary Magdalene, The Penitent, for whom our church is named.
From 1911 until 1965, St. Mary Magdalene's congregation was served by the
Priests of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The priests who served during this
time were: Fathers E. de Anta, R.M. Chatillon, J.P. Tonson, F.W. Caldwell, J.P.
Laux, H. Pennegan, E.F. Brauman, F. Duffy, G. Kennedy, J. Gordon and J. Powers.
In the
summer of 1965, Bishop John L. Morkovsky appointed Father George Swilley as the
first resident priest and administrator for the congregation. The official
decree of erection is dated February 16, 1966. The parish council, one of the
first in the diocese, was organized the same year.
The Humble area was growing and the council voted to build a new church and
school of religion as soon as possible. In 1968, Father William Steele succeeded
Father Swilley as pastor. On February 23, 1969, Bishop Morkovsky dedicated the
new church and blessed the new school building.
Father A. J. Plessala was appointed the third pastor in 1975. He served
through 1976 during which time the new parish hall was completed and an addition
was added to the school building. In June of 1977, Father Denis Lynch was
appointed pastor. He served through May 1978. The parish had grown to over 900
families.
Father Adam McClosky was appointed Pastor in June 1978. Shortly after his
arrival, St. Martha, Mary and Lazarus parish was formed in Kingwood. Over 600
families of St. Mary Magdalene were reassigned to St. Martha's parish. Earlier,
over 50 families has been reassigned to St. Phillip's Church in Huffman.
Fortunately, with the growth in the Humble area, the parish was able to again
grow and maintain the church.
In July, 1989 Father Rudy Beranek was named Pastor of St. Mary Magdalene
Parish which had reached 1546 families. Father Rudy, during his short time here,
had begun to implement the commissions program to assist the Pastoral Council in
better serving the people of this community. Due to Father Rudy's untimely
death in May, 1990, it was necessary for the Bishop to appoint a new pastor.
Father Paul Procella was appointed as of August 1, 1990. Father Paul and
Father Phillip Wilhite served this parish with great hopes for the building of
the Kingdom of God here at St. Mary's. Plans were quickly put under way to
expand the worship facilities due to the large growth rate of the parish, which
stood at 1650 families and was projected to be over 2000 families within four to
five years.
The
major undertaking included the construction of a new church, a new rectory and
additional parking space. A strip of land was purchased between the CCE building
parking lot and Magdalene House. This enabled the parish to go ahead with the
plans. A major fund raising effort was begun during the fall of 1991, and the
parish was able to reach the projected goal within four months. This was a major
effort in which the entire parish was involved. Construction of the new church
began in September 1992 and was completed and ready to begin services in
September 1993.
Plans began in 1998 to replace the old CCE building with a two-story
Multipurpose Education Building to be used for CCE and a Catholic day school, to
convert the old church into a Family Life Center and to convert St. Mary's Hall
into parish offices and a youth center. These facilities were dedicated by
Bishop Fiorenza on July 22, 2000, the feast of St. Mary Magdalene. God continues
to bless us with new families. The parish is currently at 2800 families and it is
projected that the parish will reach 3500 families by the year 2010.
St. Mary's has been blessed with excellent associate pastors over the last ten
years. Fathers Philip Wilhite, Danny Garcia, Octavio Muguerza, Hernan Sanchez,
Ferley Bedoya and Juan-Pablo Pena have contributed greatly to our parish through
their dedication and spirituality.
