Fathers Monteverde, McNulty and Farrell

Fathers Thomas Monteverde, Martin McNulty and Phillip Farrell each served but a short time at St. Peter’s. Combined, their pastorates at St. Peter’s totaled only 15 years which may explain why there is a relative lack of information about their time at St. Peter’s. Father Monteverde was only 45 when he died and Fr. Farrell, who succeeded Fr. McNulty, was not ordained until nearly 45 years of age.

Fr. Thomas J. Monteverde was born in Baltimore in January 1860. His parents had emigrated from Genoa, Italy. He attended St. Leo’s parochial school and St. Charles College. He then entered St. Mary’s Seminary and was ordained by Cardinal Gibbons.

He first served at St. Peters, Libertytown, and like his predecessors, he also served the faithful at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Mechanicstown (Thurmont). The Frederick News specially noted that he said his first sermon at Libertytown on November 13, 1892, and his first at Mechanicstown would be November 20.

During his short stay at St. Peter’s, Libertytown, one notable event occurred. On June 27, 1893, the first Commencement of Notre Dame Academy was held in the Church Hall (the first church, turned hall). Fr. Charles Ebert, of the Pins Memorial Church, Baltimore, made some remarks, noting that religion was the guardian of all virtues, including morality, honesty, civic, and patriotic.

It was noted by the Frederick News on January 27, 1894, that Fr. Monteverde had been appointed assistant priest at St Joseph’s in Baltimore.

Fr. Monteverde served at St. Joseph’s in Baltimore (1895-96), St. Jerome’s in Baltimore (1897-99), St. Joseph’s in Ammendale (Prince Georges County) (1900-1903), and St. Leo’s in Baltimore (1904-1905).

It was at St. Leo’s that he developed tuberculosis of the throat. While visiting a friend in Baltimore on June 16, 1905, he hemorrhaged and was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he later passed away. A Solemn High Requiem Mass was said at St. Leo’s on June 19 and he was buried at New Cathedral Cemetery in Baltimore.

Fr Martin Leo McNulty was born November 18, 1887, in Ashland, MD (near Cockeysville in Baltimore County).

He received his early education in the public schools but entered Loyola High to continue his education. Loyola College came next and then he studied for the priesthood at St. Mary’s Seminary. He was ordained on May 28, 1914, by Bishop Owen Corrigan.

His first assignment was to St. Francis de Sales in Charles County and Our Lady Star of the Sea on Solomons Island, from 1915-17. In 1918 he served at Saints Philip and James in Baltimore. After the death of Fr. Samuel Kavanagh on April 24, 1923, he was assigned to St. Peter’s, where he had the unenviable task of following a much beloved priest. In 1929 he moved to St. Joseph’s in Texas, MD where he stayed until 1935. He next moved to St. Jerome’s in Baltimore where he served from 1936-48. He was at St. Cecelia’s in Baltimore in 1949 and 1950. He entered Bon Secours Hospital on June 23 and passed away on June 24, 1950.

Interestingly, Fr. McNulty received a sum from the estate of James M. Sappington, who died on June 7, 1923. Mr. Sappington left $500 to Fr. Kavanagh, or in the event of his death, to his successor. There is no record of what the money was used for.

Funeral services for Fr. McNulty, who was pastor of St. Cecelia’s at the time of his death, were held on June 28 at St. Cecelia’s. The Solemn High Mass was said by Archbishop Francis Keough. Burial was at the New Cathedral Cemetery in Baltimore.
Fr. Philip L. Farrell was born on November 16, 1875, in Albany, New York. He studied at St. Charles College. He studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, NY, and at Mt. St. Mary’s. He was ordained by Bishop Owen Corrigan on June 15, 1919.

He began his priestly career in Frederick County. He was assigned to St. Joseph’s, Buckeystown, from 1920-28, which parish also included missions at St. James, Point of Rocks, and St. Ignatius, Urbana. He then moved to St. Peter’s and remained there from 1929 to 1937. He was then on sick leave for several years, returning to priestly duties at St. Mary, Star of the Sea, from 1942 to 1948. He retired in 1949.

While at St. Peter’s, Fr. Farrell chaired the preparations for the annual parish picnic on August 4, 1937. It drew an estimated 10,000 people, the largest attendance ever, snarling parking and traffic at Pine Mountain Park. The afternoon tournament was well received. In the evening, over 600 dinners were sold, and the quantities of food consumed ran to 2200 rolls, almost 400 pounds of country ham, several hundreds of chickens, and 143 cases of soda water.

Fr. Farrell was very active in community relations while in Frederick County, especially the Lions Club. There are several mentions of him relative to the Lions Club in the Frederick press, including giving invocations and talks, and being a member of the Memorial and Major Activities Committees. Fr. Farrell gave a speech on citizenship at the Club’s weekly luncheon, to celebrate Citizenship Week, which would start on the upcoming Sunday, October 23, 1932. He discussed how a betterment candidate won the election over the party candidate in his home city, and proceeded to pave city streets, close open wells, extend the sewer system, and block typhoid fever.

He died on November 28, 1951, at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, New York City, after a long illness. A requiem Mass was said at St. Peter’s Church, Poughkeepsie, New York on December 3. He is buried in Poughkeepsie.

 




Other Key Moments in St Peter's History

Monsignor John A. Dietzenbach

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John Augustine Dietzenbach was born on December 9, 1951 at West Union, Iowa, the second of six children. He grew up on a family farm near Fort Atkinson, Iowa and attended St. Luke Church and school in St. Lucas, Iowa. After graduating from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa in 1974 with a BA double major in Business Administration and Philosophy, he attended St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Roland Park, Baltimore, MD. He graduated with a Masters of Divinity in Theology from there in December of 1978 and during his last year in the seminary, he sought incardination (the official acceptance by one diocese of a clergyman from another diocese) with the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Fr. John was assigned to All Saints Parish on Liberty Road in January 1979, where he remained through his deaconate ordination on May 24, 1980 and his ordination to the priesthood on November 29, 1980. In the summer of 1981 he was assigned to St. Elizabeth Parish on Baltimore Street where he remained for 5 ye
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St. Peter’s Bicentennial

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The most recent key moment in St. Peter’s history is the commemoration of the parish’s bicentennial. 2021 marked 200 years since the establishment of the parish and the beginning of construction of our first church building, a stone chapel, on land donated by the Coale family. In September 1823, the newly completed first church was consecrated by Archbishop Ambrose Maréchal of Baltimore. To commemorate this milestone, a Bicentennial Committee consisting of 20 parishioners planned a number of activities beginning in September 2022 and culminating in Fall 2023. In order to carry out these plans without impacting the parish’s normal operating budget, Bicentennial fundraising efforts were undertaken. Early on, a logo was developed showcasing the current church with the extant portion of the second church prominently featured. This logo was used in the development of a Bicentennial ornament, which has been sold over the past year. A ticketed Bicentennial Ball dinner dance is planned f
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Deacons John Martin, Jerry Jennings and Michael Dvorak

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“I’ve come to serve.” That was the response called out by John Martin in May 2009 and by Jerry Jennings and Michael Dvorak in May 2011 as each was called forward from the pews of Baltimore’s Cathedral of Mary Our Queen to be ordained as deacons by then-Archbishop (now Cardinal) O’Brien. When asked today to talk about their roles as deacons assigned to St. Peter’s, they each summarize by saying “I’m here to serve.” Both Deacon John and Deacon Jerry have served in our military, and Deacon Mike works for the Employee Assistance Program for the Department of Defense.  Deacon John was in the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserves, while Deacon Jerry is a retired U.S. Army Colonel.  All are husbands and fathers, and Deacons John and Jerry are grandfathers. They each talk about how blessed they are to serve in our parish which values its deacons and allows them to exercise their full diaconal ministry through the liturgy, sacraments, preaching and outreach ministries.  Over the years, our d
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Fr. Martin W. Flahavan

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 Fr. Flahavan was a man of varied talents.  One example was a Marian Children’s Missal with Martin Flahavan featured in photos celebrating Mass.  This Missal, published by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, was designed to help children prepare for their First Communion, and was widely purchased throughout the country by parents for their children in the 1950’s and 60’s. In all the parishes he was assigned to, he was perpetually active doing something to advance the mission of the Catholic Church.   At St. Peter’s, where he was assigned from 1961 to 1965, he constructed a basketball court, developed the largest Altar Boy Society in the history of St. Peter’s, revived the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary, organized an Usher Society, began high  school and adult discussion groups in cooperation with the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (known to many of us as CCD), made major maintenance improvements to the church and (old) rectory, renovated the parish hall, and developed a new
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Religious Educators of our Children Over the Years

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While the religious education of our children has always been the responsibility of their parents (and extended family), there is documented evidence that the Jesuits who visited Libertytown in early years of the Parish, and later the diocesan pastors, provided specific instruction to our young, prior to their receiving their First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Archive materials from the School Sisters of Notre Dame, however; provide us with our earliest window into the beginnings of formal religious education at St. Peter’s. From these records we learn that the religious women from that Order, beginning with Sr. Theophora Foley and Sr. Fidelis de Katow, moved into their new convent on October 25, 1892. This convent was adjacent to the school where they would be teaching – Notre Dame Academy (now occupied by the Parish office staff). Records don’t indicate how many sisters were teaching at the school at one time, but in 1935, the number of religious in the community were reduced t
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Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

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Catholics in Libertytown were blessed to interact with some of the major pillars of early Catholicism in the United States. For example, the first US bishop, John Carroll, was involved in the initial discussions about the possibility of a church in Liberty. Fr. John Dubois, who would go on to become Bishop of New York had ministered to Catholics here, as did Fr. John McElroy who completed our first church and later founded Boston College. Very notably, they also interacted with the first American born saint! Some eight decades before St. Peter’s would open the Notre Dame Academy, and a decade before our first church building even got underway, a young lady from Libertytown would benefit from the fact that the first free Catholic school for female education staffed by religious women in the U.S. opened here in her county. “Received the sum of twenty five dollars for three months advance payment for the board + tuition of Miss Sarah Coale,” reads a September 1811 receipt signed by Mo
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Father John McElroy, S. J.

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The priest who saw to the completion of the first St. Peter’s church was one very busy Jesuit. He was also responsible for building other local Catholic churches and schools before moving onto important roles from Mexico to Massachusetts. John McElroy came to the US from his native Ireland as a young man in 1803. He was ordained a priest in 1817 at the age of thirty-five. He was sent to Frederick in 1822 to aid the ailing pastor of St John the Evangelist Church, Fr. Francis Maleve, S.J. the successor to Fr. John Dubois, S.S. After arriving, Fr. McElroy, S.J. stayed with Fr. Maleve until he passed away a few days later, on Oct 3, 1822. Fr. McElroy was subsequently named pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church. St. Peter’s was a mission of St. John’s, as was St. Joseph’s on Carrollton Manor. While here, Fr. McElroy continued to build the church in our community…both figuratively & literally. Fr. McElroy’s journal notes that he made his first visit to Liberty on Nov. 12, 1822, and
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James McSherry Coale

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The building of the second St. Peter’s Church (dedicated in 1871, accidentally burned in 2004) was made possible by the generosity of the son of Richard and Catharine McSherry Coale who had donated the land and funding for our first church, dedicated in September 1823.   As our parish outgrew the original stone chapel, James McSherry Coale, son of Richard and Catharine, helped see to construction of a new brick church next to it. James was born in Libertytown on January 19, 1805, educated at Mount Saint Mary’s in Emmitsburg, and later studied law under Richard Potts of Frederick.   He was an Elector in the Electoral College for the 1836 and 1840 Presidential elections.   As noted in another Key Moment it was James, who had inherited the land where our church sits, who followed through in November 1867 on his late father’s intention that the 2 acres be transferred to the Catholic Church.   The “better late than never” transfer facilitated efforts to construct the larger church that the
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Consecration of St. Peter’s First Church

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Jesuit records reflect that the building of St. Peter’s first church was initially overseen by the Jesuit pastor of Frederick, Fr. Maleve. When Fr. Maleve died in October 1822, his successor, Fr. John McElroy, S.J. stepped in to see the completion of Liberty’s Catholic church. St. Peter’s was consecrated on September 28, 1823, as recorded in the diaries of both Archbishop Maréchal and Fr. McElroy: “I set out for Liberty town and got out at Mr. Coales’s, an earnest and zealous man, and owner of all the land about the town. He built a fine stone chapel and intends to give land for a graveyard, and very likely, a presbytery, garden and pasture: great prospect for an ecclesiastical establishment." - Arch Bishop Maréchal diary entry September 26, 1823 [i] “On the 28th I blessed the church. A great crowd from the neighborhood, and singers from Frederick and a fortepiano. Mass with the deacon and sub-deacon. I spoke twice, first on dedication of the church and secondly on confirmat
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Dedication of the Third Church

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“Woo-hoo!” shouted an excited parishioner, breaking the hush a few seconds after Msgr. Dietzenbach opened the doors. Perhaps a bit more vocal than the consecration 200 years ago of our first church, but no doubt very similar in sentiment to the consecration of our first church. Countless hours, lots of energy and significant effort went into making sure this most recent dedication was as flawless as possible. It was no small undertaking to arrange for a dedication liturgy involving a Cardinal, an Archbishop, 2 Bishops, more than 40 priests and deacons and a congregation numbering 800. Of interest, the youngest parishioner in attendance was Ava Folger, who was only 13 days old on the 7th of September and our most senior parishioner to witness the Dedication was Anne Morrissey, 104 years of age at the time. Two hundred years ago, in 1823, Fr. McElroy’s diary contained the following specifics concerning the procession preceding the liturgy of the consecration of the first church: “… s
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