Where it all started...
Before having a designated place to worship, the catholic faithful of Mesa used to attend Mass in a vacant room of a winery near present-day Country Club Drive, between Main Street and Broadway Road. After the winery closed, Mass was held at residences and front yards of established catholic Mesa families. Approximately 50 worshippers would arrive on foot, horseback and buggies - some children rode burros - and any who could, would bring their own chairs.
A travelling priest, Father Lucius Zietter, would travel from Tempe to celebrate the Sacraments on the last Sunday of the month. A white cloth decorated with hand-crocheted linen draped behind a wooden altar that was used celebrate Mass. Meanwhile, confession consisted of the priest standing on one side of a canvas that hung on wires and the person confessing standing on the other side. This is how religious ceremonies were done from early morning until the end of the day so that Father could fulfill his duties for apprixmately three years.
With the catholic population growing, so grew the obvious need to have a dedicated worship space.
Under the leadership and assistance of the Franciscan Fathers, the people of Mesa undertook the task of establishing the red brick structure located on 2nd Street, near Crismon (which later became Mesa Boulevard and currently named Country Club Drive).
Sacred Heart began as a mission in 1908 under the direction of the Franciscan Fathers until 1923, where then the Spanish Claretian Fathers from Phoenix assumed leadership.
In 1934, Sacred Heart mission was established as a parish and Father Vincent Mestre was the first resident Pastor to approximately 100 parishoners.
The figure head of Christ shown to the left originally adorned the facade of Sacred Heart parish. It resided with faithful parishioners after being removed until returning to Queen of Peace Parish, where it currently resides.
Pictured to the right, Fr. Jose Luis Cordero stands with the first communion class of Sacred Heart Parish in 1937.
Father Leo Gattes became pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in 1940 and with a continually growing membership in the years following, it became apparent again that a new space to worship in order to accomodate the population was necessary, thus land was pruchased at the corner of First Street and Macdonald. Opposition from different groups to building a new church was so strong that the parish had to go to court in order to gain permission to build.
In August of 1942 the Diocese of Tucson, whose jursidiction Sacred Heart (later named Our Lady, Queen of Peace) was then under, filed a lawsuit against the City of Mesa defending the parish from a zoning ordinance that was the basis for preventing the construction of the new church. After a victorious decision for the parish and Diocese on November 9, 1942, which awarded the building permit to proceed, the City's attorney's appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court.
In a landmark February 24, 1945 decision, Arizona Supreme Court Justice R.C. Stanford called the Mesa zoning ordinance "arbitrary and unreasonable" adding it was "unconstitutional and discriminatory in so far as it excludes the building of churches in a Class A residential district." The ruling went on to become state law...*
*(Barfield, Chet. 50-year-old church is landmark of freedom. 1984. p.B2)
In his strategic leadership, Father Gattes opened a mission school under the guidance of the Sisters of the Precious Blood from Phoenix and school begun on September 12, 1940.
By 1942 the parochial school was opened near First Street and Macdonald and served 85 students in four grades. In 1943 a fifth grade was added and by 1947 the school moved to the building at 109 N Macdonald, now known as the Family Faith Formation Center, and hosted classes from preschool to ninth grade.
This image from a September 1947 Sacred Heart publication shows from left to right: Sister Seraphia, who taught ninth grade; Sister Elaine, first grade; Sister Hilary, fifth and sixth grades; Sister Cortona, third and fourth grades; Sister Superior Mary John, seventh and eighth grades; Sister Vincentia, second and third grades; Sister Kiaran, pre-first grade; and Sister Edwina, seventh and eighth grade mathematics and history. The Sisters of the Precious Blood served the school until 1981.
The original $9,000 donation to build the new church came from an anonymous benefactor through Archbishop Cushing of Boston, who held very closely to his heart the propogation of foreign missions. But due to the recent outbreaks of war, the Archbishop chose to shift focus to smaller parishes and missions of the West.
The unknown donor made the gift with the following conditions: that work on the new church begin immediately and that it be dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God. Certifying that these conditions would be met, Mesa catholics began the post-war construction.
In order to avoid confusion with the St. Mary's parishes that existed in Phoenix and Chandler at that time, Fr. Gattes announced that the new catholic parish of Mesa would be known as "Our Lady, Queen of Peace" and is affectionately referred to as "Queen of Peace".
Our Lady, Queen of Peace was dedicated on December 5, 1948 and had a seating capacity of 464.
Following the building of the original Queen of Peace church, additions, including an opposing "long side" and central hall (affectionally called the "pie section" today) were built. Various renovations, like that of 1984 shown to the right, were made throughout the years in order to better serve the faithful.
Madonna Hall shown to the left was constructed in 1968 as a lunch and event space for the parochial school.