If you are new to the parish or did not receive either a Holy Name history book or Stained Glass window book, please contact Renee in the parish office. These were prepared in 2017 to commemorate our 100th Anniversary as the Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and our 160th Anniversary as the Catholic Parish of East Nashville (formerly Edgefield).
We look forward soon to sharing our all new (updated) History Page which will rely on the information uncovered and rediscovered during the big anniversary year!!
For now, please enjoy a timeline from 1854-2007 when the parish celebrated 150 years as the Catholic Parish of Edgefield.
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(Source: Program for Holy Name's 150th anniversary celebration Mass.)
Christmas 1854 - After Midnight Mass at St. Mary's Cathedral, a delegation presents Bishop Richard Pius Miles with a petition for a parish in Edgefield
October 12, 1857 - Father Ivo Schacht [Scat], a native of Bruges, Belgium, assigned pastor of Edgefield Mission
November 8, 1857 - Laying of the cornerstone of St. John the Evangelist church
December 22, 1857 - Dedication of St. John the Evangelist, the third Catholic church in Nashville and tenth in the diocese, by Bishop Miles
April 27, 1862 - Bridget Morgan, the first recorded baptism at St. John the Evangelist
1871 - Michael Meagher, S.J., a native of Roscrea, County Tipperary, Ireland, assigned to St. John's and makes plans to build a larger church, to be named St. Columba
April 9, 1871 - Laying of the cornerstone of St. Columba by Bishop P.A. Feehan
July 20, 1873 - Dedication of St. Columba by Bishop Feehan
August 16, 1873 - Helen Irwin, first recorded baptism at St. Columba
Fall 1873 - St. Columba School opens in the former St. John rectory; Lizzie Flynn and Katie Connell, first teachers
1877 - First St. Cecilia Dominicans staff the school
1878 - St. Columba School moves into the old St. John Church
1879 - Father Eugene Gazzo, a native of Genoa, Italy, assigned as pastor of St. Columba
1881 - Old St. John Church/current St. Columba School burns down. New school built, burns down; another new school built in 1883
Early 1880s - Irish Travelers adopt St. Columba as their parish church
1880-1900 - Church frescoed; new sanctuary and sacristy added; tower and bell donated by Father Gazzo's mother; Felgamacher organ installed; heating plant finished; school enrollment 120; parish free of debt
June 1901 - Father Daniel Ellard assigned as pastor; re-frescoes church; installs new pews and stained-glass windows
1904 - Little Sisters of the Poor open home for the aged across Main St. from St. Columba
1904 - Little Sisters of the Poor open home for the aged across Main St. from St. Columba
1908 - Francis Dominic Grady, first St. Columba native son to become a priest, ordained in Belgium
February 25, 1915 - Father Gazzo returns as pastor, appointed P. R. (permanent rector)
March 22, 1916 - East Nashville Fire: St. Columba Church, school, rectory, Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged (picture below) completely destroyed; 20 parish families lose homes
May 1916 - Construction begins on rectory and combination church/school building facing Woodland St.
September 28, 1916 - New rectory finished and occupied
February 1917 - School (capacity 200) on second floor of the combination building occupied
March 4, 1917 - First Mass said in the new, unfinished church
March 25, 1917 - Dedication of the Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus by Bishop Byrne; Father Grady celebrates the Mass; Walter G. Scanlon, O.P., preaches
1922 - Father Alois Maurath assigned as pastor; improvements include windows and new altar
1923 - Father Gazzo returns for a third time to his beloved parish; redecorates church and repaints school
April 6, 1925 - Father Gazzo dies in the Holy Name rectory at age 78
November 12, 1925 - Father John Hardeman assigned as pastor and P.R.; women of the parish raise money through card parties and other activities, enabling tuition to be abolished; Holy Name becomes a free school with free text books
1931 - Addition to Holy Name School: additional classrooms auditorium, cafeteria
March 14, 1933 - First East Nashville Tornado; many parishioners lose homes
March 1946 - Father Joseph H. Siener succeeds Father Hardeman as P.R.; church (110 baptisms per year) and school (enrollment 400) grow rapidly in the post-World War II years
June 12, 1953 - First daughter parish of Holy Name, St. Joseph, dedicated in Madison; Holy Name parish becomes landlocked; baptisms and school enrollment decline
June 1955 - Father Charles O'Donnell becomes pastor; major improvements to the church: wiring, flooring, pews, windows, new altar, microphones, air conditioning of church and cafeteria
1963 - Father Eugene Eiselein becomes pastor
1965 - Father Paul Caldwell becomes pastor
1967 - Father William Grannis becomes pastor
1968 - Father James Zralek becomes pastor
1969 - Holy Name School closes, 96 years after the opening of the first parish school; CCD program established
1970 - Father Joseph Tarpy becomes pastor
December 13, 1972 - Holy Name Parish Council holds first organizational meeting
1975 - Father Robert Roeser becomes pastor
1976 - Father James Murray becomes pastor
1977 - Father Charles Strobel becomes pastor
September 1977 - 3rd, 4th and 5th grades of St. Vincent de Paul School begin classes in former Holy Name classrooms
1982 - Loaves & Fishes, offering meals to homeless persons, inaugurated
1982-1986 - A group of parishioners known as the "Cut-ups" design, construct, and install new stained-glass windows depicting the Holy Names
mid-1980s - Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) program begins; Parents' Day Out (PDO) operates out of former school addition
Winter 1985 - Room in the Inn, providing shelter for homeless persons on cold winter nights, inaugurated
1988 - Father Joseph Sanches becomes pastor
Late 1980s - Parish Center debt retired
April 16, 1998 - Second East Nashville Tornado damages rectory and church, levels St. Ann Episcopal Church, leaves parish families homeless; Holy Name shares space with St. Ann for two years; church and rectory repaired
2000 - St. Henry's Emmaus group refurbishes grounds, paints rectory; builds new playground, constructs grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes
2002 - Loaves & Fishes, now twenty years old, is hosted by 18 schools, churches, and agencies and serves more than 30,000 meals a year; Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement, Hispanic Social Services, Bridges to Care offices located in former Holy Name classrooms
2005 - Father Edwige Carré, a native of Haiti, becomes pastor
2007 - Holy Name celebrates the sesquicentennial anniversary of the parish with a year-long series of events, opening with a Mass on January 3rd, the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. Celebrations included many retreats, prayer services, parish activities, and the renovation of the auditorium
June 9, 2007 - A pilgrimage, in honor of the 150th year of the parish, to St. Mary's on the Feast of St. Columba, re-enacting the journey of the Catholics who petitioned Bishop Miles for a church
We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world!