BY GEORGE TOMEZSKO Staff Writer

In this ever-changing world, not many institutions survive long enough to celebrate their diamond anniversaries. In fact, such an event is often as rare as ... well, a diamond. For the past year, the congregation of St. Martin of Tours, the largest Catholic parish in the city, has been celebrating that special birthday.

The parish was officially born in May, 1923, with less than 100 families. The congregation presently includes more than 5,000 families. According to Violet Cali, who along with her husband, Nuncio, co-chairs the parish's anniversary committee, about 80 persons attended the parish's first mass.

"The first mass was held on June 17, 1923 at 7:30 in the morning," Cali said. That mass took place about six weeks after the actual founding, she explained.

The new parish was barely two-months-old when its first pastor, Rev. Patrick Huston, died suddenly. He was replaced by Rev. John McHugh, who served as pastor for many years. Rev. Thomas Murray, the present pastor, was appointed in 1991, Cali said.

According to Paul Scaramucci the anniversary committee's photo archivist, a private home served as both church and rectory during the parish's first year. The home had been donated by a well-to-do property owner. The parish actually started off on solid financial footing because many of the founding members were business owners, he said.

"We were small then but fairly affluent," Scaramucci said.

During the parish's first year, he said, there were six baptisms, two weddings, and three funerals. But the parish's strong financial foundation coupled with the stewardship of Father McHugh enabled it to grow rapidly from this small beginning. Scaramucci explained that Father McHugh came up with the idea to build the present parish church, a prominent landmark in Oxford Circle.

"He planned to build it before World War II, but because of the war, construction was delayed," Scaramucci said. Groundbreaking for the church took place in the summer of 1948, he explained, and the money needed for the actual construction was already in hand.

"The church was already paid for when it was built," Scaramucci said.

Father McHugh clearly understood that a large congregation needed a large place to worship, so he planned accordingly. Scaramucci said that the interior of the upper church contains 50,000-cubic-feet of open space. Both the upper and lower churches can seat a total of 1,500 worshippers, he said. Nearly 400 tons of Italian marble were used in the building's interior.

"That was the second largest shipment of marble ever to come into the port of Philadelphia," Scaramucci said.

But, sadly, Father McHugh did not live to see the finished church. He died right after ground had been broken, Scaramucci said.

"He never saw any actual construction," Scaramucci said, "even though it was his dream."

The church was officially opened in 1954. He said it was common in the 1950s for up to 10,000 persons to attend Sunday masses in the huge church.

Cali noted that the new parish did not have an elementary school when it was started. Construction of the school began in 1925 and the first school bell rang the following year. She said that some 210 students were enrolled in the school that year.

"We have close to 2,000 now," Cali said.

That enrollment makes the St. Martin of Tours School the largest Catholic grammar school in the city, perfectly fitting since the parish is also the biggest in the city.

St. Martin's also contributes a large contingent of students to the Archdiocesan high school system.

"We have 627 high school students," Cali said. All of whom, she said, have been invited to attend a special mass on the Sunday after Easter. That mass will be another in a series of events held since last May to celebrate the parish's upcoming birthday.

Cali said the anniversary committee had planned for one activity to be held each month during the year-long anniversary celebration. The final event will be a mass on May 17, which will be celebrated by Bishop John Martino. He will be representing Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, spiritual leader of the Philadelphia Archdiocese, she said.

During the past year, the committee was inspired by a theme which sums up the reason for the parish's transformation from a congregation small in numbers to the thriving community it has become during the past three-quarters of a century.

"Our (the committee's) motto has been 'Many people, one family serving Christ,'" Cali said.

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