Holy Week and Easter Schedule

Palm Sunday    8:00 and 11:45 am (English)

                            9:45 am and 5:00 pm (Spanish)

Holy Thursday service will be at 7:00 pm (Bilingual)

Good Friday services will be at 7:00 pm (Bilingual)

Holy Saturday    8:00 pm (Bilingual)

Easter    8:00 and 11:45 am (English)

                9:45 am and 5:00 pm (Spanish)

   

Sacred Heart School

Sacred Heart School opened in 1880 with 150 applicants, two rooms in the church basement and two lay teachers. In 1882, six teachers from the Sisters of Charity arrived to provide help and lived in a frame cottage on 28th and Larimer Street. Enrollment continued to increase and in 1889, pastor Reverend John B. Guida, 

S. J., began raising money from European benefactors for a school and convent. Eventually, $52,000 was obtained and on February 3, 1890, Bishop Nicholas C. Matz, blessed the new school at 2840 Lawrence Street.

Sacred Heart School initially contained only the elementary grades, but by 1896 had added grades nine through twelve. In 1912, tuition was $1 a month for first, second and third graders; $2 a year for pupils of intermediate grades and high school. Non-members of the parish paid $1 a month in advance.

The Depression was instrumental in declining enrollment as young people left to find work and Sacred Heart High School was forced to close in 1939. The elementary school remained open until economics forced the Sisters of Cincinnati and the Jesuits to close its doors in 1976. 

The school and its graduates were held in high regard by educators, employers and the community. Notable graduates of the school included Bishop Hubert Newell, Bishop of Cheyenne, Father William Ryan, S. J., one time Dean of Regis College, Joseph Walsh, District Judge, Thomas Morrissey, U. S. District Attorney, and radio entertainer Ted Mack.

In 2003, the school was dedicated as Centro San Juan Diego, the Hispanic institute for pastoral and family care, empowering Hispanics through education, to become leaders in the Catholic Church and in society.

Photo of class of 1934 courtesy of Jan Gisewski Garland.

             

Restoration at Sacred Heart

With the removal of the old cream-colored paint from the rectory, Phase III of the restoration of Sacred Heart Parish has begun. The rectory will look as fresh as it did in 1883, the year it was built as a residence for the Jesuits and offices for the parish. The surface will then be given a coating to protect the natural red brick.

The parish finance council has arranged for the installation of 

4-foot crosses around the lot to the east of the church, representing the 14 stations of the cross. 15 trees will be planted along both 28th and Lawrence Streets.

The parish continues to revitalize the church and its surroundings, and invites its neighbors to get acquainted. Daily Mass is in the chapel (on the ground level) at 8 am.

Beloved Julia Greeley

Julia Greeley, a former slave, moved to Denver in 1874 as a free servant in the household of Colorado Territorial Governor William Gilpin, his wife and their four children. Perhaps influenced by Mrs. Gilpin's Catholic faith, Julia was baptized at Sacred Heart Church in 1880 and became a daily communicant.

When Julia's position with the Gilpin family ended, she moved near Sacred Heart Church and began a life of service and charity. She received an inheritance from Mrs. Gilpin that would have allowed her to live a very comfortable life, but Julia used her money to help the needy, often delivering food and clothing at night so as not to embarrass anyone. 

Julia had a special devotion to the Sacred Heart and a particular concern for Denver's firemen, walking to each of the firehouses in the city to deliver leaflets and badges. Her forthright and cheerful manner compelled the men to listen and many firemen had Sacred Heart badges sewn into their helmets.

Julia died on her way to Mass at Sacred Heart Church on June 7, 1918, the feast of the Sacred Heart. She lay in state at the church where both rich and poor came to pay their respects. She left us a great legacy of quiet charity, faith and devotion.

Ramon Quezada & Ruben Mora

Ramon Quezada and Ruben Mora have been involved with Sacred Heart Parish for a long time, working to ensure that the historic structure can serve its active congregation. Ramon has installed new flooring and remodeled the kitchen and together, they helped with the restoration and installation of pews in the choir loft. The pews were acquired from Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Boulder to help ease the crowding at the 9:45 Mass on Sunday.

The pews first needed to be stripped and refinished. The more challenging part of the task was getting them up to the choir loft, which is only accessible by a narrow stairway. The railing was removed from the loft, the pews lifted up by hand and each was then placed on its individual platform. The result has been an increase in seating for 120 people.

Sacred Heart is home to many dedicated volunteers like Ramon Quezada and Ruben Mora. You can meet some of them after Mass at 8, 9:45 and 11:30 am on Sundays.

Religious Education at Sacred Heart

On a clear, sunny Saturday morning in February, 120 children and their families are gathered at Sacred Heart Church for religious education. The lessons begin with a bi-lingual Mass with the children singing, doing the readings and bringing up the gifts. Father Gene Emrisek proclaims the gospel and the sermon in both Spanish and English, stressing that each person should try to concentrate on a single idea from each gospel. After the Mass is concluded, the children assemble for their individual classes.

Religious education is offered each Saturday from 9:30 to 11:30. 

For information, call Rosalie Martinez 

at 303-294-9830.

Celebrating 130 Years

Sacred Heart Catholic Church at 2760 Larimer Street will celebrate 130 years of continuous operation in the same building with a Mass at 5 pm on Saturday, September 19, 2009.

When the parish was authorized by Bishop Machebeuf in 1879, the neighborhood was one of the fastest growing parts of the young city and Larimer Street was Denver’s main thoroughfare. 

As Denver continued to grow, people moved away from older areas of town. Factories, warehouses and industry began encroaching on the residential neighborhood and, by the time of the Great Depression in 1929, Sacred Heart was serving low-income families and Larimer Street had become Denver’s skid row.

Over the years, the parish has struggled to survive financially while ministering to a large number of Hispanic Catholics and to the inner city community.

More recently, the parish has witnessed a revitalization of the neighborhood with new settlers wanting to be close to work and to experience the excitement of urban living. Sacred Heart welcomes all to the parish and to the 130th celebration.