The boom of jets taking off and landing at Miami International Airport is ever-present, a constant reminder of Blessed Trinity’s roots. So is the plantation house, once owned by a dentist, now home to the parish offices.
On January 26, 2003 the 1,200-family community of Blessed Trinity celebrated their Golden Jubilee (50th) looking forward to the future.
“Who shall come here 50 years from today to give thanks for you?” asked Father James Fetscher, who preached the homily at the 50th anniversary Mass that was concelebrated by Archbishop John C. Favalora and Blessed Trinity’s pastor, Father Joseph Carney. “What shall you have left them to build upon?”
Judging from the staying power of the parish and the quaint, small-town feel of the cities it abuts – Miami Springs and Virginia Gardens – Blessed Trinity will pass on a solid foundation.
“We are the beneficiaries of so many who have come before us, who poured themselves out for this parish,” said Father Carney, pastor. “If those who come after us are to celebrate 50 years, it will have to be because of what you and I do.”
The parish began in a tent behind the manor house in 1953. As Father Fetscher noted jokingly, the people came from the “ancient, ancestral lands of Hialeah,” namely St. John the Apostle Parish, which sits on the opposite side of the canal that marks the boundary of Miami Springs.
It was certainly appropriate that when the faithful of Miami Springs and Virginia Gardens were permitted to start their own parish of Blessed Trinity in 1953 the date selected for their first Mass was Trinity Sunday.
The late Father James Nelan became Blessed Trinity’s first pastor in 1953, but by the time ground was broken for the school and provisional church in 1957, the parish shared a pastor with another Hialeah church: the late Msgr. Dominick Barry of Immaculate Conception.
Blessed Trinity would have nine pastors and one administrator during its first 30 years, an average stay of three years apiece until Father Carney arrived in 1982.
History of Pastors:
Father James Nelan 1953- 56
*Msgr. Dominick Barry 1956- 58
Msgr. William McKeever 1958- 60
Fr. Timothy Geary 1960- 64
Fr. Robert F. Brush 1964- 68
Most Rev. John J. Nevins June- Aug.1968
Fr. W. Vincent Cashman 1968- 70
Fr. Kevin MacGabhann1970-73
Fr. Fausto Fernandez 1973- 76
Father Thomas Hanly 1976- 82
Father Joseph Carney 1982- present
(*Administrator)
“It’s been a very tight-knit community always,” said Father David Smith, who attended Blessed Trinity School and is the parish’s first priestly vocation.
Currently a chaplain with Catholic Hospice, Father Smith said both geography and demographics conspired to keep the community small and tight-knit.
“The parish is landlocked,” he said, with a canal on one side, the airport on the other and railroad yards both east and west.
The airport, in fact, was the impetus for the establishment of both the city of Miami Springs and the parish. By Father Smith’s estimate, as many as 60 percent of Blessed Trinity’s parishioners worked for the airlines at one time.
In 1956 the congregation had grown too large to be accommodated in the tent for Sunday Mass. Temporary accommodations were arranged with the Miami Springs Villas while a church and school was being built. Ground breaking took place in July 1957. Archbishop Joseph Hurley blessed the church and school on January 15, 1958.
The new school incorporated two one-story buildings connected by an arcade with a total of eight classrooms (one for each grade level 1st-8th). Since its inception the school has had 12 principals, 7 of which were religious Sisters. The first principal was Sr. Mary Angelina Catina of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
History of Principals:
Sister Mary Angelina Catina, SSND 1959-65
Sister Mary Timothene McFadden, SSND 1965-66
Sister Mary Earlene Fish, SSND 1966-68
Sister Charles Mary Horn, SSND 1968–71
Sister Mary Laurentilla Back, SSND 1971-75
Barbara Saveski 1975-78
Sister Gertrude Marie Kramer, SSND 1978-83
Father Rafael Pedroso 1984-85
Sister Dorothy
Charles Pulizzi 1986-87
Pio Tei 1987-2003
Maria Teresa Perez 2003-present
In 1977 Blessed Trinity School underwent its first accreditation under the leadership of Barbara Saveski, principal. It was granted full accreditation.
In 1987, Charles Pulizzi left the school before the end of the academic year and Pio Tei succeeded him as principal. During his 17- year tenure as principal, Tei led the school through several successful accreditations. Throughout his nearly two decade career Terry Bohr served as his assistant principal from 1987- 91, Maureen McNulty from 1991- 99 and Judith Parcher from 1999- 2010.
In 1997, a new parish hall was dedicated. This building serves as the center of parish activities and contains an auditorium, the school cafeteria, a Pre-K4 classroom, the deacon’s office and a small group meeting room.
In 2000, Maria Teresa Perez began working at Blessed Trinity School as its seventh grade teacher. Eventually she moved to teach a fifth grade class until 2003, when she became the school’s twelfth principal.
In 2000, the parish decided to refurbish the church rather than rebuild it. They added ceramic tile, faux wooden rafters and stained glass windows, and removed the wooden paneling, which covered the walls. On September 9, 2001 the parish celebrated its first mass in the newly refurbished church and was officially rededicated by Archbishop John C. Favalora on Sept. 16.
Also in 2001, Blessed Trinity gave birth to a mission, which has since become the newest parish in the archdiocese: Our Lady of Guadalupe in Doral.
In 2003 a house was built towards the rear of the property for the priests of the parish, allowing the main building to fully be converted to office space.
In the fall of 2009, Blessed Trinity School expanded, welcoming its first PK-3 class with 12 students. After a successful year and with encouragement from parents, the school once again expanded in the fall of 2010 and added a second PK-3 class with an additional 12 students.
With over 1,300 registered families at the parish and 293 students enrolled at the school the future is bright for Blessed Trinity parish. Currently there are plans to expand by building a multi- purpose center that will include the school’s Pre-K3 classrooms, after school care and parish ministry meeting rooms.
