St Vincent Martyr has had a rich and exciting history. Our parish is the mother church to over 50 Catholic parishes throughout New Jersey. The history of our parish is the history of the Catholic Faith in our state. We celebrate over 200 years of faith here. The history of St. Vincent Martyr is one to celebrate, preserve and to share.
Our parish was started by French refugees, in the late 1700s, who came to America after the French Revolution. Before there was a Catholic church here, these French Catholics were pew holders and occasional worshippers in the Presbyterian Church, the only church in the vicinity.
In 1809, our first masses in Madison—then called Bottle Hill - were celebrated in a home on Park Avenue. With the addition of Irish immigrants, this home was too small for the growing worshipping Community. They began to celebrate mass in the Madison Academy at the corner of Park and Ridgedale Avenues. The community was served by priests from New York.
By 1825, our growing community of French and Irish Catholics needed a permanent church home. Six French Catholics bought property and built the first church building on Ridgedale Avenue. In 1838, the community outgrew the first church building.
St. Vincent Martyr became the “headquarters for missionary activity in northwestern Jersey. ” It became known as “the mother church” of the area. Mission churches started from St. Vincent Martyr include St. Mary’s (Dover), Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Boonton), Assumption (Morristown) as well as St. Patricks (Chatham), St. Theresa (Summit), Holy Family (Florham Park), Christ the King (New Vernon) and more than 40 others.
On September 30, 1906 our current church building on Green Village Road was dedicated. In 2005, our parish celebrated its 200th anniversary as a faith community and the 100th Anniversary of our magnificent Norman Gothic Church.
Today, we are a thriving faith community centered on the Gospel message that is reflected in our Parish Vision Statement, “St. Vincent Martyr, a welcoming, diverse Catholic community in Madison, shares the love of Jesus Christ through prayer, ministry, education and service
The complete history of our parish is contained in the book, St. Vincent Martyr Parish - 200 Years of Faith, which is available through the parish office. Many details about our parish and our parish church are in the webpage of this site.