In the summer of 1909, Father Patrick J.

                                     Boland, a priest from the Diocese of Scranton,

                                     visited the tiny village of Mount Pocono, PA.

                                     Father Boland’s intention was to provide

                                     Sunday mass and spiritual guidance to the

                                     many Catholics who worked in the hotels on the mountain in the summer. He took up permanent residence in Mount Pocono and began to build St. Mary’s church, whose cornerstone bears the date 1909.

Father P. J. Boland grew up in Archbald, PA and received his early education there. He then entered St Thomas College, Scranton, and was the first graduate from that institution. Later he attended St Bonaventure College, where he prepared for the priesthood. He was ordained 25 Jul 1900 in St Peter's Cathedral, Scranton, by the Right Rev Bishop Hoban, and celebrated his first mass in St Thomas Aquinas Church, Archbald. Father P J Boland's first assignment was to St Joseph's Church at Minooka, and he was later transferred to St Peter & St Paul's Church at Towanda, PA, as an assistant. He spent four years at St John's Church in Scranton, and was also the assistant at St Peter's Cathedral in this city for seven years, during which time he was moderator of Catholic Women's Club. Reverend Boland was appointed pastor of Holy Rosary Church on 1 Sep 1926.

In 1912, St. Mary’s was established as the second parish in Monroe County, and in the brief span of the following thirteen years, Father Boland built the rectory and six mission churches; St. Ann in Tobyhanna, St. Bernadette (formerly St Ann's) in Canadensis, Our Lady of the Lake in Pocono Pines, St. Joan of Arc in Pocono Summit, St. Mary Magdalene in South Sterling, and St. Henry in Henryville. He also expanded St. Mary of the Mount to its present size. On June 15, 1915, Father James Boland was ordained as a priest and served as Assistant Pastor for St. Mary of the Mount alongside his brother, Father Patrick Boland.

When Father Boland was transferred to a parish in Scranton, Bishop Hoban assigned Father Connell A. McHugh as pastor of St. Mary of the Mount. Bishop Hoban died shortly thereafter, but his assignment of Father McHugh to the mountains was certainly one of his greatest, bringing a new era to the Pocono Mountains in the Catholic Church.

Father McHugh was fifty years old when he came to the Pocono Mountains. The financial condition of the country during the depression prevented the building of Churches. However, the new Pastor of the Pocono Catholic Missions was not standing idle; it was a time of great activity for him.

 

In 1931, Father McHugh became a Monsignor.  It was at this point that began Monsignor McHugh's Catholic development in the Pocono Mountains.  The Pocono Mountains had become a major tourist attraction, bringing along a number of resorts, restaurants, visitors and new residents.  Three new churches were added to the missions; Our Lady of Victory in Tannersville, Our Lady of Fatima in Promised Land and Our Lady Queen of Peace in Brodheadsville.