History of Our Lady Of Mercy Church A Story Of Creation Through Many Generations Of Faith  The story of Our Lady Of Mercy Parish is a story of creation. This is a parish that has taken the Gospel message of Jesus Christ and applied it to the evolving needs of each generation of its members. It is a parish that has honored its traditions, but has embraced change in order to keep God alive in the community. In the beginning, the parish was carved out of the wilderness of Colonie.  The old OLM stationary that has the address: No. 1, West Albany, New York may seem humorous now, but this was not the Colonie of well-kept neighborhoods and shopping malls.  It was a rural area of farms and woods, miles from the urban centers of Albany and Schenectady.  With Father James McDonald’s first celebration of the Eucharist at OLM on July 1, 1921, creativity became the watchword. Whether it was using an ironing board for an altar for Sunday Mass at the local public school, portable confession screens, or daily Mass in private homes, the first forty families of OLM used the tools and equipment they had at hand to make God present in their community. On Easter Sunday, April 16, 1922, the ironing board altar was retired and Mass was celebrated in the new, but still not completed, church at the corner of Wilson and Central Avenues. Fred Dott Jr. was the first Baptism and Bud Clarence MacConell and Celia Cramer celebrate the first Sacrament of Matrimony. The California mission-style building was completed in 1925 with the installation of stained glass windows. The decade of the 1920’s was one of growth and expansion. The number of families doubled and parish organizations such as the Holy Name and Rosary societies were founded. But, it was also a time when parishioners were called upon to stand up for their faith. The need for such courage is frighteningly depicted by the infamous Klu Klux Klan march that attempted to block the doors of the Church one Sunday morning. The parish’s desire to promote Biblical justice may well be rooted in having experienced the effects of discrimination and religious bigotry first hand. The stock market crash of October 1929 required the parish to adapt once again. The relative prosperity of the 1920’s was replaced by the Great Depression. The community of Our Lady of Mercy struggled but persevered. They shared from their want, not just their excess and the lesson learned was that the strength of a Christian community lies not in its fiscal resources, but in its spiritual and human resources. The Sacraments continued. Children were formed in faith. The onset of World War II brought different challenges, but the community, still shepherded by Father McDonald, faced those changes with the same indomitable spirit with which they had faced the Klan and the Great Depression. The parish drew upon its traditions, adapting to the needs of a community in which young people were in harm’s way, too often paying the ultimate price for their country. The great consolation of the Gospel message and the care of the parish community brought comfort to those who had lost loved ones. The end of the war brought still more changes. Father McDonald, pastor since the founding of the parish, was reassigned to the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Schenectady. After a short interim period, Father John King was named pastor in June of 1946. The town was evolving from rural to suburban and the parish had to evolve to meet the changing needs of its parishioners. Father King is remembered as a gardener. His parish bloomed with the same color and variety that typified his gardens, especially the tulips. Small seedlings were nurtured into vigorous plants that bloomed abundantly. By the early 1950s it was apparent that the existing church was no longer adequate for the growing community. In 1956, the plot of land on which the current facility sits was purchased from the Hart family and a fund drive began. The goal of $50,000 was reached in a few short weeks! Unfortunately the death of Father King in November of that year placed a pall over the endeavor. Father John McDonald became the new pastor. He understood the need for expansion and took up the building project. Ground was broken on November 19, 1957 and less than a year later, the new Our Lady of Mercy School opened its doors. Sister Jean Fitzmaurice (principal) and five Sisters of Mercy staffed the school. Bishop Scully consecrated the building on November 23, 1958. The following March, Father McDonald died. The pace of change only accelerated during the 1960s. The town of Colonie continued to grow and change, and the parish changed along with it. The new pastor, John A. Kavanaugh, was named a Monsignor and a Domestic Prelate by Bishop Scully. There was the political turmoil of the Cold War and the Vietnam War, but even more significant for the parish was the change wrought by the Second Vatican Council. The people of Our Lady of Mercy, like the rest of the world, followed the events of the Council with a mixture of awe and wonder. Probably at no time before or since have local parishes felt as connected to the universal church as they did during those years. Look, Life, Time, Newsweek and many other periodicals made the Council participants come to life and made Pope John XXIII a beloved symbol of the faith. The Council opened many new ways for the people of Our Lady of Mercy to express their love of God. Lay participation in liturgy, catechesis and pastoral care increased. These changes were difficult for many, but, because this is a parish of abiding faith, most studied the changes, saw the possibilities, and accepted their new roles with enthusiasm and joy. New organizations like the Mr. and Mrs. Club and the Youth Group were formed, older organizations adapted to the new situation and the parish continued to inform and form both young and old in the challenges before them. Our Lady Of Mercy School closed in 1971, the result of financial considerations and the improved quality of the public school system. This made the role of catechist and faith formation an important one. No longer would this be a part of the school day. Parents and parishioners were called to become catechists, witnesses of the faith to the younger generation. Church renovations (1975, 1981 and 1996) reflected and supported the increased participation by the people of God in all of the activities of the parish that were encouraged by the Second Vatican Council. From Father Thomas Hiney through the current pastor, Father John Waldron, the clergy, religious and laity have collaborated in the spirit of the Council to make Our Lady of Mercy the welcoming, celebratory and faith-filled community that it is today a community that is deeply rooted in the traditions of their parents and grandparents, but a community that is also prepared to meet the challenges and possibilities of the future. From the Parish Golden Jubilee Booklet 1971 We have conquered the problems and answered the challenges of the past half-century. We look forward to the next fifty years as an era of continued spiritual growth and renewal. As we stride towards a promising future we shall move in different directions, seek new horizons and set new goals. That same spirit remains alive in our parish today. We look forward to our centennial in 2021 with faith in God and the grace of Christ, as well as trust in the presence of the Holy Spirit and the mercy of Our Lady. Feast of Our Lady Of Mercy, September 20/21