Two Catholic churches serve the communities of Bellevue and Dayton, Kentucky: Divine Mercy Parish, whose Sacred Heart Church stands at 318 Division Street in Bellevue, and St. Bernard Church at 401 Berry Street in Dayton. Both belong to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington and share one pastor and one staff. Sacred Heart, dedicated in 1874 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, was the first place of worship in Bellevue. St. Bernard's third church, dedicated in 1914, holds stained glass installed between 1919 and 1932. Together the two parishes are known for old churches with deep roots and for a volunteer-run food pantry that feeds hundreds of Dayton and Bellevue families every Monday and Thursday.
Two Buildings, One Catholic Family
Divine Mercy Parish grew out of two Bellevue congregations. Sacred Heart Church, also known as Herz Jesu Kirche, was founded by German-speaking families. St. Anthony of Padua was erected for the English-speaking people of the community, with its cornerstone laid on August 11, 1889 and the church dedicated on October 27, 1889. When Sacred Heart and St. Anthony combined in 2003 to form Divine Mercy Parish, the old St. Anthony building was sold and made into condominiums that kept the original stained glass windows. The St. Anthony rectory and the old convent, now Charity Hall at 312 Poplar Street, remain part of the parish campus.
St. Bernard's Dayton campus grew around the church, a rectory, the school building behind the church, a cemetery and the food pantry, along with halls that can be reserved for parish and community gatherings. One pastoral team serves both churches. Fr. Martin Pitstick has been pastor of Divine Mercy and St. Bernard since 2014, and parish business is handled through the Divine Mercy office at (859) 261-6172 and the St. Bernard office at (859) 261-8506.
Fr. Martin puts the welcome of the parishes plainly: "The Catholic communities of Bellevue and Dayton want you to know that you are loved by God and precious in his eyes." The stated mission is to embody Christ's love through worship, prayer and action, and the ministries of both churches carry the motto "Where Faith and Family Come Together."
Mass, Confession and Adoration on the Weekly Rhythm
Each church keeps a steady pattern of Mass, and each one adds a weekly hour of Eucharistic adoration.
Divine Mercy Parish, Bellevue
- Saturday vigil Mass, 5:45 PM
- Sunday Mass, 7:30 AM and 11:00 AM
- Weekday Mass, 5:30 PM, Monday through Friday
- Morning Mass, 8:30 AM, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday
- Eucharistic Adoration, Wednesday, 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM, ending with Benediction
Confession is offered at Divine Mercy on Saturday from 5:15 to 5:35 PM, on Sunday from 7:00 to 7:20 AM and again from 10:30 to 10:50 AM, and Monday through Friday at 6:00 PM, with the church locked at 6:10 PM.
St. Bernard Church, Dayton
- Saturday vigil Mass, 4:00 PM
- Sunday Mass, 9:15 AM
- Thursday Mass, 12:10 PM
- Eucharistic Adoration, Thursday, 11:00 AM to noon, ending with Benediction
At St. Bernard, confession is offered on Saturday from 3:30 to 3:50 PM, on Sunday from 8:45 to 9:05 AM, and on Thursday from 11:30 AM to noon. The Litany of the Sacred Heart is prayed at the end of Mass on the first Friday of each month at Divine Mercy.
Mass intentions may be requested at either parish office for a loved one living or deceased or for a special need, with a typical suggested offering of $10 per Mass. Intentions can also be written on a slip available in the back of either church and placed in the collection basket or parish drop box.
Dressing for the Wedding Feast
The parishes are direct about what a visitor should wear. Men are asked to remove their caps and hats when they enter, and leggings worn as pants are never acceptable in church. Beyond that minimum, the teaching is that modest dress is expected and that Sunday Mass deserves more care than a picnic or a ball game. The Mass is described as the wedding feast of Jesus, the King of the Universe, and as the memorial celebration of his death, the kind of solemn occasion for which people dress with respect and honor. The guidance is framed as an outward expression of an inward disposition: what a person wears for Mass reveals what is held in the heart, and the priest at the altar covers himself from neck to wrists to ankles.
Pastor and author T. G. Morrow draws the distinction between poverty and laziness this way: to the homeless man who comes in from the street in poor clothing, "Welcome." To the person who rushes over after work without a chance to change, "No problem, as long as you are dressed modestly." But to those who dress on Sunday morning knowing they are coming to Mass, "Worship the Lord in holy attire." People who are curious about the Catholic faith are asked to dress and act with respect for the belief that the church is a house of God.
Sacred Heart: A Bavarian Gothic Church on Taylor Avenue
Three years after Bellevue was incorporated as a city, men of German extraction raised money for a Catholic church and bought property in the Taylor's Daughters Historic District for about $2,500. A brick building went up, and the parish was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1874 with 40 families registered.
By 1892 the congregation needed a larger building. Louis Pickett of Cincinnati designed the Gothic structure and John Sheblessy led the construction, which cost $30,279.53. The new church rose on the corner of Taylor Avenue and Division Street, built to the left of the first one, and modeled on churches in Bavaria so that the mostly German-speaking congregation would feel at home. Its steeple was once the tallest in Northern Kentucky. A tornado in 1915 damaged the church, and repairs replaced the original steeple and reshaped the exterior into the form seen today.
The interior carries the marks of that era. The main altar includes ogee arches, elaborate niches, finials, architraves and bar tracery, all hand carved in Germany, and the triple clerestory windows hold stained glass of European narrative type. The altar was renovated in 1924 in preparation for the parish's golden jubilee, and the murals around the church depicting the life of Christ were painted by the local artist Leon Lippert. Sacred Heart was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
The Sacred Heart devotion that gives the church its name is emphasized as well. An 8 by 10 image of the Sacred Heart with prayers is available for families who want to enthrone the Sacred Heart in the home, with the goals of increasing worship of God, deepening belief in his merciful love, making reparation for sins, and loving and receiving the sacraments more fully, particularly the Eucharist.
St. Bernard: Three Churches, Two Floods and a Centenary
The Dayton parish began in the little town of Jamestown, where about forty Catholic families had to travel to Mass at Corpus Christi in Newport or cross the Ohio River to Cincinnati. In 1849 the men formed a St. Joseph Society and the women a St. Mary Society to plan and raise money for a church. Property was bought in 1851, the cornerstone was laid in 1853 by Bishop Martin J. Spalding of Louisville, and a neat brick church forty by sixty feet was dedicated on July 9, 1854 under the patronage of St. Francis of Assisi.
Floods shaped everything that followed. A second church, dedicated in 1866, was destroyed by rising water, and in 1907 the muddy water stayed in the building for three weeks, lifting the floor from the foundation. The structure was declared unsafe and propped with hog chains while parishioners waited. Financial trouble came as well: in the late 1870s, speculative losses brought lawsuits, the church ended up owned by a bank, and a judge transferred the deed to Bishop Toebbe in trust for the congregation. In 1880 Bishop Toebbe required every parish in the diocese to report revenues and expenses, a practice that continues today.
Under Father Bernard Greifenkamp, who took over in 1904, the parish bought a full city block for a new church in 1909 for $20,000 and formed the Cross and Crown Circle to raise funds through bazaars, promenades and concerts. The cornerstone was laid on September 19, 1909, and work stopped for lack of funds. In 1913 another flood left the old church beyond repair: the pulpit bowed and floated, the altars leaned, the pews were torn from the floor and the steeple fell into the muddy school yard. The pastor bought a boat for $44.99 that year.
When Bishop Maes was called in, he looked at the ruined building and told the pastor, "Well, Father, she is wrecked now. God has done it. All I can say is go to it and build. I will stand by you in your great need." While the new church rose, a second-floor room in the old school served as a makeshift church where Mass was said each day. Work on the superstructure began in July 1913, with all of the money borrowed and the planned facade left out in favor of a simple mission-style front. The church was dedicated on Sunday, August 23, 1914, and the parish took the name of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the patron saint of Father Greifenkamp. Bells from St. Francis were carried over, along with the adoring angels and the Stations of the Cross that still adorn the church.
The dedication day brought a parade through Dayton and Bellevue with school children, parish societies and knights, and Catholics and non-Catholics shared the celebration. Beautiful stained glass followed in three stages: windows of the Doctors of the Church behind the altar in 1919, large transept windows in 1920 showing St. Peter with keys and Jesus with children, and the windows of the beatitudes in 1932, added during the Great Depression and valued in 2015 at $1,570,925. A new school was erected behind the church in 1925 after classes had first met in the church basement, and in 1929 the temporary mission front gave way to the stately Romanesque facade that completes the building begun sixteen years earlier. Three second-floor school classrooms became a convent for the Sisters of Divine Providence in 1952, and a new rectory was constructed in 1957. The centennial in 2015 was marked with a Mass and a luncheon, and renovations that same year raised money through a memorial tile fundraiser that framed replicas of the beatitude windows in panels of parishioners' memorial tiles.
The Food Pantry on Berry Street
The St. Bernard Food Pantry was started in 1986 by Sister Maddalena Guidugli, CDP, to serve the poor of the Dayton community. It first operated out of the rectory and moved into the ground floor of the school building when the parish school closed in 2002. Today the pantry is a partner with FreeStore FoodBank and SafetyNet Alliance, and it has served the Dayton community for 30 years and Bellevue for nine, with over 750 registered families. On average it provides food for 400 families a month, about 1,300 individuals, and it runs on a completely volunteer staff of 17 workers and an annual budget of $80,000. Its mission statement reads: "Providing a Caring Providential Presence Serving the Hungry and Needy of Bellevue and Dayton Kentucky."
The pantry is open at 401 Berry Street in Dayton on Monday and Thursday, from 10 AM to noon and again from 2 to 4 PM. Newcomers register with a photo ID and a current piece of mail or lease, along with a list of the people in the household with their ages and birth dates. After registration, families may collect a box once a month on any Monday or Thursday, bringing their photo ID each time.
A typical box holds two cans of soup, two or three cans of vegetables, a can of pasta sauce, a can of ravioli, a can of tuna, a can of beans, a can of fruit, a box of cereal, two boxes of macaroni and cheese, two packages of ramen noodles, a package of spaghetti, a bag of rice, a package of pancake or cornbread mix, a jar of peanut butter, a box of crackers, two frozen meats, a pizza and two rolls of toilet paper, with bread, bakery goods, sweet snacks and fresh produce added when available. Families may also request personal hygiene items, laundry and dish soap, diapers and wipes, baby food and formula, cleaning supplies and paper towels, and an extra Christmas box with ham is packed in December. The pantry can be reached at (859) 291-4393, with Norb Hehman as executive director emeritus, Dennis Daniel directing afternoons and Mary Kaisor directing mornings.
Sacraments for Every Stage of Life
The two parishes prepare people for Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion, the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession, Marriage, the Anointing of the Sick and Funeral Rites.
For parents, baptism of a baby begins with a preparation session before the first child is baptized. Baptisms are usually performed after the last Sunday Mass or after the Saturday evening vigil Mass, and they may also take place during any of the Sunday Masses, including the vigil. Each godparent must meet the requirements of the parish and provide a properly completed sponsor certificate. The parish also explains that the name chosen for a child should not be foreign to Christian sensibility, and that many Catholics choose a saint's name so that the child has a patron and a feast day of their own.
From the age of seven, children are initiated as adults are. They are enrolled in Catholic religious education for at least two years and then receive Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist at the Easter Vigil together with the adults. The same process, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, is open to unbaptized adults, to baptized non-Catholics who want to understand what the Church teaches, and to baptized Catholics whose formation or sacraments were interrupted. The parish describes RCIA as a process of doctrinal, pastoral and apostolic formation rather than a course, usually meeting weekly beginning in August and generally taking one to two years. Unbaptized candidates are admitted through the Rite of Acceptance around the beginning of Advent, are elected with the Bishop around the beginning of Lent, and are baptized, confirmed and receive first Holy Communion at the Easter Vigil. Baptized Christians make a profession of the Catholic faith and receive Confirmation and first Communion. No one is re-baptized, no one is obligated to continue after an inquiry, and accommodations are made for people whose age, illness or handicap makes the sessions difficult.
Confession is treated as the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, essential for those conscious of serious sin. Examinations of conscience are prepared for grades two through four, grades five through eight, high school and adults, with a large print version as well. Father Martin extends the invitation directly: to those who have been far away from the sacrament, "come back to this source of grace; do not be afraid!"
Learning and Growing Together
Religious education for children is run through P.R.E.P., coordinated by Theresa Broering, while adults and parents preparing for baptism or entry into the Church meet through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, directed by Donna Wenstrup. The parish also operates Little Patriots Child Development Center and Little Patriots Preschool, directed by Kate Morgan, and families are pointed to Holy Trinity School for Catholic schooling.
The DMSB Young Adults group states its mission as "to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given," with the aim of building community, growing in holiness and living the gospel. The group meets for a monthly pancake breakfast at St. Bernard and keeps a presence on Facebook and Instagram under the name DMSB Young Adults, with Caitlin McGillivary as its minister. Men are invited into a study group called That Man Is You, and women meet on Monday evenings from 7:00 to 8:15 PM for Rooted and Radiant, a study of Colossians in Garvey Hall. A Catholic Men's Group gathers in the early morning at St. Bernard with time for confession, and Fr. Martin offers courtyard conversations for anyone who wants to ask questions about God or the faith.
Ways to Serve
Serving is built into the life of both parishes. People can volunteer as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, greeters, lectors and altar servers. The organizations include the Knights of Columbus, the St. Bernard Festival Committee, the St. Bernard Fish Fry Committee, St. Vincent de Paul conferences at both Divine Mercy and St. Bernard, the Altar Society, the Bereavement Ministry, the training ministry and a group that visits the sick and homebound. There are also volunteer teams for cleaning, maintenance, office work and yard work.
Space is available for gatherings at Charity Hall, Merkle Hall and Garvey Hall, which can be reserved through the parish office, and St. Francis Cemetery is part of the St. Bernard campus. Two bereavement ministers, Cindy Becknell at Divine Mercy and Anne Morrow at St. Bernard, work with families in the hardest moments of the parish year.
The Priests Who Have Lived and Served Here
Fr. Martin Pitstick grew up on a farm near Fairborn, Ohio, the youngest of seven children in a family that raised hogs and crops and made daily Mass part of the rhythm of the day. His father met St. Pio in Italy during his service in World War II, and his parents prayed together for a son who would become a priest. He studied physics and then theology at the University of Dayton and at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, graduating in 1981 with a double major in French and Theology, then worked in sales and in lay pastoral ministry for four small Dayton, Ohio, parishes. In 1997 he joined an L'Arche community in France, sharing life in a household with people with intellectual disabilities, and he credits that experience with preparing him for the priesthood. He entered St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, was ordained on May 16, 2008, served as parochial vicar at St. Joseph in Cold Springs, Kentucky, and was pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul in California, Kentucky, for five years, the last two as chaplain of Bishop Brossart High School.
Since 2009 St. Bernard has hosted student priests from India who are earning a master's degree in education at Xavier University. The parish offers them lodging, and they in return help with Masses before returning to India, where many become principals of large schools. They are priests of the Missionary Society of St. Thomas the Apostle, a Syro-Malabar church in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, and while they study they learn to celebrate Mass according to the Roman Rite. Fr. Roshan Varghese, MST, is currently in residence at St. Bernard. Past residents include Fr. Babu Kurian, who served from 2009 to 2011 and is now Vicar of Blessed Marian Thressia Church in Delhi, and Fr. Joe Anson, who served from 2011 to 2012 and is Principal of Mary Matha School in Chiplun, Maharashtra.
Beginning in 2011, two priests in residence at the St. Bernard rectory celebrated the traditional Latin Mass, and the parish had a hand in the founding of their religious order, the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist, who purchased their own church property in 2015.
The Sacred Heart at the Center
Divine Mercy's Sacred Heart devotion emphasizes the love and compassion of Jesus and invites believers to deepen their relationship with him through prayer and reflection on his enduring mercy. Its goals are to increase worship of God, especially of the Heart of Jesus, to deepen belief in the merciful love of God, to offer love back to God, to make reparation for sins, and to increase love for and reception of the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist.
The Twelve Promises attached to the devotion speak of the graces necessary in each state of life, peace in homes, comfort in afflictions, a secure refuge in life and in death, abundant blessings on undertakings, and sinners finding in the Heart of Jesus a source and infinite ocean of mercy. They promise that lukewarm souls will become fervent and fervent souls will mount to high perfection, that every place where an image of the Sacred Heart is exposed and honored will be blessed, that priests receive the gift of touching the most hardened hearts, and that those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays of nine consecutive months are granted the grace of final perseverance. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque described being wholly penetrated by the Divine Presence, and the prayer that closes the devotion asks that the Heart of Jesus be placed at the center of life: "Do not let the past disturb you. Just leave everything in the Sacred Heart and begin again with joy."
Joining the Mass From Home
Mass from the parishes is livestreamed, and the parish treats a streamed Mass as a genuine participation in the Sunday Eucharist rather than entertainment. Those watching are asked to give the Mass the same attention they would give it in church: set aside distractions, follow the responses and gestures of the liturgy, silence phones, avoid leaving the room for a snack and remain for the blessing. At the moment of Holy Communion, the parish asks viewers to make a spiritual communion, asking God to come to them and grant the same graces as if they were receiving Communion in person, with a printed prayer provided for that purpose.
For people who cannot watch the parish stream, the parish also offers the Saturday evening vigil Mass broadcast from the cathedral, the EWTN television schedule and local cable listings, and the FORMED platform for Masses, movies, e-books and Bible studies. The preference is for a live telecast rather than a recording, especially for Sunday Mass.
Sacred Heart on Division Street and St. Bernard on Berry Street differ in age, in size and in the shape of their weekly calendars, but they answer to the same pastor and the same promise. Mass is celebrated in a Gothic church whose steeple once dominated northern Kentucky and in a Romanesque church finished in 1929, adoration fills Wednesday afternoon in Bellevue and Thursday morning in Dayton, and the pantry on Berry Street opens four mornings a month for the families of both towns. The Catholic communities of Bellevue and Dayton want you to know that you are loved by God and precious in his eyes.