Church of the Magdalene Celebrates the 130th Anniversary of its Founding

This year Church of the Magdalene parish in Pocantico Hills is celebrating the 130th anniversary of its founding. Planned events include a special Mass at 11 a.m. Sunday, July 21, where the Principal Celebrant will be Fr. Tim Wiggens, Pastor and the Guest Homilist will be Fr. John Vigilanti, the former Pastor. Also included will be other priests who have been associated with the Magdalene over the years. 

Events also include a celebratory lunch during which Sister Susan Gardella will speak on the long history the parish has shared with the Religious of the Sacred Heart (Marymount). Also, on the following Sundays, July 7, Aug. 18, Sept. 8 and Oct. 13, the Pastor Father Wiggens will say “Mass on the Grass” during the 9 and 11 a.m. Masses. These Masses will take place next to the church building. 

John Dominick, Church of the Magdalene’s music director, will coordinate the music program for the Mass, as he does each Sunday. 

The Church of the Magdalene is a small country church that draws parishioners from over 40 zip codes in Westchester and beyond. Roads leading to the hamlet pass by rolling fields protected by stone walls. A handful of homes, large and small, a school, two churches, and a firehouse are located in the center of the hamlet. The white frame building stands in the midst of a community of homes surrounded by the large acreage of the Rockefeller homes and estates. The Union Church is located nearby.