About

About the Parish


Our Parish History

The patron saint of this parish, Saint Pascal Baylon, was born in 1540 and died in 1592 in Spain. He was a peasant, a shepherd and a lay Franciscan Brother.


Pope Alexander VIII canonized St. Pascal in 1690. His chief loves in life were Christ in the Eucharist and Christ's poor.


St. Pascal Baylon Parish Rises on the East Side of Saint Paul

On May 28, 1946, Archbishop John Gregory Murray assigned Father John Vincent Ryan as the first pastor of the Church of Saint Pascal Baylon.


The first Mass for the parish as a group was in June 1946. It was attended by 18 families and had a most unusual setting, the Ramsey County Correctional School for Boys, "Totem Town," in nearby Highwood.


From July until September 1946, two Masses were celebrated each Sunday at the Highwood home of parishioners Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Norton.

The first church on parish grounds was two Quonset huts built by the parish men and located at the corner of Conway Street and White Bear Avenue. On October 2, 1949, ground was broken for a new worship space, social space and Catholic school. The old worship space (the Quonset huts) became a convent for the Sisters of St. Joseph Carondelet.


The parish school officially opened on September 7, 1950, for nearly 200 children. A school addition was constructed in 1959, along with a new convent, to accommodate the growing population. In 1963, the school's west wing was added, and the worship space was moved to the basement level of this addition, where it remained until 2002.


The new building, which includes the worship space, commons area and offices, was constructed due to a careful planning process that dates back to 1998 when St. Pascal's Maintenance Team documented numerous problems relating to parish facilities. The parish leadership, concerned about the need for significant repairs and renovations to the church and school facilities, presented a range of alternatives to church members. Overwhelming feedback from parish meetings indicated consensus to build a worship and gathering space and to perform basic repairs and significant upgrades to the school building. This alternative included demolishing the old parish center.


The initial capital campaign was launched in October 2000 to enlist the financial commitment of parishioners for the building and renovation project. The construction phase of the project began in the spring of 2001. The parish community celebrated the first Mass in the new worship space on July 27, 2002.

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