ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CHURCH 22 West High Street Gettysburg. Pennsylvania, 17325 717-334-3919 http://www.SFXCatholicChurch.org Info@SFXCatholicChurch.org Office Hours: Monday - Friday 8am - 4pm MASS SCHEDULE: Saturday: 5:30 pm Sunday: 7:00am, 9:00am, 11:00am & 12:30 noon (Spanish) Daily: Monday - Friday 7:00am & 8:00am; Saturday 8:00am Adoration:  Fridays 8:30am - 6:00pm Mercy House Chapel DIRECTIONS: From Lincoln Square go south on Baltimore St. At the second traffic light turn right onto West High St. The Church is the second building on the right. PARKING: While there is some on-street parking, the church parking lot is opposite the church approached by an alley that runs beside the rectory.

EARLY CATHOLIC HISTORY OF AREA:
French priests first visited this area in 1647 or 1648 to care for Catholic Indians. Jesuits from Maryland made periodic visits as early as 1690. Before 1827 Mass was said in private homes in Gettysburg. The first church was built on South Washington street and was dedicated in 1831.

SAINT JOHN NEUMANN: The cornerstone of the present church was laid on June 20, 1852, by the new Bishop of Philadelphia, John Neumann. He came back the next year to dedicate the church on July 31, 1853.

THE CHURCH BECOMES A HOSPITAL: During the Civil War battle of Gettysburg in 1863, some of the the most seriously wounded, numbering 200-250, were taken to St. Francis Xavier Church, where they were nursed by The Sisters of Charity from Emmitsburg, Maryland. One of the sisters wrote, "They lay on the pew seats, under the pews, in every aisle, and there was scarcely room to pass among them in the sanctuary and in the gallery . . . . The Station pictures hung around the walls, and a very large oil painting of St. Francis Xavier, holding in his hand a crucifix to show the benighted pagans the sign of their Redemption. This was a Book read by our poor men, for we had in that Church but one Catholic, and our glorious saint was for the time resuming his apostolical mission among them. The first man put in the sanctuary was soon baptized, and with truly Christian sentiments. His pain was excruciating and when sympathy was offered to him he said, ‘Oh! What are these pains I suffer in comparison with those my Redeemer suffered for me.’ In these sentiments he died." While they cared for the bodies, the Sisters did not neglect the souls of their patients and many died with these holy women comforting them with assurances of God’s infinite love and mercy.

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER SCHOOL: Operating from a frame building behind the rectory, the first school opened in 1877 with 103 students. The present brick school building beside the church was completed in 1897, with further expansion in 1953. The Sisters of Mercy arrived to administer and staff the school in 1920, which they continue to do to this day. The school has a current enrollment of 245, from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. http://www.cybereagle.com/stfran.