Most Precious Blood

"To have the services of the Church available as soon as the need arises," Archbishop Vehr told the Denver Catholic Register of January 2, 1947, he had purchased forty-six lots at South Colorado Boulevard and Iliff Avenue, from the University of Denver, for $24,000.

The need for a new parish arose sooner than most expected, as Southeast Denver exploded with residential and commercial developments after World War II. The sparsely settled 1880s neighborhood of University Park, next to the University of Denver, boomed, with development spilling over into the newer neighborhoods of University Hills and Wellshire. The block between Colorado Boulevard and Harrison Street, East Iliff and Warren avenues, which had been Joseph Weid's bee, wheat, and chicken "ranch," was soon to become a new parish plant.

On July 10, 1952, Archbishop Vehr authorized creation of Most Precious Blood parish and appointed a Vincentian priest, John Donohoe, CM, the founding pastor. Father Donohoe held the initial Mass and organizational meeting August 10, 1952, in the large outdoor grotto at Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Several hundred people attended and were given census Lourdes Church. Several hundred people attended and were given census and donation forms. Subsequent Masses of the baby parish were held in the eighth-grade classroom at Our Lady of Lourdes School. By December, the young parish had outgrown that room and began meeting in the basement chapel at St. Vincent de Paul School. Meanwhile, Most Precious Blood parishioners began raising money for a church of their own, using socials at Observatory Park, bazaars, Levi Blue Jeans dances, swimming parties, hay rides, bake sales, spaghetti dinners, "Country Cousins" square dances, and festivities featuring filmed highlights of Notre Dame football games.

John K. Monroe designed a rectory, meeting hall, and temporary church completed in March 1953, on South Colorado Boulevard. Father Donohoe, who had been living with his fellow Vincentians at nearby St. Thomas Seminary, moved into the one-story beige brick complex dedicated by Archbishop Vehr on May 13, 1954.

As many parish families were looking for loans to build homes in the area, one of the first services offered by Most Precious Blood was a parish credit union, established in the fall of 1956. After persuading many members to donate or pledge 2 per cent of their income to build a school, the parish hired the Roland Johnson architectural firm to design six classrooms. This modern one-story brick structure, which included a library, audiovisual room, health room, business office, and kitchen, was built for $241,011. The school opened in the fall of 1960, and was staffed by four Daughters of Charity. At first, the nuns wore their order's quaint starched white coronet with a blue habit; pupils had no uniform. But in 1961, students were asked to wear uniforms, and in 1964 the nuns shed their 300-year-old headgear--the coronets also called "windmills" and "sunbonnets."

To house the Daughters of Charity, a home across the street from the school was purchased for $33,200 and remodeled in 1959. Four years later, this home was replaced by a large two-story convent, built for $127,384. Over the main entrance was a life-sized bas relief of a Daughter of Charity in the old costume. Rumor had it that many shuffleboard tournaments enlivened the basement after the convent was completed and blessed on November 19, 1963.

By 1962, the parish had grown to 1,000 families, and Bernard P. Degan, CM, became the second pastor. During Father Degan's time, the school was expanded to eight grades, and the church was enlarged. Even with the enlargement, parish historian Pamela Jill Thomas recalled that "if you were late for Mass, you sat way back in the church or even out the door!"

Maurice P. Kane, CM, who became the third pastor in 1968, began working on a new church. Architect Roland Johnson designed the spectacular modern structure, a low, circular, red brick church rising to a glistening white concrete central tower. This edifice, which included a library and shrine, cry and meeting rooms, was dedicated by Archbishop Casey on May 21, 1971.

Parishioners were shocked on the night of January 19, 1978, when Father Kane died in his sleep. His plans for the parish were pursued by the next pastor, Oscar Lukefahr, CM, who, with parishioners, completed a parish center on September 17, 1979, as a memorial to Father Kane. Father Lukefahr was an avid runner who began using marathons as fund-raisers. He believed in spiritual as well as physical exercise and made Most Precious Blood the first parish in the western states to inaugurate a Renew program.

David A. Darling, CM, followed Father Lukefahr in 1982. Although the Daughters of Charity withdrew from the school, preschool through eighth-grade education is still offered. Despite creation of new parishes from its territory, Most Precious Blood maintained a family membership of over 1,560 as of 1988.

John F. Clark, CM, the pastor since 1988, focused on building up a Counseling Center and a fully accredited Day Care Center. "M.P.B. certainly is a very active, concerned and caring parish," Father Clark reported in 1988. "The promotion of Gospel values is at the center of our activities and programs, indeed at the center of our life as a parish."

Copyright © 1989 The Archdiocese of Denver