Did you know?

St. Margaret's church had its beginnings on July 1, 1926, with Rev. George Oley as the first pastor. He named the church for his mother. (It was the custom to allow the founding pastor to select the name of his new church. Father Oley's mother's name was Margaret Rose, and he therefore named the church in Mattydale St. Margaret and the church in North Syracuse St. Rose. St. Rose of Lima became an independent parish in 1947.
After World War II, the Mattydale area experienced dramatic growth, and expansion for St. Margaret's took shape as well. In 1954, ground was broken for the school by Father McNeill, the fourth pastor, who served from 1948 to 1974. More classes were added in 1957. The auditorium/gymnasium was completed in 1959.
In 1993, parishioners at St. Margaret's Church in Mattydale dedicated the new church. The ceremony was December 12. The new building includes stained glass windows from the old church and windows from St. Joseph's Hospital chapel.
In the spring of 1992, St. Margaret's parishioners said goodbye to their "Little Church" with a final mass on March 20, the day the ground was broken for the present, newer, and larger church. In a poem for that memorial mass, the "Little Church" 'spoke' to parishioners:


"Do not grieve for me
Be not forlorn.
Rejoice!
I am reborn."