About Our Parish

Come and Celebrate with us in the Roman Catholic tradition. We are a neighborhood parish that boasts a diversity of parishioners: the young and the old, the cradle Catholic and the recent convert, the college student and the seasoned professional. Our variety of services, from the contemporary 9:00 a.m. celebration to the 11:00 a.m. traditional choir liturgy, reflects the needs of our parishioners. Do you need a believing community that will support your journey of faith or one that will sustain a life of steady discipleship? You need look no further. Come and join us to "taste the goodness" of the Lord.

Our parish offers catechesis and liturgies designed for young children and their parents. The children's "Time with Jesus" every Sunday at the 9:00 a.m. mass welcomes children in two age groups: 2 to 4 years old, and 5 years and up. Each group has a separate catechism program appropriate to that age group. We also offer a Children's Mass at 10:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of each month in the Chapel.

Our parish also offers an array of service ministries as well as social activities and community outreach projects. We welcome volunteers in all of these areas. Please contact the parish office to find out more about these opportunities.

Together with four other neighborhood churches, we are part of an ecumenical alliance called The Churches of Charles Street, and we are also affiliated with the Greater Homewood Interfaith Alliance. Both groups sponsor a variety of educational, social and community outreach programs throughout the year.

A brief history of our church:

James Cardinal Gibbons laid the cornerstone of the first home of SS. Philip & James on September 5, 1897. The present church building was dedicated on June 15, 1930. This grand and imposing structure incorporates the finest features of the Greco-Roman and Byzantine styles it represents. It is considered to be the preeminent accomplishment of the much-acclaimed Baltimore architect, Theodore Wells Pietsch. The interior walls of the church also display the gound-breaking work of John J. Early, who pioneered the use of marble chips in concrete, and represent the first use of this process in Baltimore. After more than a century of faith and service, SS. Philip & James continues to be a beacon of hope to its community and one of the most beautiful and architecturally significant churches in Baltimore.

Many visitors to our beautiful church ask about the Latin inscriptions around three of the outside facades. Here are the inscriptions and their translations:

North side:
Domus Dei...Domus Orationis : The House of God is the House of Prayer

South side:
Domum Dei Decet Sanctitudo : Holiness Befits the House of God

West side:
Inter Sanctos Sors Illorum Est : Their Lot is Among the Saints