From the Pastor's Desk - September 21, 2025

Dear St. Martin’s Parishioners,

After 135 years sitting at 10 Desellum Ave., the Fr. Meyer House will be demolished this week. The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur were the first from St. Martin’s to live in the house. Some lifetime residents of Gaithersburg may even remember the Sisters in their black and white habits crossing the road to St. Martin’s School each morning. After the Sisters left in the 1960’s, Fr. Meyer moved into the house during his retirement. Fr. Bill Ryan was the last priest to live there (yes, the same Fr. Ryan who’s visiting us this weekend). Before it fell into disrepair some fifteen years ago, it served as an important meeting space for parish activities. It housed our first adoration chapel and was the meeting space of our high school youth group.

Recently, a couple from the parish told me that they were married there. Another said he experienced his reversion to the Catholic faith there. “That place flat out saved me,” he told me. A teacher at our school recounted with tears in her eyes that she received her religious education classes at the house. Needless to say, it is the site of profound memories for many of our parishioners, and it is sad to see it go.

I am currently working on having the two houses on Summit Ave. brought up to code so they can be rezoned as commercial properties. After we make the necessary changes to the properties, we can finally stop paying property taxes for them! I am also working to have a new parish pantry built on Fr. Meyer Field. This will allow us to demolish the current dilapidated structure to make more space for parking. At the same time, a new adoration chapel will be built on campus. I will keep you updated as plans develop on the various facilities projects.

In Christ,

Fr. Dave