The parish was founded by the
Augustinian friars on April 22, 1906, with the first
Mass occurring in a small garage on North Street near
Jerome Avenue. Immediately from 1906 on, construction of a permanent church with parochial buildings on Andrews Avenue and Fordham Road commenced. On March 5, 2010, a suspicious two-alarm blaze filled the sanctuary with flames and smoke. "The fire started in a former confessional-turned-storage room in the vestibule of the church, blocking the main entrance." The Rev. Joseph Girone evacuated worshipers through the rectory after principal exits were blocked. Some firemen were injured from a falling plaster ceiling. FDNY Deputy Chief Kevin Scanlon called the fire "suspicious" that "accelerated rapidly [and] it was a heavy fire that didn't have the normal flow of a fire." A string of arson attacks against Bronx churches had recently claimed the Glory of Christ Church in December 2009 in
Parkchester. Despite the fire, church services were resumed at the parish school's gym, adjacent to the church. The parish is still staffed by the Augustinian friars. ==St. Nicholas of Tolentine Elementary School==