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Mrs. Helen Ross petitioned Archbishop Byrne to establish a new Parish in the mid-1940’s. A mission church under the mother Parish of St. Charles was established in the spring of 1948. A surplus army building which the Mission Mass League prepared for use as a combined Church, School and Rectory first occupied the site acquired in 1929. This building, known as “The Barracks,” was in use until 1983 for many parish activities. The first Mass was celebrated on July 1, 1949.A fundraising campaign sponsored by the new Parish and by St. Charles Parish made possible the construction of a school. His Excellency, the late Archbishop Edwin B. Byrne, broke ground on July 3, 1949. “Heights Catholic School” enrolled its first pupils in the fall with Sister M. Ignatia as its first principal. The school which consisted of 151students in four grades taught by three nuns was formally dedicated on January 29, 1950.
The new convent for the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids was blessed and dedicated in December 1951.
Four classrooms were added to the school and the rectory was purchased in 1954. The school in its newly improved building had grown to the full eight grades. Discussion of plans for the present Church edifice was begun in 1953, when the Archdiocesan Fund Campaign was held. Rt. Rev. Msgr Jose Garcia, V.G.., broke ground and construction started on January 19, 1957. The “Fight to the Furnish” was conducted in May of that year to provide the necessary furnishing and equipment for the new church.
The Church was formally dedicated on May 4, 1958, by the late Archbishop Byrne. The relics of Saints Vincentius and Charus are in the main altar; Saints Felix and Laetus are in the East altar and Saints Beatus and Clementis are in the West altar.
A gift bequest in 1980 from the Helen T. Gallagher Estate led to the construction of Fatima-Gallagher Hall. The hall is a multipurpose parish center which was dedicated on January 8,1984. Many parishioners joined in the campaign, “Project Parish”, to provide the necessary funds.