THE mid-1800s was a defining period in Belfast's history. The town was being rapidly transformed into an industrial powerhouse, with the textiles industry in the vanguard.
With work plentiful in the mills, people flooded in from all over the Ulster countryside to produce the damask, muslin and linen with which Belfast was synonymous in the 19th century.
And where the people were, the Churches also felt a duty to be found.
Faced with the challenge of meeting the needs of this burgeoning Catholic population was Dr Patrick Dorrian, the Bishop of Down and Connor.
The north side of the town, pushing uphill along Crumlin Road towards Ardoyne, was at the centre of particular expansion.
Dr Dorrian came up with a relatively novel solution - and one which, 150 years after Holy Cross was established, generations of Catholics will believe to have been inspired.
On the eve of leaving for Rome and the First Vatican Council in June 1868, the bishop was attending a parish mission in Portaferry.
Dr Dorrian was impressed by the Passionist priests who were leading the mission. He invited them to Belfast to establish a Passionist house, and thus become the first religious order in almost a century to run a parish in Ireland.
When Fr Raphael, Fr Alphonsus and Brother Luke arrived in August 1868 they were met with hugely unpromising circumstances - not only was there no house, no church and no school, but the site was additionally encumbered by a debt of £1,000.
But with the dedication and service which has been a hallmark of the Passionists in Holy Cross, those pioneering priests set about their task; the debt was cleared, and within months work started on a church.
It was blessed and dedicated by Dr Dorrian in January 1869. A retreat house and monastery - the first built in Ulster since the Reformation - followed in 1881 and by 1902 the splendid Church of the Holy Cross was completed.
Life in the parish was especially hard in those early years. The mill workers were poorly paid and there was often high unemployment - an unfortunately recurring theme over the years.
Long before the tragedy of the loyalist picket at Holy Cross Girls' School in 2001 and 2002, sectarian strife was visited upon the parish.
"In the 1920s Catholic people were burned out of York Street and the docks area. They marched up the Crumlin Road with their few belongings to Ardoyne," explained Fr Eugene McCarthy, the Rector at Holy Cross.
Echoes of that experience were felt again in the early years of the Troubles. In August 1971, for example, loyalists burned almost 200 houses in Velsheda Park, Farringdon Gardens and Cranbrook Gardens.
The history of this unique parish has been told in a lovingly produced book compiled for the 150th anniversary, Holy Cross Ardoyne, 1869-2019 - The Passionists and the People.
It includes a section recounting the toll of suffering that the Troubles inflicted on this one small patch of north Belfast; it makes for harrowing reading.
In more recent years, parades disputes have raised tensions in the area. High suicide rates have also afflicted Ardoyne.
"The priests at Holy Cross have always been very close to the people," said Fr Eugene. "They have been there to support them and walk with them in the dark times."
Holy Cross's prominence has meant that its clergy, including Fr Aidan Troy and Fr Gary Donegan in recent years, have often become known far beyond the parish.
But within the parish, the legacy of Passionists such as Fr Justin Coyne, Fr Fernando Carberry and Fr Joseph Carroll, Fr Myles Kavanagh and a galaxy of others, still shines bright.
And with the accumulated wisdom of 150 years' witness and service, the parish is looking firmly to a brighter, better future.
For example, the Houben Centre is "a beacon of hope", says Fr Eugene, from where cross-community peace and reconciliation work takes place.
An anthem, composed by Fr Eugene to mark the 150th anniversary, captures this forward-looking spirit: "We are the people who carry the flame of faith to a future unknown. But we can take courage from those gone before and know we don't journey alone."
The production of Holy Cross Ardoyne, 1869-2019 - The Passionists and the People was sponsored by The Flax Trust
Mass to mark the anniversary will be celebrated in Holy Cross Church as 12 noon on Sunday November 24
