USA > Massachusetts > Franklin County > Century of Catholicism in western Massachusetts; being a chronicle of the establishment, early struggle, progress and achievements of the Catholic church in the five western counties of Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, Berkshire and Franklin > Part 7
USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Century of Catholicism in western Massachusetts; being a chronicle of the establishment, early struggle, progress and achievements of the Catholic church in the five western counties of Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, Berkshire and Franklin > Part 7
USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Century of Catholicism in western Massachusetts; being a chronicle of the establishment, early struggle, progress and achievements of the Catholic church in the five western counties of Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, Berkshire and Franklin > Part 7
USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Century of Catholicism in western Massachusetts; being a chronicle of the establishment, early struggle, progress and achievements of the Catholic church in the five western counties of Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, Berkshire and Franklin > Part 7
USA > Massachusetts > Berkshire County > Century of Catholicism in western Massachusetts; being a chronicle of the establishment, early struggle, progress and achievements of the Catholic church in the five western counties of Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire, Berkshire and Franklin > Part 7
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with its twin towers. Parish schools were opened in 1892, and have always been well attended. Father Lamy succeeded Father Viens and did much to stabilize the parish's financial status, in preparation for the new church which he erected and Father A. R. Grolleau, O.P., had completed. Father Grolleau also remodelled the old church into an acceptable school building which, under Father J. O. Comtois, houses four hundred children.
All this, of course, entailed generous financial outlays, and all left a heavy mortgage indebted- ness, which Father Comtois is doing much to pay off. Father Comtois is a devoted worker who, since going to Spencer from Millbury, where he founded a parish school, has done much to add to the efficiency of St. Mary's School, and to lessen the indebtedness which handicaps his
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parish. He is much loved by his people, and highly respected by townspeople at large.
T THE first of the missions from St. Louis to become a distinct parish was Southbridge, where St. Mary's congregation began independent existence in 1865, with Rev. Angelus Baret at its head. Previously, Southbridge had been attended from Worcester, Webster, and Holy Cross Col- lege. Father Fitton offered Mass there as early as 1840. The first church, St. Peter's, was completed in 1853, and continued in use until the coming of Rev. J. M. Kremmins, in 1871. Southbridge, in its turn, became a restricted missionary zone because this devoted priest, during sixteen years without assistant, cared for Southbridge, Charlton, and Sturbridge. He found time to erect the present St. Mary's Church, St. Patrick's, in Fiskdale, and a rectory to replace one destroyed by fire. He died among the people to whom he had given the best years of his life, and lies at rest in the yard of the church which he built. His memory is still held in benediction in old St. Mary's.
His successor, Rev. James Donahue, gave spe- cial attention to Catholic education, transformed old St. Peter's into a parish school, provided a suitable abode for the Sisters of St. Joseph and opened grammar schools for the parish children, in 1889. On his departure, the church property sided on three streets, in one of the prettiest spots in town. On his promotion to Westfield, Rev. John B. Drennan replaced him, and remained in St. Mary's until his death. He was universally loved, and, though industrial depression marked his stay, he did much for the young men of the parish, for whom he opened a gymnasium and temperance hall.
The present pastor, who was assistant at the
John W. Donohue, Architect
time of Father Drennan's death, is Rev. Denis Mullins, who has served the people faithfully and well, for over a quarter of a century. He is a man of deep piety, untiring in his attendance on sick and suffering, quiet and retiring personally, but withal most successful in meeting the spiritual and temporal needs of his people. Father Mullins has always been deeply interested in the instruc- tion of his flock. His church bookrack is famous for the variety and value of its contents. Not only does he exhaust every source of the pamphlet literature so well suited to the needs of this busy age, but culls special articles from magazines, has them printed and distributed for the enlighten- ment of his parishioners.
"THE growth of Southbridge's population, however, was most rapid among its French speaking residents, and so, in 1869, they left St. Mary's to become a distinct parish under the title of Notre Dame. The first pastor, Father LeBreton, was soon replaced by Rev. George E. Brochu, whose name is perpetuated in the name of the parish school, Brochu Academy. He came in 1873, and remained until the dawn of the present cen- tury. He built convent and school, which he opened in 1882. The present school, which bears his name, was constructed largely at his expense. So gener- ous was he, both to home and foreign missionary work, and so self-sacrificing in the service of his parish, which often misunderstood and antagonized him, that the late Pope Leo XIII made him a Mon- signor. He was an able financial manager and left a large sum in bank for the church which he was not destined to erect.
So well was the work of Monsignor Brochu carried on by his successor, Rev. L. O. Triganne, that Notre Dame parish ranks among our best, and the new church and rectory, both of marble brick, both built by him, are landmarks towering on the heights above Southbridge. Bank failures lessened the amounts left by Monsignor Brochu. but the ability of Father Triganne supplied the deficit and added to the total until the present beautiful church and rectory became realities. Such a remarkable record has been made by Father Triganne in Southbridge that, on Bishop O'Leary's warm recommendation, he was made a domestic prelate by Pope Pius XI, a recognition of his extraor- dinary labors for the spiritual and material good of his people, throughout his priestly career.
Sacred Heart Church, South- bridge. Rev. Victor Epinard, Pastor.
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"THE French speaking people continued to mul- tiply until another parish was necessary early in the present century, and Father Emile St. Onge became its founder in 1908. He did excellent work, constructing rectory and school, and using the school for divine service. However, an illness which finally proved fatal led to an enforced vaca- tion from which he never returned : a severe rheumatic affliction ultimately affected his eyes. The administrator of the new parish was Rev. William H. Ducharme, who remained for two years after Father St. Onge's death, and by strict economy in parish finances, paved the way for the new Sacred Heart. The actual pastor, Rev. Victor Epinard, has already completed the parish group by the erection of a beautiful parish church. which was dedicated last year. Father Epinard has shown exceptional ability in handling finan- cial problems, and, under his able management and earnest labor, Sacred Heart has become a thriving parish unit in which no spiritual or material need is neglected.
S T. MARY'S PARISH, of Southbridge. underwent its last division in 1916, when the Polish members formed the new mission of St. Hedwige, which, for two years, was attended by Father Cyran, of St. Joseph's, Webster. Then his assistant, Rev. M. S. Hanys, was appointed resi- dent pastor, a position in which he still continues. He used the old church of the French Parish un- til he completed the new St. Hedwige, in 1920. He has made long strides to free the parish of the debt which prevents the building of a parish school.
Southbridge is one of our towns which is a standing answer to the oft expressed fear of "foreign control," by which a great many mean Catholic control. Columbus did not arrive here soon enough to save us from the charge of being foreigners ! The French Catholic element is dominant in Southbridge public life, and South- bridge has the reputation of being one of our best governed communities.
N EARBY, in Fiskdale, in the township of Sturbridge, is a peculiar arrangement which has an historical origin in Southbridge. Both St. Mary's and Notre Dame had missions in Fiskdale. Each built a mission church. When Fiskdale be- came a parish in 1886 under Rev. Jules Graton.
each group maintained its own place of wor- ship, and so the present pastor of Fiskdale has two churches, one English speaking and one French speaking, almost around the corner from each other. These two churches have known the zealous services of Fathers L'Heureux, Clements, St. Onge, Gagnon, Roy, Guillet, and Marceau. The English speaking church is St. Patrick's. The French speaking church is St. Ann's, in which is the far famed shrine of Mary's mother. In seasonable weather. St. Ann's is the goal of many pilgrimages and wonderful cures have been re- ported, though none has yet been declared miraculous by church authorities. The present pastor is Rev. J. A. Jacques, a man of deep piety, especially gifted along musical and artistic lines.
W ITH the establishment of Charlton as all independent parochial unit, in 1900, under Rev. John J. Bell, Southbridge lost its last mis- sion. The mission title was Sacred Heart, but when Father Bell dedicated his new church in
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St. Joseph's Altar, Notre Dame, Southbridge. One of four beautiful chapel altars.
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1904, the title became St. Joseph's. Father Bell built church and rectory and left the little parish in good financial condition. The parish then was in charge of Fathers Welch, Hussey and Boyne. During the incumbency of Father Boyne the church was destroyed by fire in 1924. As Charl- ton was not a growing community, but rather one suffering from the exodus of its people to cities, Bishop O'Leary authorized Father Boyne to seek help throughout the diocese, and much financial assistance was thus obtained. The result was a more beautiful St. Joseph's, with modern heating and lighting, and a debt which is not beyond the ability of the parish to handle. The present pastor is Rev. Harry J. Hackett, who, in his first pas- torate, is certain to display the zealous solicitude for his Master's interests which characterized him as assistant.
A NEW center of missionary activities for the Brookfields was created when St. Joseph's, of North Brookfield, was established in 1867. Father Fitton certainly said Mass there before 1839 and afterwards Catholicity in the Brookfields received the spiritual care of Worcester, Spring- field, Webster and Ware, whose tireless mission- aries must have almost lived in the saddle. The first resident pastor was Rev. Edward Turpin, who found the present parish church already con- structed by Father Moran, of Ware. Though there was much anti-Catholic feeling in those days, and threats of bodily violence to the early priests were not unknown, the kindly offices of liberal Prot- estants assisted the early Catholics in procuring land for church and cemetery. In the fall of 1871, Father Michael Walsh became pastor and re- mained in North Brookfield until his death in 1885. He was a real man of God, of whom it was said that, in those trying days, no one ever saw
O. E. Nault, Architect
him in bad humor. Charitable and generous, he was nevertheless careful of the parish patrimony, and cleared St. Joseph's of debt.
His successor, Rev. James P. Tuite, purchased the present site of rectory and school, and opened parochial schools in 1888, under the Sisters of Mercy, who were later succeeded by the Sisters of St. Joseph. An unfortunate division marred the closing years of Father Tuite, but the breach was largely healed by his successor, Father H. J. Wren. It is now merely a page of unpleasant history. Father Edward Judge was pastor for a short time, and on his death, the present pastor, Rev. James H. Mc- Gillicuddy, J.C.D., replaced him. Father McGilli- cuddy has proven an able, energetic and wise administrator of parish temporalities, and a con- scientious spiritual director of his flock. He has enlarged and beautified the parish cemetery, reno- vated the church and purchased land adjacent to the school, on which he plans to erect a more sightly house of God, to replace the one which has done service since the sixties of the last century. In the days of war, he was an indefatigable or- ganizer of war relief, and did much to cement a feeling of solidarity among neighbors of all creeds, as evidenced by his recent election to the local school board.
TATURALLY, all the Brookfields fell to the jurisdiction of St. Joseph's, North Brook- field, and so remained until the separation of St. Mary's, Brookfield, in 1885, to which East Brook- field and West Brookfield became missions. This status still obtains. Fathers Foley and Grace were the first pastors, but served brief periods. In 1889, Rev. Michael J. Murphy became pastor of Brook- field and remained until his death, twenty-eight years later.
The Brookfield church, St. Mary's, is a historic structure. For twenty-five years, on another site, it served the Presbyterians. It was then purchased by Father Moran, of Ware, and after a long quest of a new location, was removed to its present place. Father Murphy had the church thoroughly renovated, added a rich wood interior, purchased an old school building which he doubled in size and remodelled into St. John's Church in East Brookfield, and erected the striking mission church on the Boston Post Road in West Brookfield. His successor was Rev. Daniel Devine, J.C.D., who had scarcely completed plans for extensive re-
Assumption School, Millbury. Rev. J. M. Marceau, Pastor. Sisters of The Assumption in charge.
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pairs, and for liquidating the heavy debt on all the churches, when death called him. His early sum- mons to lay down life's burden caused deep regret, as he was a man generally loved and re- spected. His successor was Rev. Patrick F. Doyle, Ph.D., who remained for nine years, during which he cleared all the churches of their mortgages. renovated and beautified them all, and left the parish financially solvent, with a substantial "nest egg" for East Brookfield's new church. The pres- ent pastor is Rev. James A. Dunphy, who went to Brookfield from Belchertown, where he organized a new parish and, at his competent hands, Brook- field's spiritual and temporal needs are meeting able treatment.
W ARREN, where the parish of St. Paul's was founded, in 1872, had services as early as 1838 by Father Fitton. Subsequently, it was cared for by Father Meigneault, of Webster, Father Dougherty, of Springfield, and finally became a mission of Ware, when Father Gagnier established the French speaking parish there. He purchased a granary, remodelled it for divine worship, and, in 1872, St. Paul's became a separate parish under Father A. Romano, who remained for four years. For the next sixteen years, Rev. D. Moyes was pastor. He purchased land for future needs, and was preparing to build when he was succeeded by Rev. John F. Madden, later Vicar General of our diocese, and Rev. D. F. McGillicuddy, whose pas- torate was brief. Rev. John F. Leonard purchased the site of the present church and used a house on the same property as rectory. He immediately began the erection of the sightly St. Paul's Church, located on a prominent elevation above the town and on the Boston turnpike. Church and basement were completed by Rev. John P. McCaughan, and the present commodious and beautiful rectory was purchased by his successor, Rev. John F. Boland. Fortunately, the new rectory is most spacious, and enabled the present pastor, Rev. George J. Hurley, to install the diocesan headquarters of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, of which Bishop O'Leary made him diocesan director. Father Hurley, formerly a member of our diocesan Mission Band, and a man of deep piety and fervor, has proven a most successful administrator, both in parochial and mission activities.
St. Paul's Church and Rec- tory, Warren. Rev. George J. Hurley, Pastor.
TINTIL 1893. the people of West Warren
attended St. Paul's in Warren, but, in that year, the parish of St. Thomas was made a separate unit. with Rev. Humphrey J. Wren as pastor. Mass had been said and the church had been built by Father Gagnier. of Ware, in West Warren's days as a Ware mission. Extensive repairs were made by Father Moyes, of Warren. In 1899, Father Wren was succeeded by Rev. Phileas Trottier, under whom the parish schools were built and opened. West Warren is entirely dependent upon the mills, and hence has had its ups and downs, with business prosperity and adversity. Subsequent pastors, Fathers McGillicuddy, Frechette, Roi and Cho- quette, did yeoman service in reducing a relatively heavy indebtedness and maintaining the parish property in good repair. The present pastor is Rev. J. B. Messier, appointed to replace Rev. W. J. Choquette on the latter's promotion to Springfield.
Warren's third Catholic congregation is the Polish group of St. Stanislaus, which entered our parish ranks in 1913 under Rev. Valerian Fligier. He remained from January to September of that year. His successors were Fathers Lekston. Feresz and Zaszczynski, the first of whom pro- cured the present site of the church property on the Boston Post Road, and the last of whom added the neat home for the parish clergy. The present pastor is Rev. Julius Jaworek, who arrived in 1928 from Hadley, where he founded a new parish for the Polish people of that historic center.
Chickering and O'Connell, Architects
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G ILBERTVILLE, although in Worcester County, is connected rather with Ware in its early Catholic reminiscences. As a mission, it was in charge of Ware. The first Mass, in 1867, was said by Father Healy, of Ware. Its present church was designed and built by Father Gagnier, of Ware. Its parish school was opened by Father Sheehan, of Ware, who, for fourteen years after his appointment to Mt. Carmel, Ware, conducted Catholic services in the neighboring town, and, in his pastoral fervor, opened the Catholic schools while Gilbertville was still a mission.
Father Grace became resident pastor in 1894, and added a presbytery to the parish buildings. Under Father Hickey, the Wheelwright mission of St. Augustine's was transferred to Barre and South Barre became a mission of Gilbertville. A neat mission church was erected, to prepare it for its parochial status. Rev. James P. Kirby, who passed nearly fourteen years at St. Aloysius, con- structed a modern convent for the teaching Sisters, so that, today, St. Aloysius parish has church, school, hall, convent and rectory, and its mortgage burden is well nigh negligible. The present rector, Rev. John E. Doherty, is in his first pastorate, but his well known zeal and linguistic ability show that once again Gilbertville is fortunate in its shepherd.
TN 1920 South Barre became a parish, under the title of St. Thomas, with Rev. John T. Casey in charge. He added a pretty rectory, graded the parish grounds, molded a flock, largely Italian, into a united and enthusiastic group which began to take genuine pride in its church devotions. The present pastor. Rev. William H. O'Malley, one of three brothers in our diocesan clergy, has carried on the work so well begun. St. Thomas has won merited praise for the excellence of its liturgical music. Father O'Malley's earnest labors, espe- cially among the young, are bearing fruit in in- creased church attendance, and augur well for the future of South Barre.
Two more towns which were attended by Father Meigneault from Webster were Leicester and Oxford. Leicester had previously been cared for by Worcester, whose Father Gibson said its first Mass as early as 1846, and people were present from as far away as Rutland. Dis- tance meant nothing to these early Catholics, whether priests or people, when it was a question of assisting at the Divine Sacrifice. Then the
Jesuit Fathers of Holy Cross came to Father Meigneault's assistance, that he might have more time for other missions. The first church was St. Polycarp's, in which Mass was said in 1855. It is interesting to note that St. Polycarp's was built of timber from the old church at Grafton, and, when St. Polycarp's was dismantled to make way for the present St. Joseph's, the timbers were passed on to build St. Aloysius' at Rochdale. The new St. Joseph's, erected under the auspices of the Fathers at Holy Cross College, was dedicated in 1869, and both Leicester and Rochdale were attended from the college at Worcester until the late Rev. David F. McGrath became first pastor in 1880. He built the rectory, and purchased and graded the extensive church grounds which occupy so conspicuous a place on the hill top between Cherry Valley and Leicester Centre. He removed every penny of the parish indebtedness before his promotion to Holyoke.
In the early days, non-Catholics of Leicester were sympathetic and generous to their Catholic neighbors. One of them, Mrs. John E. Russell, during the pastoral stay of Rev. John C. Redican, was the donor of the cemetery land and the beauti- ful Celtic cross which looks down lovingly upon this last resting place of St. Joseph's faithful. St. Joseph's, today, has a modern school and convent, erected by the late loved and lovable Rev. John M. Kenny, who died as pastor of St. Ann's in Worcester. His successor at Leicester, Rev. William C. McCaughan, LL.D., also succeeded him at Worcester. The present pastor, Rev. John J. O'Malley, who built the beautiful parish church of Amherst, before going to Leicester, is making rapid progress in relieving St. Joseph's of its parish indebtedness, while maintaining the parish property in excellent material condition. He is an affable, kindly shepherd of his people, and certain of their openhanded co-operation in furthering his plans for their welfare.
R OCHDALE is one of the towns visited by Father Fitton, where, apparently, he offered Mass for Catholic railroad workers as early as 1835. The church was erected from the lumber obtained from old St. Polycarp's Church in Leicester. The Jesuits from Worcester were in charge until Leicester became a parish, and then Father McGrath took Rochdale as his mission. He remodelled St. Aloysius, and Leicester continued
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to care for the neighboring mission until its transfer to Oxford in 1891. In November of the year 1904. it became an independent parish, of which Rev. C. A. Sullivan, now Monsignor Sullivan, of Springfield, was the first pastor. He added a suit- able rectory to the parish property, which was kept in good condition, and the spiritual needs of the then thriving village were cared for subse- quently by Fathers Ahern, McDonnell and Kelly. The present pastor is Rev. Jeremiah J. McCarthy, young and eloquent, and assuming his first parochial responsibility. Under him, Rochdale is assured of the best spiritual and material care. The longest pastorate was that of the late Rev. M. A. Kelly, whose pleasant, attractive personality won him friends among all classes in this un- usually united community.
O XFORD, where Father Meigneault, of Web- ster, said the first Mass, in 1855, remained a part of the Webster parish until the formation of St. Roch's Parish, in 1886. The Church of St. Roch was constructed in 1856, under Father Meigneault's supervision, and the first edifice. renovated and enlarged, still stands, though Father Quan moved it from its original position to its present site. Father Charles Boylan, the first pastor, and his successors, added modern improve- ments, so that church and rectory today meet the demands of a thriving parish. In 1895, Rev. Patrick F. Hafey became pastor of Oxford and built St. Ann's Church, North Oxford, which has now become his parish church, in the recent divi- sion of the Oxford flock. Thus Father Hafey has been in Oxford for over thirty-five years, a stal- wart leader of his people, instant and tireless in their service. For years, he also had charge of St. Aloysius' mission at Rochdale. When that became a separate congregation, he relinquished the serv- ices of an assistant, and cared for St. Roch's and St. Ann's for a quarter of a century. In 1926, he built a sightly rectory on the church grounds in North Oxford, and became pastor of what had been his mission. Father Hafey's record in Oxford is one of unselfish, self-sacrificing service, in which no task was too trivial, no sick call too long, and no storm too forbidding for his energy and priestly fervor.
On Father Hafey's accepting of North Oxford, Rev. John B. Farrell became pastor of St. Roch's. where he observed the twenty-fifth anniversary of
St. Joseph's Church, Charlton. Rcv. Harry J. Hackett, Pastor.
his ordination amid festivities which reflected a people's appreciation of his first years of labor among them. Quiet, genial and efficient, Father Farrell has already done much to improve the church property and win his parishioners to in- creased fidelity in their attendance at divine service.
THE town of Auburn, adjoining both Worces- ter and Oxford, was cared for by both at various periods. The mission church was built by Rev. Thomas Griffin, of St. John's, in 1869. Auburn's last days as a mission were spent under the spiritual care of St. Peter's, during Father D. H. O'Neil's time. In 1907, St. Joseph's was elevated to the status of a parish, and Rev. John P. Phelan, a curate at St. Peter's, took charge. He erected a spacious and well appointed rectory, which be- came the headquarters of our diocesan mission- aries. On Father Phelan's promotion to Whitins- ville. the mission leader. Rev. James P. Moore. added the pastorate of St. Joseph's to his other duties, and retained it until the dissolution of the apostolate. He proved an able, sympathetic shep- herd, and an efficient financial manager. His ad- ministration closed with a large balance on the right side of the ledger as a preparation for a school. The present pastor, Rev. John J. Keating, a former curate of St. Joseph's, has continued here the good work done in his earlier pastorate at Shel- burne Falls. He is especially interested in the young of his flock, in whose instruction he spares neither time nor labor. Earnest and kindly, he wins and retains the esteem of any community in which he labors.
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