USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Metropolitan Boston; a modern history; Volume V > Part 18
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at West Roxbury, and since that time he has been vigorously building up the various or- ganizations of the parish, making extensive building plans, and organizing a second fife and drum corps.
When Father McNamara came to West Rox- bury, there was a Holy Name parish, but it owned no church or rectory. The first place of worship was in a store on McGraw Street. Later the congregation hired the Bellevue Theatre, in which they are still (1929) wor- shiping. In 1927 the present church property on Centre Street and the Parkway was pur- chased by Father McNamara and also the fine old colonial house formerly used as a home for many years by the famous Unitarian divine, Rev. Theodore Parker, and later by some twenty-eight other clergymen, many of them noted. This is now the rectory of Holy Name parish and the center of its many activities. The house contains eleven rooms, and has spacious lawns, a part of which will be used as the site of the plain but beautiful church which will soon be completed, providing seat- ing for about one thousand worshipers. Ground was broken by Father McNamara for this new edifice, on April 14, 1929, in the presence of many dignitaries, the pastor giving an ad- dress of welcome, and briefly outlined the progress of the parish during his pastorate. A new impetus has been given to the various societies connected with the parish, and new organizations have been formed since the com- ing of Father McNamara. Besides the Holy Name Society and the other usual church or- ganizations, there is a dramatic club of about one hundred members known as the Holy Name Players, which presents two plays a year. There is also an athletic association for men, a St. Basil's Club, which assists in keeping up the activities of the parish, and a St. Vincent de Paul Society, which looks after the needy of the parish. There is a Sunday school with an enrollment of about six hundred children, and at the present time (1929) the parish of Holy Name includes about four thou- sand souls.
With this promising field of labor and his well tested ability there is little doubt that
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the arduous task of building will be carried to completion by Father McNamara. The courage, strength, and ability for the task are his in full measure, and it is confidently believed by his superiors that the work as- signed to him will be carried out in the best manner possible.
He is assisted in his work by the Rev. Charles Bryson, who first saw service in Co- hasset, also Rev. Charles Riley, formerly con- nected with the church in Scituate; and on Sundays one of the Brothers of the Jesuit order also acts as an assistant.
REV. JOHN A. DEGAN-More than thir- teen years of able and faithful work as pastor of the Star of the Sea Church at Beverly, Mas- sachusetts, have greatly endeared Rev. John A. Degan to the people of his parish and have won for him the respect of the citizens of Beverly.
The history of the Star of the Sea Church goes back to 1870. Prior to that time the pio- neers of the faith in Beverly attended services in Salem, but in that year Rev. John Delahunty, of the Immaculate Conception Church, pur- chased a meeting-house for their use and re- modelled it in the usual manner. The building was dedicated by Vicar-General Lyndon, and in 1871 Beverly, Massachusetts, was made a separate parish, with Rev. Thomas H. Shahan, previously of Taunton, as the first pastor. Man- chester and Ipswich were added to the terri- tory under Father Shahan's jurisdiction and he promptly started a church in each of these towns and acquired land for a parochial resi- dence. In 1875 he was succeeded by Rev. James M. Kiely, and at this time the church property is on record as having been freed from debt. Father Keily built a rectory on Essex Street, and in 1878 was succeeded by Rev. W. J. J. Denvir. Father Denvir was in frail health and the task of attending three churches, one in Beverly, one in Manchester,
and one in Ipswich, proved so exhausting that his death in 1885 is believed to have been hast- ened by his too arduous labors. Rev. William H. Ryan, the next pastor, was a man of splendid health and abounding energy, and he at once set to work improving the church property. He thoroughly renovated the church, and in 1887 built a unique and charming chapel at Beverly Farms. He also removed the priests' house to Cabot Street, and in 1889 suggested the separation of Ipswich as an independent parish. After the appointment of Father Ryan as permanent rector at Newburyport, in 1893, Rev. Francis J. Curran, a native of Randolph, Massachusetts, who had served as assistant for several years at Malden, became pastor of the Star of the Sea Church. Under his vigor- ous administration the church property was greatly improved and the charitable and relig- ious organizations greatly strengthened. Two chapels, St. Margaret's at Beverly Farms and the Sacred Heart Chapel at Manchester-by-the- Sea, were attended by the pastor and by his assistants, Rev. John F. Kellener and Rev. E. T. McKenna. In 1897 came disaster in the form of a fire which destroyed the church building. The parish rallied their strength to meet the difficulties of rebuilding, and by 1899 the base- ment of a new and much more imposing church edifice was finished and ready for service. This lower church has a seating capacity of about nine hundred and was used as the place of wor- ship until 1907, when the upper church was completed. The pews of the upper church are of a rich, dark wood, and provide seating for about 1,100 people. The interior is very im- pressive. A dark walnut wainscoting extends from the floor to a height of some six feet above the seats, and makes a rich background for the furnishings. There are five altars in the upper church, a very large and beautiful one in the center and one on each side, all located in the transept, also one on each side of the main body of the church, to the right and left of the transept. Three doors give entrance to the church, and on the right and left as one enters are magnificent memorial windows typifying the life of Christ, depicting the three wise men,
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INTERIOR OF ST. EDWARD'S CHURCH
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the presentation of the child in the Temple, the carpenter shop of Joseph, the flight into Egypt, Jesus in the Temple answering the doctors, Christ blessing little children, and the marriage feast at Cana. Besides all of these there are two very large windows, one representing the assumption of the Blessed Virgin, with the twelve apostles beneath, and the other the coro- nation of the Blessed Virgin. The material and the workmanship of all the windows are of the highest quality. The details in the faces and the robes are most exquisite in de- sign and coloring, and the magnificence of the robes is in entire harmony with the general atmosphere of the church and with the rich- ness of the designs of the windows. In work- manship, in these respects, probably no finer church is to be found in the New England States. In the rear of the choir loft a win- dow in the center represents St. Cecelia, one on the left depicts David, and one on the right represents St. Gregory. The beautiful organ was built by Hook & Hastings, and is one of the finest toned outside of Boston. It has five banks of keys. The fourteen stations of the cross around the walls have recently been dec- orated by Father Degan, and tipped with gold. The roof of the church is supported by five arches resting on ten pillars.
Rev. John A. Degan was born in Salem, Massachusetts, December 27, 1866, and re- ceived his education in the local public schools, in Boston College, and in St. John's Seminary. After his graduation from the Seminary he was ordained a priest in Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston, by Archbishop Williams, March 20, 1892, and was assigned to St. Gregory's Church in Dorchester, where he served as a curate for eighteen years. He was then made a pastor and was assigned the task of opening a new church and organizing the parish of St. Colombo, now known as St. Rica in Pawtucketville, a section of Lowell. Five years later he was appointed pastor of St. Monica's Church, at South Boston, but after a short time he was again transferred, this time to his present charge as pastor of Star of the Sea Church, at Beverly, where
he took charge in April, 1916. In September, 1924, he began the erection of a beautiful new school building containing sixteen rooms. He opened the school with two grades in Septem- ber, 1925, and each year since he has added one grade, until at the present time, 1929, the school has an enrollment of about three hundred pupils, who are taught by seven Sisters of Notre Dame. Recently, Father Degan completed a new con- vent which provides accommodation for ten Sisters. For more than thirteen years Father Degan has been working steadily for the ad- vancement of the various interests of the par- ish, and both in temporal and spiritual affairs the church has prospered. There are the usual sodalities and societies, including a ladies' sodal- ity, the Holy Name Society for men, St. Vin- cent de Paul, to care for the needy of the parish, St. Mary's Guild, for women, and Father Degan is chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, also of Bass River Court, Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters. There is an organization of Foresters for the women, the Daughters of Isa- bella, and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Father Degan is assisted in the work of the parish by two curates.
REV. T. F. BRANNAN-The fine new St. Edward's Church, with its advantageous and attractive setting on East Main Street, Brock- ton, stands as a monument to the genius, in- spiration and artistic temperament of the pas- tor, Rev. T. F. Brannan. This architectural triumph adequately provides the spiritual cen- ter of a growing congregation in the midst of a populous community, and it is of the type and on a site that arrests the attention and compels the admiration of travelers from Boston to the Cape, as well as of the worshippers and towns- people.
Brockton people in general as well as the parishioners of St. Edward's can but admire the zeal and enthusiasm of the priest that entered
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in the beginning and were sustained through the completion of this noble edifice. From many quarters the pastor has received words of cor- dial commendation and congratulation upon the successful execution of happily conceived and well-laid plans for the needs of his people in a house of worship, which for beauty and dignity of design, exterior and interior deco- rations and furnishings is second to none in Brockton and her sister cities of Eastern Mas- sachusetts.
A brief history of the inception and develop- ment of Rev. T. F. Brannan's charge, leading up to the building of the new St. Edward's, is apropos. St. Edward's was set apart as a dis- tinct parish, July 1, 1897. Rev. Edward McClure, then pastor of the mother church, St. Patrick's, observing the growth of the population and size of Brockton, decided upon a plan for dividing the old parish, and for the erection of what was then called a combination of school and chapel. In 1902, Rev. D. J. Herlihy succeeded Father McClure, and the new pastor made additions to the church property in land and founded a fund for the new church. In 1909, Father Herlihy died without having had the pleasure of seeing his plans brought to fruition. In that year, Father Dolan, afterwards of Lynn, was ap- pointed his successor, and had plans drawn for a church without basement, but before he was enabled to put them into execution, he was transferred to Lynn.
Rev. T. F. Brannan, the present pastor of St. Edward's, succeeded Father Dolan. Upon being installed as the spiritual director of the parish with a strong faith in the potentialities that lay in the progress and growth of Brock- ton as a city, with an ever-increasing Catholic population, a goodly proportion of which is resident in the parish of St. Edward's, he de- cided Father Dolan's plans not sufficiently com- prehensive to accommodate the parish's future, and he concluded to build a larger church upon more expensive lines, in harmony and commen- surate with the expansion movement under way in the city of Brockton. The result has been that not only have the wants of the people been accommodated, but the edifice is a public mon-
ument to the community and all those who are brought within its range of view.
The new St. Edward's rears its lofty and im- posing spires in surroundings that are ideal for a house of worship. The eye of the beholder is arrested and held by the artistically beautiful and dignified lines and general ensemble of the structure. The entrance to the edifice is by three handsome doors of unique design. The worshiper, once within the portals, is entranced by the vista of the center aisle made by the magnificent marble altar, artistically carved, and flanked on either side by a smaller altar. Above and back of the main altar is an elabo- rate painting from one of the old masters. The grandeur of the interior is further emphasized by the magnificent west window as one faces the rear of the church from the altar. The aisle ends of the pews which are of oak are carved in a neat and appropriate design. On the sides are to be seen thirteen memorial windows, while at the rear of the altar and on its right and left sides three other windows of memorial character admit the light in colorful rays.
The choir loft, with a seating capacity for some seventy-five singers, is made complete by one of the richest-toned organs, made by Moller, of Hagerstown, Maryland. At the rear of the organ loft are three other windows of a type and a tone all their own and still in general keeping with the atmosphere of the interior of the church. Twelve massive arches support the roof of the edifice, giving the effect of a cathe- dral ceiling. Upholding the arches and carrying the basilica idea to the floor are twelve huge pillars, and as the eye follows their graceful lines upward it catches the light infiltrated through smaller windows as many in number as the arches upon which they look down.
Fourteen stations of the cross form the points of pilgrimage of the devout along the walls. Turning again to the choir loft, there is to be seen a great central window of most ex- quisite design and coloring, said to be one of the finest of its kind, as to subjects and workman- ship, in all New England. This central window is, in fact, a grouping of three windows, whose elements of beauty and detail, enchant the be-
A
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holder and well-nigh baffle description. The main theme of this splendid ornamental feature of the church depicts the Saviour making his ascension into Heaven, a subject at once thought compelling and tending to holding the communi- cant in a worshipful attitude and a devout frame of mind. This magnificent window was made by Connick, after he assisted in the restoration of the windows of the Cathedral at Rheims. The church has a seating capacity of eleven hundred people. The number of souls in St. Edward's parish is about fifty-eight hundred, so it will be readily perceived the several services in succession must be held in the edifice to accommodate the total number of communi- cants.
The lower church will seat about nine hundred persons. Within are three altars, a fine organ and choir loft, and this edifice is used for daily worship and evening meetings. It fits in nicely with the present needs of the parish, and is an additional demonstration of the wisdom, fore- sight and pastoral efficiency of Father Brannan, who is making such a fine accounting of his stewardship.
REV. JOHN M. CHMIELINSKI-Boston, like other large cities of the United States, has received into its population a constant though changing stream of peoples from Europe. At all times there has been some immigration swelling the numbers of those who dwell in the "Hub" city. From time to time, the inflow from the lands across the sea has been greatly augmented by especially large numbers of some one nationality, immigrants who, because of certain conditions, economic, religious, or social, in the homeland, have sought release from burdensome restrictions and handicaps by pour- ing into America, the Land of Opportunity. For more than half a century Italians coming from all parts of Italy, including both Geno-
ese and Neapolitans, have been locating in Bos- ton, and as early as 1874 there was a Mission Chapel on Prince Street, in the North End, conducted for Italians by two members of the Franciscan Order. The Italian colony grew rapidly, and eventually, the North Square Meth- odist Chapel, known as Father Taylor's Bethel, was purchased, remodelled, and in 1910 dedi- cated as the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Meantime, the Poles, too, had been com- ing to Boston, though not in such large num- bers as the Italians, and were settling in South Boston. The time came when they, too, ear- nestly desired to have a church of their own, and their opportunity came when Rev. John M. Chmielinski, a native of Russian Poland, was sent from Piacenza, Italy, to join the Congre- gation of St. Charles, in charge of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, on North Square.
Rev. John M. Chmielinski was born in Ma- siak, a province of Russian Poland, November 13, 1870, and received his academic education in the national schools of the city of Plock, Russian Poland. When his course there was finished, he went to Piacenza, Italy. He was admitted to Holy Orders in 1892, and came to this country that same year. In 1893 his fel- low countrymen in South Boston, knowing of his presence in the city, determined, if possible, to have 'a church of their own, with Father Chmielinski as pastor. Accordingly, they went to Archbishop Williams for permission. Their request was granted, and the new congregation lost no time in raising money for the building of a church edifice. A place of worship was erected on land extending from Boston Street to Dorchester Avenue, and Father Chmielinski was installed as rector. As there was only one other priest of Polish nationailty in New Eng- land, Father Chmielinski was given jurisdiction over all the territory extending from South Boston to Providence, and while devoting his energies to the care of the new parish and church, which was dedicated as the Church of Our Lady of Czenstochowa, on Boston Street, South Boston, he also had oversight of the Polish Catholics throughout the extensive dis-
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trict allotted to him. At the time Father Chmielinski came here, there were no buildings whatever devoted to religious uses and there were less than one hundred and fifty people of Polish nationality. The present Church of Our Lady of Czenstochowa seats seven hun- dred people, and about five thousand souls are included in the parish. In 1900 the rectory was built, and in 1914 a beautiful school building was erected which accommodates more than nine hundred children, who are under the care of twelve Sisters. A convent on the opposite side of the street from the Church provides accommodation for thirty Sisters, and all of the buildings included in the parish group are of the latest and of the best in design and workmanship, forming a beautiful and fitting monument to the tireless energy and the un- flagging devotion of Father Chmielinski.
The buildings are but a small part of the work accomplished by this devoted shepherd of his flock, however. Spiritually, the parish has grown greatly, and as the years have passed the great, sparsely-settled territory al- lotted to Father Chmielinski, extending from South Boston to Providence, has also grown and prospered, so far as the work of the Church is concerned, and four parishes have been set off from the parish of Our Lady of Czenstoch- owa, namely, one in Cambridge, one in Hyde Park, one in Chelsea, and one in Boston. The influence of the work of Father Chmielinski has been effective for good in the lives of all the Catholic Poles in the city of Boston, and his name is held in great reverence among his fellow-countrymen. As the years pass and the work of the Catholic Church grows among the residents of Boston of Polish nationality and of Polish descent, it is fitting that a permanent memorial of the work of Father Chmielinski should be made in order that builders of later years may appreciate the labors and the spirit of devotion which laid the foundations of the successful church life of the Catholic Poles of the present city of Boston. Father Chmiel- inski is assisted in the work of the parish. of Our Lady of Czenstochowa by two priests.
REV. EDMUND T. SHANAHAN-During the past eight years the Sacred Heart Church, Mt. Auburn, Massachusetts, has had as its pas- tor the Rev. Edmund T. Shanahan. The Sacred Heart Parish was founded in 1895, in which year Rev. Thomas Coughlan was appointed as its first pastor. He at once set about the work of building a suitable church edifice, which in due time was completed, but in 1912 the build- ing was destroyed by fire. Father Coughlan was, however, undismayed by this catastrophe, and set about the work of rebuilding with such energy and determination that within four months the congregation was worshipping in a new and better church building. He continued to minister to the parish until the time of his death, December 2, 1920, when he was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. Edmund F. Shana- han. He was reared in this part of the State, and became a student in Boston College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1888. Later he studied abroad, and in 1893 he was graduated and ordained a priest at the American College, at Rome. This was followed by two years of further study in the University of Louvain, Belgium, where he finished his course with graduation in 1895. Upon his return to this country he was appointed a professor of philosophy in the Catholic University of Wash- ington, where he remained for a period of twenty-five years, teaching philosophy during the first twelve years and serving as a pro- fessor of theology during the remaining thir- teen years. In December, 1920, after the death of Father Coughlan, he came to the Sacred Heart Church, as pastor, and here he has been carrying forward a very successful work. The interior of the church has been entirely re- modelled and redecorated under his supervision. He also changed the vestry, and put the whole structure in the best of repair. The church seats about eleven hundred, and the member- ship of the parish totals about 4,500 souls. Father Shanahan organized the Mt. Auburn Catholic Women's Club, which now (1928) has a membership of more than three hundred; he has also organized a number of men's clubs.
Reb. Edmund T. Shanahan
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He has taken a very special interest in boys, and Sacred Heart Parish now has a splendid brass band, composed of fifty pieces, played by boys ranging from twelve to fourteen years of age. There is also a splendid summer camp, and Father Shanahan and his two assistants take the deepest and most enthusiastic inter- est in planning for the work among the boys of the parish. It is needless to say that this interest is warmly reciprocated and that the boys of Sacred Heart Parish are making the most of the opportunities placed in their way.
Eight years of faithful ministry have endeared Father Shanahan to the members of his par- ish and have brought to the church much of growth and development.
REV. ALBERTO MATTEUCCI-Five
years of successful work as pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, at East Boston, have endeared Rev. Alberto Matteucci to his parishioners and have won for him the respect of the neighborhood in which he serves. Father Matteucci is of Italian birth and educa- tion, but his service as a priest has been wholly in this country, where he has been located in Mount Vernon, New York, and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has been pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel since November, 1923.
Rev. Alberto Matteucci was born in Italy in 1898, received his early and preparatory edu- cation in the parochial schools there, and then prepared for the service of the Church, gradu- ating from college in his native land. When his education was completed he left Italy and came to this country, locating first in New York City, where he remained for a period of five months. At the end of that time he took charge of Della Madonna Church, at Mount Vernon, New York, May 24, 1908. At this
time the congregation of that parish was hold- ing services in the basement of the church, but Rev. Matteucci set about the task of build- ing the upper church, which he completed and it was consecrated by Bishop Thomas Cusack in 1910, a little more than two years after Father Matteucci took charge. For one year after the completion of the upper church he remained in Mount Vernon, and then was transferred to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1911, as assistant at St. Peter's Church, where he remained for a period of seven years, serv- ing during the last three years as pastor. St. Peter's is a large church and at the time Father Matteucci was pastor had a school large enough to require the services of twenty Sisters as teachers. From 1911 to November, 1923, Father Matteucci gave most devoted service to St. Peter's church and parish, and then came to East Boston as pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
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