Service of Music and Memories

The Archdiocese of Boston has at this time, rescinded the closing date of Sacred Heart Church. What started as an Irish Wake because of our closing on November 21 is now a celebration of our 75 plus years of vibrant parish life. We welcome all past parishioners and the town of Lexington to join us on Friday, November 19th, at 7:30 for a service of “Music and Memories”.  Come here the stories that make our experiences unique, music by Lisa Screeton, Tom Fallon, Ken Meltz and friends. Join with us as we speak of the many “memories” of our church and bring your own stories to be shared over refreshments following the service.  Show your support of your neighbors, friends and acquaintances in this long up hill journey to a vital part of the Lexington experience.

SACRED HEART PARISH... 1931-Present

John Mahoney

Even before the formal establishment of Sacred Heart Church as a parish in 1931, Catholics in East Lexington attended Sunday Mass at a local fire station as a mission of St. Brigid's, the first Catholic parish in Lexington. Its founding came at a time of great national economic crises, yet the faith and resiliency of the 206 families provided a unique source of strength.

1949 saw a period of great development of the physical facilities of the parish - the completion of the structure of the church, the building of the attractive parish center which continues to be a facility of major importance to the many parish activities, and the establishment of the parish rectory at its present location on 21 Follen Road.

1967 marked a period of notable further development. In the spirit of Vatican II, Sacred Heart developed a Parish Council, involved the laity in all phases of parish life through well-organized, thoroughly professional, and dedicated ministries, joined the vital ecumenical movement of the time through the Lexington Council of Churches, established links with the inner-city parish of St. John / St. Hugh, developed programs in liturgy and music with professional directors, and met a generation of spirited young deacons.

The staff of Sacred Heart set a tone of thoughtful, caring Catholicism, gathered people of many and varying talents and temperaments, and called on parishioners to bear Christian witness in and out of season. For many, Sacred Heart represented a good example of the contemporary church, and its boundaries expanded to include men and women from many sections of the greater Boston area.

Since 1986, the parish has had several leaders and several styles of leadership, and the period has not been without tensions and anxieties. Yet, one fact remained clear, and that was a firm parish commitment to the traditions of the church in a contemporary setting. It is committed to a strong and engaging Catholicism, a modern liturgy, and an educated laity. Father Colletti is the present pastor of Sacred Heart. He had served as a curate in

both Sacred Heart and Saint Brigid's parishes twenty years before, and was well known to a good many in the community. A caring priest and a sound administrator, Father Colletti had built an impressive staff of pastoral associate, director of music, religious education director, and youth minister. A fine choir, solid religious education programs for both young people and adults developed nicely. And the tradition of Parish Council and Finance Council continue with great vigor and impressive vision.

No congregation is without some disagreements and tensions, but there exists at Sacred Heart a community of Christian love and caring with excellent liturgy, good music, and wide lay participation. One notable feature in recent years has been the development of Small Faith Groups - regular gatherings of ten to twelve men and women to pray, to discuss, to share the spiritual and social dimensions of their lives.

We hope to be a lively and authentic Catholic Christian community in this new century.

BRICKS. MORTAR. PEOPLE...1848 - 2004

Beginnings of Catholicism in Lexington

Lexington's colonial heritage was mainly Protestant and English. The potato famines of the 1840's in Ireland brought the first wave of immigrants to America, setting in the larger cities along the eastern seaboard. So many Irish were pouring into the city that public charities were unable to care for them.

The advent of the railroad provided a partial outlet. Irish immigrants began to spill out into the hinterland seeking employment. It was in the 1840's that these expatriates first came to Lexington to work on the railroad. They settled close to the rail line and the "Irish Village" or Woburn Street, was born. The pitiful little knapsacks contained their sole earthly possessions. The greatest gift they brought with them could not be contained in those satchels. It was the gift of "Faith." But there were no churches awaiting them in the rural Yankee villages. They would have to build them. This is then the backdrop for the history of the Catholic Church in Lexington, which has essentially been written in two parishes: Saint. Brigid's, the "Mother Church" and its "Mission Church," Sacred Heart.

Saint Brigid's (Saint Bridgets - note the old spelling), The Mother Church If Saint Brigid's were to have a birth date, it would have to be 1848 for the quotation from The Catholic Church of New England, read as follows: "Lexington was made a mission of Saint Peter's Church, Cambridge, in 1848. Previous to that time, there were but a few Catholics in the town; in fact, John Cody, who lives at present on Concord Hill, places the number of people who would gather to assist at Mass offered every six weeks, at about twelve." Father Manasses P. Dougherty would assemble them in the houses around Concord Hill. Tradition has it that the first Mass in Lexington was celebrated at number 2318 Massachusetts Avenue, on the comer of Nickerson Road. The cobblestone foundation house still exits there, today.

The first official recording of a date when a Mass was said in Lexington is furnished in the ledger of the Town Treasurer under the date of March 5, 1852. He records this entry: "Rent of Town Hall to the Catholics, $7.00." Father Dougherty continued to come from Saint Peter's. In 1854 a shift was made to Robinson Hall, that portion of the building over the former Maunder's Meat Market and now present jewelry and eye vision stores - 1762 Massachusetts Avenue. One reason given for the change was that the rent was less than $7.00 charged by the Town. This naturally was a consideration, since the number of the congregation was small and their means scanty. Another source furnishes another explanation, the disinclination of the Town Fathers to use the Town Hall for religious services.

In August of 1864, Father P.J. Canny came from Saint Joseph's Church in Boston to take up residence in a house on the comer of Curve Street and Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington's first rectory. Bishop John B. Fitzpatrick of Boston had appointed him, as the first designated pastor of Catholics in the towns of Lexington, Concord and Maynard. The same bishop then purchased the church of the first Universalist Society (later Village Hall and standing on the site of the present East Lexington Fire Station). The deed, dated November 6, 1864, provided " a wooden edifice for the area Catholics" The purchase price was $1,734.50. At that time, there were no more than twenty-five Catholics in Lexington proper and even fewer in the East Village. However, ten years later it was decided that the East Lexington Church was too small and inconvenient and that a church "more centrally located" would better serve the needs of the Lexington parishioners. Bishop Williams consequently sold to the "Inhabitants of the Town of Lexington" the East Lexington church, the deed being dated March 23, 1874. The Town used the building as a fire station; but Mass continued to be celebrated on the second floor of the old firehouse as late as 1929. It was demolished in 1950 to make way for the present fire station.

The Lexington Minute-man, August 2, 1873, makes note of the purchase of the Davis Estate on Monument Street (now Massachusetts Avenue) for $6,000 cash by the Catholics. This former tavern was refurbished and served temporarily as a church on the present site of Saint Brigid's, with the first Mass of record being in October 1873. The Lexington Minute-man, November 27, 1875, ran a fourteen lines article stating: "The cornerstone of the new Catholic Church (finished as far as the basement and covered with a roof) was laid with appropriate ceremonies on Thanksgiving morning. The Right Reverend Archbishop Williams of Boston officiated.....". Thus the permanent location of the first Catholic church in Lexington was set; but it would not be until 1886 that Saint Brigid would be officially established as a parish. Sacred Heart, The Mission Church of Saint Brigid's If Sacred Heart were to have a birth date, then it would have to be 1917 when Monsignor Edward F. Hurley of Saint Brigid's, being a man of great vision, realized that the day would come when the East Village would require a church of its own.

Consequently, when the situation presented itself, he acquired the land for the site of the future Sacred Heart Church near the corner of Follen Road and Pleasant Street. However, it was not until the arrival of Father William J. McCarthy in 1923 who realizing the limitations of the East Lexington Mission, started the drive to raise money for the new Sacred Heart Church in the East Village. In August of 1929, construction was finally begun on a red brick 20th century revival French gothic structure. Its location is adjacent to a small strip of land called Robbins Park, that has some historical significance of its own.

On April 19, 1775, the British laid hold of Ben Wellington, the first armed captive in the American Revolution on their march from Boston. Today a granite monument marks the spot of Wellington's capture. It is also symbolic in that the parishioners to-be found themselves quite as embattled as the Minutemen forebears had been. The Great Depression struck and the cost of the new church became an awesome burden, with the extraordinary amount of blasting needed to remove the ever-present ledge. Yet the structure went up and its interior remained unfinished for years, but pews were installed on the bare concrete floors and the parishioners of the Village at last had a church they could call their own. Father McCarthy took the senior Choir from Saint Brigid's down with him to sing the midnight High Mass on December 24, 1929. Thus, the first Midnight Mass of record in Lexington was celebrated, not in the Mother Church, but in the East Mission.

Nowadays to turn seventy, is to be considered - a mature youngest among ones peers; but in seventy years our parish has experienced much history and now on our seventy anniversary it is a time to remember - it is a time to celebrate of things past - for truly it is a time to share those memories and stories that began within its very walls on November 18, 1931, when Cardinal O'Connell celebrated Mass and called Sacred Heart to become a parish. If we could envision that Mass, many of us would be surprised to hear the choir singing from the loft over the Church's side entrance on Pollen Road. It is now sealed off. Also you would not see the magnificent beamed ceilings, for they were not added until the late 1940's along with the side columns to serve as internal "flying buttresses" to support weakened and buckling church walls caused by the structural load of the roof. Parishioner John McAleer, in his 40'" anniversary history of the parish described the interior of the church in 1931, as an austere and bleak "cattle-shed." We have come a long way in these past seventy years.

Beyond the Architecture

The sustaining "architecture" of any parish church is not defined by its mere physical structure, nor by the bricks and mortar that form its worship space. Rather, the parish's true sustaining "architecture" is defined by the community of its people called by God, to gather, to celebrate with each other in their spiritual development as individuals and as family, both within its own local parish church boundaries and its global dimension as part of the Universal Church. As such a parish is more than bricks and mortar - it is a community in the pursuit of God, some times serious, some times humorous. Once there was a serious clash between our spiritual community and the Town of Lexington's community, when Good Friday was to fall on April 19, 1955 (Patriot's Day) at a time when that patriotic holiday was observed on the actual, day of its occurrence and not transferred to the closest Monday, as it is today. Monsignor. Francis Murphy, our pastor then, gave stern warnings to the parishioners of Sacred Heart, not to partake in any of the festivities, the parade or other commemorations of Patriot's day - on one of the holiest of holy days - the death of our Lord. What a conflict for our parishioners in such a historic Town! Shall they pay tribute to God, or tribute to Caesar! However, God works in mysterious ways, for on the night of April 18, the Spirit of the Lord descended upon Lexington with a severe spring snowstorm, depositing eight inches of snow - causing the parade to be cancelled and the Town celebrations to be moved to the following Monday (a harbinger of future observances). Good Friday, an in-moveable feast, was celebrated devotedly without incident at Sacred Heart Church.

Monsignor Murphy was not only assisted by God through the manifestation of nature; but also by an ecumenical spirit of other Christians in Lexington during his pastorate. During the fifties, decorations for the Church at Christmas time were expensive and difficult to obtain especially Christmas trees. However, Tom Sullivan, the beloved Sexton and gardener of the church from its earliest beginnings until his retirement in the late eighties was very friendly with the owners of Wilson Farms, across the way on Pleasant Street. The fact that Tom emigrated from County Kerry, Southern Ireland (Catholic territory) and the Wilsons from County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland (Protestant territory) did not impede this friendship. It must have been the mutual Irish love of the land, - its earth and its bounty - that transcended the ancestral centuries of religious differences. As Christmas Eve would approach, Tom would tell Monsignor Murphy that he and his sons would go up "North" and cut some evergreen trees for the Sanctuary to dispel the gloominess of a bare altar space. The truth was that the Wilsons would give Tom, as many as he needed, the unsold Christmas trees from their farm stand operation just before closing on Christmas Eve. For the record, Monsignor Murphy never realized that it was "Protestant" Christmas trees that decorated the church at Christmas-tide. This "secret" was finally revealed in June, 1993 by Alan Wilson on the occasion and dedication of both a maple tree and bench in Robbins Park to Tom Sullivan, the "Mayor of East Lexington." Tom passed away later that year. Many parishioners also remember the famous "warm and argumentative" exchanges between Father McCabe and Tom on landscaping issues for the grounds of the church. Putting aside the appropriateness of planting, it is worth noting the appropriateness of the commemoration to these two .men on sites adjacent to each other - the Father McCabe Garden Terrace and Tom's tree and bench in Robbins Park below. As Sacred Heart continues as a vibrant parish, it has been retold, individually and collectively, some of the people and incidents that shaped and contributed to that "architectural fabric," which makes us an unique parish and to enable all parishioners - past, present and future - to rejoice in the spirit of this parish which is peace, the miracle of this parish which is hope, and the heart of this parish which is love. Michael J. 0'Sullivan

As we continue our journey beyond the 70th Anniversary, may our experience be as the disciples on the road to Emmaus: They pressed Jesus to stay with them...

So He went in with them... He took the bread and said the blessing then he broke it and handed it to them.

Then their eyes were opened...and they recognized Jesus...and they said, did not ours hearts burn within us as he talked to us on our journey?

(Luke 24:30-32)