Parishes in Millbury to be officially merged

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

The two Catholic parishes in Millbury are to be merged, with both churches to remain open, according to a decree from Bishop McManus.

St. Brigid and Our Lady of the Assumption parishes are to form a new parish called Saint Brigid and Our Lady of the Assumption on Sept. 1. The assets and liabilities of both parishes are to be merged into this new parish, which will have guardianship of their sacramental records.

Most parishioners favor merging, a suggestion that isn’t new, according to Father Daniel R. Mulcahy Jr., pastor of both parishes since July 2014.

His predecessor, Father Paul M. LaPalme, St. Brigid’s pastor, became pastor of both parishes after Assumption’s pastor retired in 2012. The two parishes have been sharing everything – staff, the religious education program, the choir, liturgies, social gatherings , etc. – using both campuses, the decree says. Only finances weren’t shared.

During Father LaPalme’s time the finance council, made up of representatives from both parishes, recommended merging, Father Mulcahy said. That is the consultative board; there is no parish council, he said.

Merging would be practical and pastoral, Father Mulcahy figured. He said having two budgets and sets of books didn’t make sense and led to unhealthy competition.

He talked with a diocesan representative about merging several years ago, and 2 ½ years ago decided to “push” for it, he said. He brought it up from the pulpit and in Sunday bulletins.

He said he got permission from the diocese to move forward with merging if parishioners were open to it. Diocesan pastoral planning representatives “did a marvelous job” conducting a meeting on each campus, drawing 80 to 100 people each time.

“People were overwhelmingly in favor” of merging, Father Mulcahy said. “Most people thought it had already been done.” Even “the naysayers were pretty polite.”

A proposal for merging was made, since Assumption can “no longer function as a stand-alone parish, supporting a pastor and staff financially,” according to the decree.

“Within this proposal, there is no plan to close either of the churches nor to sell any of the six buildings” the decree says. There are two churches, one rectory, one parish office building (St. Brigid’s former rectory), the parish school (Assumption Elementary) and the former convent, now called Mary’s House.

The merger will not affect the school or change much else, said Father Mulcahy, noting that he wanted to keep both parishes’ names.

“All we’re doing is going back to our roots,” he said, noting that there was one parish in Millbury years ago.

“Because of this merger, Our Lady of the Assumption Parish will cease to be a personal parish for French-speaking Catholics,” the decree says. There will be one new parish.
Assumption, which came out of St. Brigid’s, was established as a parish on April 20, 1884.

But before either parish was established, Masses were celebrated in Millbury. Father James Fitton, who served in Hartford, Connecticut, and in Western Massachusetts, celebrated Mass in Millbury in 1833, according to histories printed in The Catholic Free Press.

After moving to St. John’s (first called Christ Church) in 1834, he occasionally celebrated Mass in Millbury, according to Father John J. McCoy’s “History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Springfield,” published in 1900.

After Father Matthew Gibson became pastor, in 1845, he regularly celebrated Mass in the town hall in Millbury. When there was no Sunday Mass there, Catholics walked to St. John’s or to the College of the Holy Cross.

In 1846 Father Gibson reported that there were about 200 Catholics in factories in Millbury. That year a French priest, Father Zepherin Lévesque, was sent to St. John’s to care for Canadian families, who numbered about 130 in Worcester and the vicinity, Father McCoy wrote.

In June 1850, Millbury Catholics held a public meeting and decided to build a church. Father Gibson began construction in October 1850 on land donated by Michael Coogan, and celebrated the first Mass there on Christmas.

Bishop John B. Fitzpatrick of Boston appointed Father Lévesque pastor of the new parish on Oct. 1, 1851 and dedicated St. Brigid’s Church the next day, Father McCoy wrote.

Busy with missionary work, Father Lévesque didn’t take up permanent residence in town. Due to the shortage of priests, St. Brigid’s became a mission of St. Mary Parish in Uxbridge on Sept. 20, 1853, and later a mission of St. Anne Parish in Worcester.

On June 30, 1869, St. Brigid became a parish again, this time under Father Michael Doherty.
“Then a few people in the French community wanted their own priest,” Father Mulcahy said.

“The bishop, with great sadness,” since he didn’t want to split the parish, granted their request, he said.

Father Joseph A. Charland of Canada celebrated the first Mass for French-Canadians in the town hall on April 20, 1884, according to Father McCoy and a 1959 Catholic Free Press article.

In 1886 Father Charland and the people built Our Lady of the Assumption Church. The first Mass was celebrated there in October 1886, and the church was blessed in November. After Father Charland was appointed, there were 1,350 parishioners.