History of St. Mary's Church (Dedham, Massachusetts)

[1][2][3] Eleven of them resettled in Dedham, and though the town and the Massachusetts Bay colony were both officially Congregationalist, they were allowed to reside here as "French neutrals"[4] until they returned to Canada in 1760.

[6] The first few Catholics who lived in Dedham would have to travel 16 miles to St. Joseph's in Roxbury, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Franklin Street in Boston, or to St. Mary's in Waltham to attend Mass.

[9] For the next three years Slattery's 17-year-old brother-in-law, John Doggett, would bring Father James Strain from Waltham and back to minister to the needs of the small congregation.

[9] This, plus the flood of Irish immigrants escaping the Great Famine necessitated holding Mass in the Temperance Hall, often by Father Patrick O'Beirne.

[2] Ordained for less than a decade, the 33-year-old O'Beirne had charge of the Catholics in Dedham, Norwood, Randolph, Holliston, Walpole, and Needham, as well as Roxbury.

Nickerson, a Protestant who had business in Boston, had paid off the parish's $800 debt, allowing the congregation to commence work on a new building.

[33] Williams blessed the cornerstone and the place where the foundation was to be poured, as well as the white cross that marked the location of the future altar.

[29] A week before the cornerstone ceremony, on October 10, 1880, a building used as a bath by male parishioners of St. Raphael's in East Dedham was torn down in order to be used as a staging ground for the construction of the new church.

[40] Construction began on June 28, 1880,[40] and in 1883 The Dedham Transcript wrote that "The plastering of the new catholic church is nearly finished, the windows put in place, and everything betokens an early occupancy of the basement.

[4] After 20 years of working, praying, and fundraising from the meager immigrant wages of many of the parishioners, the Upper Church was finally completed.

[42] In his homily, which the Boston Globe published, Bradley said that Today, my beloved brethren, like unto Solomon on the occasion of the dedication of the Great Temple of Jerusalem, your zealous Pastor proclaims that you have built a house in God's name ... To you has been reserved the privilege of offering to God a house as worthy of His Name as this beautiful structure in which we are assembled this morning.

[42] The footprint of the Gothic church,[39] which Father Johnson said was to be a "cathedral in the wilderness,"[43][41] measures 150' long by 65' wide, and the bell tower is 164' tall.

[45] There are four large doorways facing High Street, and granite buttresses give the church "an appearance of strength and solidarity.

[50] Despite being made by different companies, the windows all have similar scales, color ranges, and placement of figures, creating the appearance of a cohesive whole.

[10] The semicircular apse had stained glass windows showing, from left to right, St. Patrick, St. Peter, the Assumption of Mary, St. Paul and St.

[31] Fundraisers, including a "grand coffee party" in Memorial Hall, were held for years to come to pay for the edifice and drew people not only from Dedham, but from many surrounding communities.

[10] In 1901, an unusual double marriage ceremony took place where two sisters, Frances and Mary Curtis, married two men during a single mass.

[57] Charles Logue, who built numerous churches in the Greater Boston area as well as Fenway Park, died in the arms of his son while inspecting the roof of St. Mary's in 1919.

[10] The construction began in the spring 1963, was finished the summer of the following year, and had stained glass windows in the chapel depicting Jesus and Mary.

[66] It was a sign of the mutual affection between Banks and the parish that his funeral was held at St. Mary's, and not at the Jesuits' Campion Center, as would be typical for a member of his religious order.

[3] After consulting with the Parish and Finance Councils and holding a parish-wide Town Hall Meeting in the spring of 2014, Pastor William Kelly proposed repainting the interior of the Upper Church for the first time in over 25 years.

As reasons for undertaking the project Kelly cited the need to maintain the physical structure of the church, the upcoming 150th anniversary of the parish, long-term planning and the collaborative process by which St. Mary's and nearby St. Susana's would come under a single pastor, and beauty in itself being "a fundamental element for our human, spiritual and intellectual happiness.

[69] The donations and pledges made were insufficient, however, so the plans were scaled back, a loan was taken out to cover the remainder, and a second collection was instituted once a month.

[3][1][4][8] The flood of Irish immigrants escaping the Great Famine necessitated holding Mass in the Temperance Hall, often O’Beirne often presiding.

[96] Fleming was a supporter of the temperance movement[97] and served as vice president of the Massachusetts Catholic Total Abstinence Union.

[96] While at St. James, he was sued by the parents of Lizzie Gordon, a teenage girl who claimed to have visions of the Virgin Mary and her dead brother.

[98] After 20 years of working, praying, and fundraising from the meager immigrant wages of many of the parishioners, the upper church was finished during his pastorate.

Due to the growth of the Catholic population, about 200 parishioners in East Dedham were reassigned in January 1878 to Father Richard Barry's care in the Germantown Association's Chapel (St. Theresa's Church[20]) in West Roxbury.

[122] Dedicated by Archbishop Williams,[26] St. Raphael's sat about 400 people,[122] and in 1880 they added a hall for the amusement of young men at a cost of $8,000.

[26] A petition was presented to Archbishop Williams asking him to reunite the parishes, and proposing to transform the chapel that had been erected into a school.