CHAPTER XIV ST. ROSE OF LUNA CHURCH Catholicism in Northborough dates back to 1843. Two years before that date Cornelius MacManniman brought his family from Ireland and took up his residence in the east part of the town, on what is now the Thomas H. Blair estate. The one-story cottage house in which he lived is still standing, though now it is two stories high. It was raised a few years ago and another story built under it: Mr. MacManniman's son repeatedly told the author that his father's family was the first Irish family to live in this town. This was undoubtedly true; but there were individual Irishmen living here long before the MacMannimans came. One such lived here as far back as 1799, he having come here with Stephen Williams in that year. Mr. MacManniman was a devout Catholic, as was also his wife. In 1843 there were a few more of that faith living in the town; enough in fact, for the holding of mass. And in June of that year the Catholic mass was said for the first time in Northborough, in the kitchen of the MacManniman home. Thereafter mass was said there at more or less regular intervals until early in the sixties, when the Catholics had become so numerous that a private house was not large enough to accommodate them. During the seventeen years or more that services were held in the MacManniman home the spiritual needs of the Catholics were ministered to by priests from Marlborough-Fathers Conlen, Gouesse and McGuire. The following early Catholics are known to have attended services in the above-mentioned home, and may be considered, therefore, the pioneers of the present Catholic Church: Mr. and Mrs. Richard Aylward Miss Ellen Daley Mr. and Mrs. William Ellsworth Mr. and Mrs. Morris Fitts Mr. and Mrs. John Gilson Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Griffin Mr. and Mrs. Walter Gorman Mr. and Mrs. James King Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius MacManniman Miss Ellen McManis Mr. and Mrs. John Mooney Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Mooney Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Morrissey Miss Bridget Murray Mr. and Mrs. John Ryan Mr. and Mrs. Michael Sullivan Mr. and Mrs. Teahn Mr. and Mrs. Charles Tenney The Catholic church, like the three Protestant churches, had small beginnings; and, like them, again, their first services were held in private houses. The MacMannimans are known to have walked to Worcester frequently (ten miles) on Sunday mornings in order to attend five o'clock mass. Others put themselves to the expense of hiring teams to take them to Worcester for the same early mass. Still others journeyed to Westborough and to Marlborough. It is such devotion to their religion as this that made the present Catholic church a possibility, and which makes all Catholics proud of their history. Mass was also said for a while at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Ryan (a small house that stood on the corner of Hudson and River Streets, the site now occupied by the Whittaker and Bacon Mill). Father Donovan officiated there. In the meantime, Catholics were growing in numbers, and for a while worshipped in the old town hall. Upon the completion of the new town hall in 1868 they occupied the eastern end of the third story of that building, until it was condemned as unsafe, when they moved into the western end. It was in the eastern end of this upper hall where Father McGuire prepared the first class of children for confirmation-the confirmation itself taking place in the old Marlborough church. The Westborough priests who ministered to the religious needs of the Northborough Catholics were Fathers Donovan, Egan, Cronan, Anderson, Kittredge, Peurcel and Burke. Up to this time this small movement was known as a Catholic mission. But in 1886 the movement had grown to such proportions that the mission was made a parish, and the Rev. James McCloskey was placed over it as its first priest. THE CHURCH BUILDING The present church edifice was erected in 1883, and the following program was rendered at its dedication: Blessing of the building: Rt. Rev. P. F. O'Reilly, D. D., Bishop of Springfield. Celebrant of mass: Rev. Michael H. Kittredge. Preacher: Rev. James Boyle. Patrick Ford of Boston was the architect. Rev. Richard S. J. Burke, rector of Westborough and Northborough, directed the building of the church. The church has steadily grown in membership until now it comprises nearly five hundred souls. Rev. James A. Hurley, S.T.L., the present priest, has been settled here since July 4, 1912. LIST OF PRIESTS Father James McCloskey Father James Galvin Father Dwyer Father Levi J. Achim Father Thomas P. Smith |