A Brief History of St. Mary in Brookfield and Sacred Heart of Jesus in West Brookfield, merged on November 21, 2011 into Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish

~ by Rev. David B. Galonek, Forrmer Pastor ~

The establishment of the Catholic Community in the Brookfields appears to have followed the building of the Western Railroad.

Irish laborers working on the railroads followed the rails west, and other nationalities that were primarily Catholic arrived seeking work. The Brookfields were a mission of Webster under Fr. Levecque. He was followed by Fr. Migault, then Fr. James Quan.

Before Churches were built, many priests traveled through this area and offered Mass in the open air fields, like Fr. James Fitton. Often, the Catholic laity, like Miss Anna O’Day, opened their homes for Mass, or they gathered in rented public buildings.

About 1865, the mission to the Brookfields became the responsibility of Ware, under Fr. Patrick Healy, and later Fr. William Moran. Fr. Moran bought the rebuilt Unitarian Church that had already been moved twice, and in 1885, moved it once more to its current site on Howard Street in Brookfield where it is now St.Mary Church.

In 1891, more extensive repairs were made on the Church; and then, in our own time, from 2000 to the present, more repairs were made. However the frame joists, roof rafters, floor boards and some of the walls have survived since 1717!

The sacrifice of the Mass in West Brookfield was probably celebrated first in the 1830s when the railroad brought in Irish immigrants and later French Canadians. Land was bought for a church in 1863. On May 30,1890 the building was dedicated in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Bishop O’Reilly of Springfield, and on the same day Sacred Heart Cemetery was consecrated.

In 1889, Fr. Michael J. Murphy became the first pastor of St. Mary Parish in Brookfield, The mother Church to the Missions of Sacred Heart in West Brookfield and St. John the Baptist in East Brookfield.

On June 1, 1950 Sacred Heart had its first resident pastor, Fr. Michael F. Shea, and the church separated from St. Mary’s. That same year Worcester became a Diocese, and Most Rev. John J. Wright became our first Bishop.

In more recent years, some of the priests to serve at Sacred Heart Church included Fr. Harold Griffin, Fr. J. B. Kelley, Fr. Thomas Connellan, Fr. Mochak , Fr. John Zamarkey, and the beloved, Fr. Paul Dugan, for whom the hall beneath Sacred Heart is named. Still well remembered are Fr. Jack Kelly, Msgr. Tom Sullivan, and Fr. Henry Donoghue.

At St. Mary's were Fr. Walter Mara, Fr. Robert P. Poulin, Fr. James P. Kerrigan, Fr. Eugene Berthiaume, and, of course our own Fr. William O’Brien, who tends to us all. And finally, we remember my two predecessors, Fr. Peter Shea at Sacred Heart and Fr. John Hillier at St. Mary’s.

There are countless parishioners, women, men, teens, and children, who, over the years have contributed greatly of their time, talent, and treasure to form and maintain these two parishes. Some of their names are engraved on plaques or on windows, but many, many more did their works of charity quietly, visible only to God.

Our ancestors in the Old Testament and those in the New Testament, as well as the founders and sustainers of our parishes, each played a special part in God’s plan for his people and our salvation.