|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Mass Schedule |
| Vigil Saturday 4:00 PM |
| Sundays 8:00 and 10:00 AM Noon and 5:00 PM |
| Sundays Children's Liturgy 10:00 AM |
| Weekdays (Mon-Sat) 8:00 AM |
Very Rev. Kevin J. O'Leary, V.F.
Rev. Joseph Li
Rev. Mark W. O'Connell
Rev. Daniel Harrington, S.J.
Rev. James Keenan, S.J.
Rev. Thomas J. Massaro, S.J.
______________________________
The Irish immigration of the 1830's and 40's brought the Roman Catholic faith to Cambridge. At first there were few families, with men working in factories, women employed as domestics, and children in varied work activities. Soon the immigrants overwhelmed the natives, with over a thousand Irish living in Cambridge in 1840. The name of Manasses Dougherty dominates the expansion of Catholicism in this area for the next thirty years. Seeing the necessity for a church in the western part of Cambridge, he built Saint Peter Parish on Concord Avenue in 1848. Out of Saint Peter Parish, the Mother Church of several parishes, Father Dougherty built so many churches that he received the sobriquet Founder of Churches. The original parish limits extended over much of the northwest metropolitan area including Belmont, Lincoln, Lexington, Bedford, Medford, Malden, and Somerville west of Dane Street. The continuing arrival and integration of immigrants was not easy. What was perceived as an Irish flood completely changed the landscape of those who had known the village of Old Cambridge. Paddy Jokes appeared in some newspapers and differences between natives and foreign-born were obvious. The energetic pioneer priest, Father Dougherty started his fund drive for Saint Peter Parish in January, 1848, by celebrating Mass in Lyceum Hall (the site of the present Coop) and appealing for subscriptions for the new building on Concord Avenue--the Pilot reported that sixteen thousand dollars were raised. Bishop Fitzpatrick officiated at the laying of Saint Peter Parish cornerstone in July, 1848. The Dougherty memorial tablets in the vestibule of Saint Peter Parish remember this remarkable missionary priest whose funeral in 1877 drew over three thousand mourners. We stand on the shoulders of our strong Catholic Tradition, continuing to be a vibrant faith filled community witnessing to Christ with our lives.
The material used in this history is excerpted in part from The Catholics of Harvard Square by Jeffrey Wills (1993) and is used with the kind permission of the publisher, St. Bede's Publications, Petersham, Mass.