St. Brigid’s ChurchA Guide to Its Unique Windows

Lexington, Massachusetts

Welcome to Saint Brigid Church

For over a century this has been a place where people came to be baptized, confess their sins, hear the word of God, be confirmed in the Spirit, receive the Body and Blood of Christ and bury their beloved dead.

This place has been dedicated and consecrated and made sacred by the living of unnumbered lives—by the hopes and dreams, the laughter and tears, the accomplishments and defeats of women and men whose names we may not know but whose lives are built into this place and to whose names we add our own.

Listen and perhaps, you will hear the voices of those who have dedicated this place by the living of their lives, the words of their mouths, the deeds of their years. Perhaps you will hear the voices of the many priest and deacons who have preached here.

Perhaps you will hear the laughter of children, the voices raised up in song, the weeping of those mourning the loss of a loved one or the loss of a dream. Listen to all the voices of those who have gone before us.

It is left to us to rededicate ourselves to the vision that those generations have sought to incarnate here-a vision of a people dedicated to the Lord and his mission in the world.

Here, in this place, we renew our faith in God who called us into being, who sustains us in being, who transforms us as we cannot transform ourselves and who, one day, will welcome us to the new and eternal home.

In that same faith may we move forward, not knowing what is up ahead but filled with excitement and fresh energy to move together as the Lord leads us.

May God bless you on your journey of faith.

Rev. Arnold F. Colletti

Pastor

Photography of the Windows - Christopher PetersonAdditional Photography - Jane Foti ChristiansenResearched and Written by Rev. Arnold F. CollettiLayout and Design - Jane Foti Christiansen owner and operator of: plane jane graphic design & foTees Design and Screen Print www.janefoti.com

Special Thanks

The present colonial church of St. Brigid opened its doors in 1957. It replaced the original Gothic Church which was begun in 1875 as a permanent church structure in place of a temporary building which was in use since 1873. Previous to this time, Mass was celebrated in private homes and even in the Town Hall.

The Catholic population of Lexington was quite small in the 1840’s and the first Mass was celebrated about 1848 in a private home. Gradually, the number of Catholics increased and so there was need for a proper church building. The Church of 1875 was a basement church and the super-structure (the upper church) was not finished until 1891. It was a large wooden Church–quite large for the size of the Parish but built with great optimism about the future.

Brief History of St. Brigid’s.....................................................................1 - 3The Descent of the Holy Spirit..............................................................4 & 5Vision of Constantine............................................................................6 & 7The Landing of Christopher Columbus................................................8 & 9The North American Martyrs.............................................................10 & 11First Mass in Maryland......................................................................12 & 13Jacques Marquette.............................................................................14 & 15Junipero Serra....................................................................................16 & 17Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus......................................................18 & 19Blessed Virgin Mary Patroness of America.......................................20 & 21Nuns Helping the Wounded.................................................................22 & 23Mary Knoll, the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America..........24 & 25American System of Catholic Schools..................................................26 & 27The Organ of St. Brigid’s Church..................................................................28

The original church unfortunately deteriorated badly and the need for a new church became quite evident. In 1955, the fund-raising drive began and the new church was completed in 1957. The architect was Chester F. Wright, A.I.A. a renowned Boston Architect, who designed a red brick Georgian colonial church, which corresponded well to the history of Lexington.

Of great interest to all who enter the Church, are the 12 main windows. They are quite different from the stained glass windows in most catholic churches. They are monochromatic with no vivid colors. They were produced by the Terrence O’Duggan Studios in Boston and they depict the history of Catholicity in the United States. Beginning on the right as one faces the Sanctuary: the first window depicts the First Pentecost and the beginning of Christianity; the second window portrays its emergence as a world religion through the decree of the Emperor Constantine. Eventually, as we follow the windows, it came to America with Columbus and to the United States with Lord Baltimore of Maryland; into the Northern United States with Fr. Jogues and the North American Martyrs and

down the Mississippi with Pere Marquette and to the West and Southwest with Fra Junipero Serra. On the left, from the back of the church, we see Bishop John Cheverus, the first Bishop of Boston; the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patroness of the United States; Nuns helping the wounded in the Civil War; the First American Foreign Mission Society (Maryknoll) and the American Catholic System of Education.

The Reredos, behind the Altar, features a hand-carved Crucifixion scene rendered by a local artist Archangelo

Cascieri, well-renowned for his artistic ability. The two paintings on either side of the Sanctuary were done by a Rockport artist, Hester Dignan. There are differing opinions as to their artistic merit: the one on the left depicts Mary the Mother of Jesus destroying evil as illustrated by the snake by bringing Jesus into the World. The painting on the right, portrays St. Joseph and Jesus and the brick structure on which they are working symbolizes the new St. Brigid Church.

The organ is of interest since much of it is the original Hook and Hastings organ from the first church. It is not completely authentic since some parts have been replaced.

In the sanctuary, the altar to the left is where the tabernacle is located. The tabernacle is where the Blessed Sacrament, the Eucharist, is reserved. The burning sanctuary lamp signifies the real presence of Christ in the tabernacle. The Baptismal Font is the place of Baptism and it is moved, when Baptisms occur, to a central place in the sanctuary. The large candle is the Paschal (Easter) candle, a reminder of Christ’s victory over death and symbolizes the new life of Baptism. The main altar is the central feature of the sanctuary, where the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered. On the altar, to the right, the Bible is displayed emphasizing the role of the Bible in the knowledge and spiritual growth of Christians.

Holy Water fonts are located at the doors of the Church. Catholics bless themselves with Holy Water as a reminder of the saving waters of Baptism.

The tenth day after the Ascension of Jesus Christ was the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Christ. It was the Jew’s great feast of Pentecost, which commemorated the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.

All the apostles, the Mother of God, the other Disciples of Christ and other of the faithful were all together in one room in Jerusalem. It was the third hour of the day by the Hebrew reckoning of hours, according to our system—nine o’clock in the morning. Suddenly a sound came from Heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting. There descended on them tongues that looked like fire, which rested on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak languages previously unknown to them. Thus the Holy Spirit, according to the promise of the Savior, ascended on the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire as a sign of the power to cleanse sins and to sanctify and warm souls.

From the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Christian faith quickly began to spread, with the help of that same Spirit, and the number of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ multiplied. Instructed by the Holy Spirit, the Apostles preached boldly to all about Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection.

At first, the Apostles preached to the Jews and then dispersed to various countries to preach to all people making disciples of all who were baptized. This gift of the Holy Spirit is considered the birth of the Church.

The Descent of theHoly Ghost

Three generals claimed to be emperor of Rome and in the year 312 Constantine marched against Maxentius, who controlled the city of Rome. The two armies met at the Tiber River just outside the city in the famous battle of Milvian Bridge, before which Constantine is said to have a vision promising him victory—a cross in the sky with the words “in this sign you shall conquer”.

What sort of omen Constantine received is a matter of dispute. Eusebius says that Constantine saw a vision in the sky; Lactantius says it was a dream. Both agree that the omen informed Constantine that he would conquer under the sign of Christ (Greek: en touto nika; Latin: in hoc signo vinces).

Eusebius wrote: “Being convinced that he needed some more powerful aid than his military forces could afford him…he sought Divine assistance, deeming the possession of arms and the numerous soldiery of secondary importance, but believing the co-operating power of Deity invincible and not to be shaken. He considered, therefore, on what God he might rely for protection and assistance. While he was praying with fervent entreaty, a most marvelous sign appeared to him from heaven…night came suddenly on; then in his sleep the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign which he had seen in the heavens, and commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which he had seen in the heavens, and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies.”

Constantine was directed, in a dream, to cause the heavenly sign to be delineated on the shields of his soldiers, and so to proceed to battle. He did as he had been commanded, and he marked on their shields the letter X, with a perpendicular line drawn through it and turned around thus at the top (p), being a cipher of CHRISTOS. Having this sign, his troops stood to arms.

In his victory Constantine wondered how he was to unite the empire. Realizing that Christianity was not tied to any particular nation or culture he promoted Christianity.

The Vision of Constantine

The Landing of ColumbusChristopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa and died in

1506. He went to sea at an early age and navigated all parts of the Mediterranean and some of the coasts beyond the Straits of Gibraltar. He gradually came to the conclusion that there were unknown lands belonging to Eastern Asia separated from Europe by the Atlantic. While the Portuguese were seeking to reach India by a south-east course around Africa he was convinced that there must be a shorter route by the west. To find that route he sought assistance first in Genoa and then to Portugal and finally finding help with Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain who agreed to equip and man three vessels for a voyage of discovery.

On the 12th of October 1493 he landed on the island of Guanahani. Columbus wrote in his log: At dawn we saw naked people, and I went ashore in the ship’s boat...I unfurled the royal banner and the captains brought the flags which displayed a large green cross with the letters “F” (Ferdinand) and “Y” (Isabella) at the left side of the cross…To this I gave the name San Salvador, in honor of our Blessed Lord.”

He believed this to belonged to Eastern Asia and to be connected with India—a belief which he carried with him to his grave. Hence the mistaken name of Indians applied to the natives of America and that of West Indies applied to the group of islands of which Guanahani forms one.

On landing, Christopher Columbus threw himself upon his knees and kissed the earth, returning thanks to God. Drawing his sword, planted the royal standard, and in the name of his sovereigns took possession of the country, which, in memory of his preservation, he called San Salvador. He then sailed in search of other lands, and discovered Cuba, Santa Domingo, and some other of the West India islands. Being so far successful, he built a fort at Hispaniola, Haiti, left some of his men there, and set out on his return to Europe, where he was received with almost royal honors.

The discovery of America was made possible by the apostolic zeal of Isabella I, the Catholic Queen of Spain. After several centuries; the Moors were finally driven out of Spain in the year 1491; 1492 came on the heels of seven centuries of martyrdom. The discovery was inspired by the Catholic vision of the Franciscans in Spain, without whom Columbus could never have been able to undertake his voyage to what became the new world.

The North American MartyrsFather John De Brebeuf, a giant of a man in stature and in

holiness, was destined by God to be the impetus, the strength and the inspiration of the new Jesuit mission efforts in America. He was born March 25, 1593 at Conde, France. He was ordained a Jesuit in 1622 and in 1625 he was the youngest of three Jesuit priests sent to a settlement not far from Quebec. He went to the Hurons near Lake Ontario. He stayed with the Hurons for three years and became an accepted member of the tribe. In 1629 the English took over the French territory and sent the missionaries back to France. In 1633 John and Father Anthony Daniel went to the Hurons. In 1636 two other Jesuits arrived—Charles Garnier and Isaac Jogues.

The missionaries taught, and baptized the dying and worked hard to support themselves. They were accused over and over of bringing on the influenza epidemics. The Fathers, knowing that any display of fear on their part would be a sign of guilt, went about their duties in the village as if no serious dangers existed. “We are perhaps upon the point of shedding our blood and of sacrificing our lives in the service of our good Master, Jesus Christ” Brebeuf was to write to his Superior at Quebec in October 28, 1637.

In September, 1639 another epidemic arose in the midst of the suffering Huron nation. This time it was the dreadful smallpox. Isaac Jogues led a party of five Frenchmen and eighteen Huron to Quebec for supplies. On their return—along with a Jesuit novice named Rene Goupil—they were captured by the Mohawks. All were tortured and brought to Ossernenon (now Auriesville, New York). Rene and all the others in the party were killed. After another thirteen months the Dutch helped Isaac to escape back to France. He stayed only three months, however, and wanted to return to his Indians. It was June, 1644 when he arrived at Quebec. Now joined by a novice, John De Lalande, he was sent by the governor and the Jesuit Superior to make peace with the Mohawks. They were captured by a Mohawk war party, both were tomahawked and beheaded. In June 1648, Father Anthony Daniel was killed by the Senecas. In January 1649 Father Gabriel Lalemant and John de Brebeuf were captured by the Iroquios and painfully tortured. All the while they prayed for their captors and cried out “Jesus, have mercy on us.” At this time Charles Garnier and Noel Chabanel, laboring among the Petun Tribe, were murdered. From September 29, 1642 up to December 8, 1649 eight Jesuits died a martyr’s death and the blood of martyrs became the seed of faith.

Father Andrew White was born in England and went to school in England, Spain and France. He became a Jesuit priest. Catholic priests were not allowed to live or work in England at that time. Father White secretly came to England many times to visit his Catholic friends. Finally, he got a job working for Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore. Cecil Calvert needed Father White’s help to find Catholic families to settle in the new colony, Maryland. Father White wanted the Jesuits to establish a Catholic mission in the Maryland colony. He thought that the Jesuits could convert the Native Americans to the Catholic faith. In November 1633, he and his fellow priests and nine servants prepared for a long voyage on the ship Ark. Father White kept a journal of this voyage called, Voyage into Maryland, to Cecil Calvert in England and to the Society of Jesus. It is a very important book about Maryland’s early history.

On March 25, 1634, the first Mass in Maryland was celebrated on Saint Clements’s Island, and the Colony was founded. Of the first town established by Leonard Calvert only the site remains, while the body of the founder lies in an unknown grave in the ground where old Saint Mary’s stood. Here the first Catholic chapel was erected, and here the Jesuit Fathers Andrew White and John Althans, began to exercise their ministry among the Catholics, whom they accompanied from their home beyond the seas, as well as among the savage children of the forests.

By the year 1636, there were four Jesuit priests laboring in Maryland, and, the following year, the number of those was augmented by the arrival of Father Thomas Coply, known also as Philip Fisher, and of Father John Knolles. The latter soon succumbed to the climate, dying about 1637. Missions around the Indian tribes, on the banks of the Potomac and the Pantuxent, conversions of the natives, untold hardships of the missionaries, and opposition on the part of secular authorities, characterize this first period of the Catholic mission in Maryland. In 1674, Father Basil Hobart, O.S.F., one of a small colony of Franciscans, came to aid the Jesuits on their mission.

Toward the close of the seventeenth century, a great change had come over Maryland. The Stuarts had fallen and the Protestant William of Orange, sat on the throne of England. Catholicity in Maryland had now to pass through the crucible of bitter persecution, and it was only through innumerable difficulties that the missionaries could labor in the Lord’s vineyard.

The First Mass in Maryland

Jacques Marquette was born in Laon, France, on June 1, 1637 and joined the Society of Jesus at the age of seventeen. After working and teaching in France for several years, he was dispatched to Quebec in 1666 to preach to the Native Americans, where he showed great proficiency in the local languages, especially Huron. In 1668 he went to Wisconsin and came into contact with members of the Illinois tribes, who told him of the existence of the Mississippi River and invited him to come teach further south.

In 1673, Marquette was joined by Louis Joliet, a French Canadian explorer. They followed Lake Michigan to the Bay of Green Bay and up the Fox River. From there, they portaged to the Wisconsin River, which they were told, led to the river they sought. On June 17, they entered the Mississippi near Prairie du Chien.

The Joliet-Marquette expedition traveled to within 435 miles of the Gulf of Mexico but turned back at the mouth of the Arkansas River. By this point, they had encountered several natives carrying European trinkets, and they feared an encounter with explorers or colonists from Spain. They followed the Mississippi back to the mouth of the Illinois River, which they learned from local natives was a shorter route back to the Great Lakes. Joliet and Marquette were the first non-Native Americans to see and map the northern portion of the Mississippi River.

Marquette and his party returned to the Illinois Territory in late 1674, becoming the first Europeans to winter in what would become the city of Chicago. He founded Michigan’s first European settlement, Sault Ste. Marie and later founded St. Ignace, Michigan.

A bout of dysentery picked up during the Mississippi expedition had sapped his health. On the return trip to St. Ignace, he died near the modern town of Ludington, Michigan on May 18, 1675 at the age of 38.

Pere MarquetteExploring the Mississippi

Junipero Serra was born as Miquel Josep Serra i Ferrer in Petra, Majorca, Spain on November 24, 1713. He entered the Order of Friars Minor at the age of 16. He taught philosophy and theology at the Lillian University in Palma de Mallorca. In 1749 he journeyed to North America, first to Mexico City where he taught. He became famous as a most fervent and effective preacher of missions. In 1768, Serra was appointed superior of a band of 15 Franciscans for the Indian Missions of Baja California. The Franciscans took over the administration of the missions on the Baja California Peninsula from the Jesuits after King Carlos III ordered them forcibly expelled from “New Spain” on February 3, 1768. In July of 1769 Serra founded the Mission San Diego de Alcala, the first of the 21 California missions.

During the remaining years of his life he once more visited the missions from San Diego to San Francisco, traveling more than 600 miles in the process, in order to confirm all who had been baptized. He suffered intensely from his crippled leg which he injured while riding a mule when he first came to Mexico in 1749. He confirmed 5,309 persons, who, with but few exceptions, were Indians converted during the 14 years from 1770.

On August 28, 1784, at the age of 70, Father Junipero Serra died at Mission San Carlos Borromeo. He is buried there under the sanctuary floor.

The first of his 21 missions was San Diego as part of Spain’s strategy to gain control of the Pacific Coast. Its relations with the local people that the friars sought to “civilize” are tense: an Indian revolt burns the mission in 1775; European illnesses decimated the native population. Secularized in 1834, the mission, after use in the 1850’s as a U. S. artillery base, is returned to the Catholic Church in 1892.

Padre Junipero Serra and the California Missions

Jean-Louis Anne Madelain Lefebvre de Cheverus (also know as John Cheverus) was born on January 28, 1768 in Mayenne, France. After completing his studies at the Seminary of St. Magloire, he was ordained in December 1790 at the age of 22.

Cheverus refused to take the oath imposed by the Revolution and this cost him his parish, and very nearly his life. He escaped from Paris to London, in disguise. In three months he knew English enough to teach, and within a year gathered a congregation. A letter from a former professor at Orleans, the Reverend Francois Matignon, now in charge under Bishop John Carroll of all the Catholic church and mission in New England, urged Cheverus to come there to help in the work of the church. Cheverus first emigrated to England in 1792, then to America, settling in Boston on October 3, 1796.

Cheverus, although at first appointed to an Indian mission in Maine, remained in Boston for nearly a year, and returned there after several months in the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy missions and visits to scattered Catholic families along the way. During the epidemic of yellow fever in 1798 he won great praise and respect for his courage and charity; and his preaching was listened to by many Protestants: indeed, the subscriptions for the Church of the Holy Cross which he founded in 1803 were largely from non-Catholics.

In 1808 the papal brief was issued making Boston a bishopric and Cheverus was ordained bishop of Boston on November 1, 1810. In 1823, Louis XVII insisted Cheverus return to France. Returning to France, Cheverus became bishop of Montauban, on January 13, 1823 where his policy of tolerance won respect from Protestant clergy and laymen of the city. He was made archbishop of Bordeaux on July 30, 1826; and elevated to cardinal on February 1, 1836. He died in Bordeaux on July 19, 1836 at the age of sixty-eight.

His work in New England covered twenty-seven years, included every form of missionary activity. He lived among the Indians, mastering their dialect; traveled long distances on foot, attending scattered Catholics; nursed the sick and buried the dead during two yellow fever epidemics, collected funds and built a church in Boston; and served as businessman, adviser, peacemaker, servant and pastor for his flock. His devotion to duty and extraordinary tact gradually won the respect of many Puritans. Ministers invited him to their pulpits. The legislature sought and acted on his counsel.

Most Reverend John de CheverusFirst Bishop of Boston

“As the eighteenth century was drawing to a close, the thirteen English colonies along the North Atlantic coastline declared themselves independent and set up the sovereign nation of the United States of America. The Catholic Church, up to then, unwelcome, distrusted and despised almost universally throughout the English colonies, was destined to take its place as one of the forces which would make the new nation strong and glorious.

The immediate reorganization of the Church, in the infant republic so that it might function from Maine to Georgia, was beset with many difficulties…Father John Carroll, chosen for the task, accepted it reluctantly. He well knew that it was too heavy a burden for one person to carry, and he had little confidence in his own ability as an organizer and executive. He did possess, however, one unfailing weapon with which he always attacked every problem, his love of the Blessed Virgin and faith in the power of her intercession. He was consecrated bishop of Baltimore August 15, 1791.” Thus wrote Richard Cardinal Cushing of Boston. In reality, Carroll was appointed Bishop of Baltimore on November 6, 1789, by Pope Pius VI, becoming the first bishop in the United States.

In 1792 Bishop Carroll placed the United States under the patronage of Mary. When the call came from the Holy See for the bishops of the world to assemble at Rome for the solemn pronouncement of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, the Catholics of the United States could bring with them to Rome three centuries of devotion to Mary Immaculate as their offering to the Mother of God.

Blessed Virgin MaryPatroness of theUnited States

At the outbreak of the war, the nursing profession was in its infancy and dominated by men, because women were considered too frail to cope with the rigors of tending the sick. There were about 150 hospitals in the entire country, and no formal nursing schools existed. Increasing numbers of casualties and the overburdening of aide facilities soon broke down gender-related structures on nursing and spurred the nation’s women into taking immediate and decisive action to help correct the situation.

Clara Barton, who later founded the American Red Cross, brought supplies and help to the battlefronts before formal relief organizations could take shape to administer such shipments. Acting entirely on her own, the Massachusetts-born Barton collected food, clothing and medical supplies for the hard-pressed Union Army.

Religious orders also responded to this new opportunity for service by sending their own trained nurses to staff field hospitals near the front. Within a few months of the war, 600 women were serving as nurses in 12 hospitals. In all, eight Catholic orders sent nuns to serve in the war.

Among the church leaders who answered the humanitarian call during the war, none responded with more fervor or professional gifts than Mother Angela (Eliza Maria Gilles) of the Sisters of the Holy Cross. General Grant wrote to General Sherman saying that she was “a woman of rare charm of manner, unusual ability, and exceptional executive talents.” At one time she had 60 nuns helping her care for 1,400 men at Mound City, Ky., which was regarded as the best military hospital in the country at that time. True to her faith, Mother Angela served Union and Confederate soldiers with equal devotion. In September 1852, Mother Angela returned to St. Mary’s Academy at Notre Dame University, assured that the soldier’s needs would be met from other sources.

The nurses of the Civil War left a heritage far beyond a country’s gratitude for bodies salvaged and spirit renewed. Observing the difference they had made, both the public officials and the community finally came to recognize nursing as a legitimate profession. Woman such as Clara Barton and Mother Angela translated their experience in Civil War hospitals into a nursing science. As Jane Woolsey noted in Hospital Days, “It has been a tiresome march, but think of the results.”

Nuns Helping the Wounded1861-65

The Maryknoll order was founded by Father James Anthony Walsh of Boston and Father Thomas Frederick Price of North Carolina, who met at the 21st Eucharistic Congress in Montreal, Canada in 1910. Maryknoll was established in 1911 as the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America with headquarters in Ossining, New York, thirty-two miles north of New York City on the Hudson River. On June 29, 1911, Pope Pius X blessed the founding of Maryknoll. Maryknoll’s first missioners left for China in 1918. Father Price died in 1919, leaving only three missionaries in China.

By 1921, the community consisted of 20 priests, a dozen brothers, and about 65 seminary students. Today there are over 550 Maryknoll priests and brothers serving in countries around the world, principally in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Throughout their history, especially in the first half of the twentieth century, Maryknoll missioners played a large role in the Catholic Church in East Asia where some missioners still work. Maryknoll also has extensive connections with many Latin American countries, where it has long worked to help alleviate poverty and bring constructive changes to the life of Latin America’s poor.

Saint Brigid parish produced a man who served in the Maryknoll Fathers nearly all his long life. Father Richard Moore Devoe served at the Catholic Mission Puli Chen on the island of Taiwan in the village of Taichung. Father died on July 22, 2006 at the age of 82 years. His funeral Mass was celebrated at Saint Brigid and his body taken back to Taiwan for burial.

The First AmericanForeign Mission Society

Today the 8,000 Catholic schools across the United States are regarded as a gift to the church and a gift to the nation. Catholic education goes back to as least 1606 when the Franciscans opened a school in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida, “to teach children Christs’ doctrine, reading and writing.” To the north, the Jesuits instructed dedicated Native American students as Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680), who became a Catholic in New York and taught Indian children in a Christian settlement near Montreal.

By the latter 1600’s, English colonists had set up their own, publicly supported schools and were fundamentalist Protestant and anti-Catholic. Catholics in Philadelphia in 1782 opened Saint Mary’s School considered the first parochial school in the United States.

Ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791, with the First Amendment guarantee of religious freedom, Catholics were given a place in the new 19th Century. Elizabeth Ann Seton set up a school for poor children in Emmitsburg, Md in 1809, founded the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph, and made the creation of parochial schools a lifetime cause.

The middle of the 19th Century saw increasing Catholic interest in education at the same time of increasing Catholic immigration. To serve their growing communities, American Catholics first tried to reform American public schools to rid them of blatantly fundamentalist Protestant overtones and anti-Catholic bias. Failing that they began opening their own schools assisted by the Sisters of Mercy, who arrived from Ireland, under Sister Frances Warde in 1843 and the Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, organized in 1845 by Sister Theresa Duchemin to teach in Michigan. John Neumann came to America from Bohemia and was ordained in New York in 1836. He entered into the Redemptorists and worked in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. He became bishop of Philadelphia in 1852 and worked hard for the establishment of parish schools for the numerous immigrants.

Such successes sparked a backlash “fomented by the Know-Nothing-Society committed to wiping out foreign influences, Popery, Jesuitism, and Catholicism. Mobs burned the Ursuline convent and murdered a nun in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1834 and destroyed two churches in 1854.

The Second Baltimore Council in 1866 repeated the call for parochial schools and the Third Baltimore Council in 1884 turned the plea into a demand that all Catholic parishes open schools within two years.

“Throughout history, there is no more compelling instance of Catholic commitment to education than the school system created by the U. S. Catholic community” wrote Thomas Groome, professor of theology at Boston College.

American System ofCatholic Education

The pipe organ in St. Brigid’s Church was originally built in 1909 by the Boston based firm of E & GG Hook and Hastings. In 1958, the pipework from the 1909 organ was incorporated into a much larger instrument built for the new Church of St. Brigid. The work for this undertaking was done by the Williams Organ Firm of Swampscott, Massachusetts. In 1986, the organ was rebuilt by Richard Lahaise of Boston.

It is a large instrument of two manuals (keyboards) and pedal, 37 stops and 30 ranks (sets) of pipes, boasting nearly 1700 pipes. The console, which controls the instrument is in the center of the rear balcony, while the pipes (speaking through the openings facing into the nave of the Church) are located in large chambers on both sides of the balcony.

The Organin SaintBrigid’s Church