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Ninety Two Years of Service
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Blessed Sacrament Parish is more than a building where
Catholics worship together. It is primarily a parish family where the love of
Jesus is shared in all the moments of life. Like all families, Blessed Sacrament
Parish has its roots: a heritage which stretches back 92 years. Let us open up a
few pages of our parish family’s album and sketch out our heritage.
Blessed Sacrament was established November 6, 1907 to
accommodate the ever-increasing Catholic population of south Manchester. At
first it was a mission of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Goffs Falls. Later the
situation was reversed and St. Francis became a mission of Blessed Sacrament.
There have been eleven pastors in our parish family history:
Fr. Francis X. Lyons, Fr. William J. Cavanaugh, Fr. Walter L. Dee, Fr. Thomas P.
Mason, Fr. John J. Sullivan, Fr. John V. Moran, Fr. Sigmund L. Hafemann, OFM
Cap, Fr. Thomas Wilt, OFM Cap, Fr. Patrick Glavin, OFM Cap, Fr. John E. Mahoney,
OFM Cap, and currently Fr. Michael E. Sevigny, OFM Cap.
The parish was organized under the leadership of Fr. Francis
Lyons. The first order of business was gathering the names and addresses of all
those who resided within the parish boundaries. He built the first church in
1908 for five thousand dollars. For twenty five years, Fr. Lyons labored
faithfully for the people. During that quarter century there were few curates,
but he received fine help and cooperation from the parish family.
Fr. William Cavanaugh became pastor in 1932 during the Great
Depression. Despite difficult financial times, he received enough cooperation
from the parish family to build a new church (the present edifice) which was
dedicated on November 11, 1934 by Bishop John B. Peterson. The old church (on
the corner of Baker and South Elm) became the parish social center, known as the
Clubhouse.
Fr. Walter Dee was named pastor in 1941. The war years were
difficult ones and many young men of the parish who served in the armed forces,
the many who were injured or killed are given tribute on the plaques at the main
entrance of the church. Fr. Dee found encouraging sacrifice from the parish
family to construct an elementary school which was opened in 1950.
The school was staffed by the Sisters of Mercy who had worked in the parish
from the beginning, instructing the children in religious education. With the
aid of two dedicated lay teachers, Mrs. Rita Flanders and Mrs. Dorothy Healey,
the Sisters of Mercy
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