History of Holyoke's Churches

The Catholics

      The development of a tiny mustard seed into a tree upon which the birds of the air might build their nests has been regarded, since the early days of Christianity, as a symbol of the growth of the Church of God from a group of disciples, which an upper chamber could contain, to a kingdom so vast that its subjects are to be found in every nation under the sun. The symbol, which aptly illustrates the growth of the universal church, is of service also as an illustration of the growth of each part of that church. It may be applied to the church of Holyoke. The few Catholics which gathered for divine service in 1848, under the tree on Elm street near Dwight, and at the home of Mr. Nolin, on what is now Bigelow street, and at the dam house on Prospect street, represented not more than four or five hundred people. Now eight spacious churches, although occupied by many different congregations every Sunday, are barely sufficient for the needs of 40,000 Catholics. Truly the mustard seed has become a tree.
      Catholics began to come in numbers to Holyoke in 1847. The O'Connells, who came the first of that year, and the Delaneys were among the pioneers. The building of the dam by the South Hadley Falls Company brought so many that a private dwelling could not accommodate them when the assembled for worship. They met in Goldet Hall (corner of High and Lyman streets). After a time, finding this too small they worshiped in the old Chestnut street school, and afterward in Exchange Hall. Priests from Chicopee, notably Fathers Brady, Strain, and Blinkinsop, preached to them the word of God, and broke for them the bread of life. The were visited occasionally also by a priest from Northampton. These priests could not come to them oftener than once a month. When they did not come those who were able to do so were accustomed to walk by way of the Williamsett Bridge to Chicopee, that they might assist at Sunday mass. This was a hardship; so all rejoiced when father Jeremiah O'Callaghan, the great missionary of Vermont, came to Holyoke as the first resident pastor of the Catholic people.
      Father O'Callaghan, before coming to Holyoke, had labored so energetically in an extensive territory that Rev. Talbot Smith, in his "History of the Diocese of Ogdensburg," calls him "ubiquitous." He was a man of independent mind and forceful character. He was a diligent student, an able controversialist, and an author of considerable power. He loved the great fathers of the church; and his love of the he perpetuated by naming the church which he founded in Holyoke after one of the noblest of them, St. Jerome. Father O'Callaghan was not young when he came to Holyoke. He had suffered hardships and accomplished works of such magnitude as to have earned for his remaining days of life some repose. But few young men in the enthusiasm of their first undertakings could have labored for the infant church with more energy than he displayed. He loved the parish in which he made his home. He had saved a little money, and this, about $11,000, he contributed to the building fund of St. Jerome's.
      Mr. John Doyle, who now lives on Hampden street, used to serve mass for Father O'Callaghan; and with him, at times, as an assistant, was John Boulet. The latter may have caught some of the missionary spirit of the venerable pastor, for in after years he became one of the most energetic of the Catholic missionaries among the Indians of the far West. He is now known and loved throughout the state of Washington as Monsignor Boulet.


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