The history of a parish is always the history of people and their church building which expresses visibly their faith and dedication to a way of life. Williamstown does not have a large population of Catholics and never has had a large number. Yet the town was home to two Catholic churches. The first of these churches was dedicated to Saint Patrick in 1889, with the original structure located on the corner of Main and Park Streets. That building was replaced by the present church on Southworth Street, dedicated in 1897. In addition to serving the needs of the majority of the Catholics of Williamstown, the parish then also took responsibility for the spiritual needs of the Catholics of Williams College.

While St. Patrick was being built, various people of French descent were making their way to the area and sought a place to worship with French as the predominant language. As the numbers of French-speaking Catholics increased, the Bishop was moved to grant their request to establish a second parish in Williamstown and build a church. Construction was begun in 1889 and the building was officially dedicated in 1891 to archangel Raphael.

The two parishes thrived and were very active communities of faith. There were difficult times following World War II when manufacturing began to decline and companies began moving out of the area, but the parishes adjusted and continued to be vital sources of life in the community. However, be the mid-1980's the wide-spread shortage of priests available for assignment to the parishes of the diocese had reached Williamstown, and the then Bishop Maguire "yoked" the two parishes in 1989. The two remained distinct parishes, but were now served by one pastor rather than two. The arrangement worked so well that in 1997 the parishes were merged into one.

St. Raphael Church on Cole Avenue is now closed and has been converted into senior housing.   St. Raphael's celebrated it's final mass on Pentecost Sunday, 2007.

125th Anniversary of church consecration

July 3rd, 2022

Springfield Bishop William Byrne, and his dog, Zelie, pose with Father John McDonagh, pastor of Sts. Patrick and Raphael Parish, Williamstown, and altar servers following the July 3 Mass marking the 125th anniversary of the consecration of the church building. 

More history ...

While the present worship site for Williamstown Catholics was consecrated in 1897, the Catholic presence dates back to the mid-19^th century. The first recorded Mass was held in 1859 at the home of Thomas McMahon. It was celebrated by a priest from Pittsfield, Father Edward Purcell. In 1863, a former school, located at the corner of Main and Park streets, became the first church building.

A new brick church was built and consecrated at that original site in 1889, thanks to donations from the local cable mill owner, Cyrus W. Field, and the Protestant townspeople of Williamstown, during the pastorate of the first resident Catholic priest, Father Edmund Casey.

By the time St. Patrick Church was consecrated in 1897, the original St. Raphael Parish, established in 1889, was serving French-Canadian Catholic immigrants and, under the pastorate of Father Amabe L’Heureux, had established a bilingual first- and second-grade parish school, so that the French-speaking children would be fluent in English by the time they entered the town’s district public school.

The parishioners of the two early parishes, the French-Canadian and the Irish, would merge in 1997, 100 years after the consecration of the present worship site, to become Sts. Patrick and Raphael Parish. Like Catholic parishes throughout the U.S., the congregation has experienced declining numbers in recent years. But longtime parishioners who spoke to iObserve a few weeks before the July 3 Mass view the anniversary celebration as a time of renewal.

“I think our state, our community are so divided and we are so lacking in institutions to believe in, and coming out of COVID where so many of those institutions didn’t survive, perhaps we can look to institutions like St. Patrick’s, but also the Catholic Church, who themselves have been through trying times of survival and the hope is that you celebrate these anniversaries as a time of rejuvenation,” said Jane Swift, a North Adams native and former lieutenant governor and acting governor of Massachusetts.

Swift grew up in the former Our Lady of Incarnation Parish in North Adams, began raising her children in St. Raphael Parish in Williamstown and then joined the merged parish of Sts. Patrick and Raphael.

“I do think there’s an opportunity for this parish and the church in general to explore what led to its strength for families at its founding and hopefully revisit that and embrace that,” she said.

Parishioner Karyn O’Toole moved to the Berkshires 30 years ago and is a longtime worshipper in the present church building. She said that although parishioners maintain attachments to the physical churches they grew up in, “I think that we can celebrate being alive and present in this time and as a vibrant Catholic community trying to find a way to reach younger people and experimenting with new ways to do that.

“Bringing out the history helps us all connect in a different way,” O’Toole said.

When it comes to the history of Williamstown Catholics, few parishioners can claim deeper roots than Maureen McMahon O’Mara, great-granddaughter of Thomas McMahon, whose home was the site of the first Mass, and many others, in the town before the parish secured its first worship site.

“My great-grandparents came from Ireland in 1850, settled in Williamstown, had a livery stable, and transported (Williams College) students back and forth from the train station,” McMahon said, adding, “My great-grandfather was dedicated to the community.”

“Over the course of a hundred years, that tradition of the McMahon family has stayed constant, all within the confines of the Catholic Church and the town itself,” she said.

McMahon noted that the Williamstown parish, like those in other towns, has faced the challenges of a declining numbers and a loss of young families. But, in recent years, she has seen signs of rejuvenation.

“But when the pandemic started, you could see a lot of the young families coming up again,” she said. “You now had children sitting in the front of the church, as you were sitting in the back… That’s primarily Williams College.”

Father John McDonagh, pastor of Sts. Patrick and Raphael, also noted the benefits of close proximity with the college.

“We live in a community with Williams College, a very active intellectual community that also has a lived Catholic faith community, and it’s been fun to see them more integrated into our parish – the students, the faculty participating in a variety of ways,” he said, “and to see the recent first Mass of one of the alums of the college, Father Philip Nolan.”

Looking forward to the July 3 125^th anniversary Mass, Father McDonagh said, “Bishop Byrne’s going to come and celebrate that consecration and reflect on the faith here in town… and be able to reflect how we can entrepreneurially live out faith in a town that has many healthy ideas, many engaged people, many challenges, and many beautiful people here that are trying to make the world better.”