Saint Andrew's Roman Catholic Church
Saint Andrew's Roman Catholic Church
| Address | 45-49 Talbot Av |
| MACRIS ID | BIL.231 |
| Built | 1919 |
| Other Lot Structures | Saint Andrew's Roman Catholic Rectory (Built 1915) |
Before Saint Andrew Parish was established, thousands of Irish people, due to political oppression along with the great potato crop failure of the 1840’s and 1850’s, made the trek to New England in order to seek jobs in the nearby Talbot and Faulkner mill complexes. They brought with them few material possessions, but they did bring with them a sound and living faith. The Billerica Catholics had to walk about five miles to the nearest Catholic church in Lowell to worship. In 1868, the remarkable Father Andre Garin of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate established a mission parish for the town of Billerica. He helped the small congregation arrange to buy the now-abandoned Universalist church. After the purchase, they moved it to Mill Street, now known as Rogers Street, and placed it under the patronage of the Apostle Saint Andrew. In the end, $4000.00 had been spent; but the people finally had their own church.
For forty years, Saint Andrew Parish was in the care of the Oblate Fathers. They would come in from Lowell, at least once a month, to celebrate Mass and handle all pastoral matters. Some of these priests served for but a few months, while others remained for several years. In 1890, Father James Maloney, O.M.I. realized the need for enlarged facilities to accommodate the increased number of parishioners. His program of renovation and expansion was carried out with the physical as well as the financial help of the people. Through their generosity and selflessness, the dedicated people managed to complete a $6,910.44 renovation that increased the size of the church by one third. Imagine the sacrifices that were made considering that the average daily wage was about 85 cents!
By 1913 the parish, which consisted of the entire town of Billerica, had grown enough to be taken over by the Archdiocese of Boston. Father David Murphy was its first diocesan pastor. With the help of the altruistic parishioners, he set out to build a new rectory at 45 Talbot Avenue, closer to the main roads into Billerica center. By 1921 a new, five hundred seat church was built next door to accommodate the burgeoning parish.