52 Ancestors Week 13: Worship

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 13

The theme for Week 13 is "Worship." The lives of many of our ancestors were shaped by their choices (or lack of a choice) in how and where they could worship. This week, consider an ancestor and how their worship practices influenced their life.

Today's service will be conducted in the new Latin.

If you're like me and you come from a predominantly Catholic family, you'll find out pretty quickly that church is a very big deal in the lives of virtually every ancestor in your family tree. You'll attend various services and see people who haven't seen you in ages that will undoubtedly pinch your cheeks until they turn red. Later in life, you'll find that the church you attended was basically attended by just one ethnic group in the city and that various ethnic groups had their own church all around the same city. This was the case with one church in Haverhill, Mass called the Saint Rita's Parish.

All Saints Parish

    Saint Rita's Parish was once the Italian church in Haverhill much like how Saint Joseph's was the French-Candian church and Saint Michael's was the Polish church. I say "was" because in the summer of 1998 those churchs along with Saint George's became the All Saints Parish.

    To say that there was a lot of heartbreak when the churches closed and became All Saints was a bit of an understatement.  After all Parishoners called those churches home and their ancestors very likely attended the same church. The really sad thing is that my Google fu failed me and I couldn't find a picture of Saint Rita's as it was before 1998. So, all I have to show is a picture of All Saints from Google Earth.

    At least I know a great deal about Saint Rita's so it isn't all bad. As you might have guessed it was the main church for everyone in the Italian community in Haverhill. My father, paternal grandparents and both sets of Italian great-grandparents attended services in that building for much of their lives. According to the book, "Italians in Haverhill", Saint Rita's opened in 1915 at the height of the mass immigration of Italians to the city. For eighty-three years it served the people. So, you can imagine there were many strong feelings when it closed.

Grandpa Marco's communion and
girl looking bored behind him.

        I'm not sure why all decided to combine into one church. Did they want to save money? Who can say? My own research into the whys and hows have turned up empty. I do know that all of the congregations converged onto the former Saint Joseph's church once all the is were dotted and the ts were crossed.

    Perhaps they combined because by the 1990s the population of Haverhill wasn't as ethnically diverse as they were when my grandfather Marco had his first communion. More people spoke the same language so there was less a need to have a church for each ethnic group. Sure the city was still diverse in terms of ethnic backgrounds. However, they still spoke the same language.

    It's possible that the Archdiocese in Boston just felt that having so many Catholic churches in one city was a bit cumbersome and they wanted to downsize.  At the end of the day at least the parishoners had the chance to vote on a new name for the church and that is how All Saints got its name. Thankfully, they didn't ask the Internet. I don't the "Churchy McChurchface" would have caught on.

    Of course declining attendance and efforts to save money may have been the main reason why the Archdiocese decided to close the decades' old churches.

    Despite Saint Rita's being long gone, the memories are still there and references to it are found in obituaries, photos and other documents. It may be gone but it's definitely not forgotton as many important events from my own family's history took place there. To list them all would take some time. Trust me.

Marco and Ollie's wedding. Need
to edit out that glare.

        I can talk about two events, though. It's very likely that my grandmother Olympia was baptized in the church in 1920. Some twenty plus years later she married my grandfather Marco in the same place. That's the case for anyone who attended the church and has lived in the same area for decades. When Ollie passed away in 2002, her services were held at All Saints.

    It should be noted that all of Ollie's sisters naturally all attended Saint Rita's! No shock there.

       The church was more than just a place where people could worship and seek counsel from a priest. Due to the fact that there was no "Y" or youth community center in its heyday, many community activities were held there. Sports such as basketball were played on the nearby courts and other events were held like dances and the like. It was there that many youths in the congregation and beyond could come together and hang out without parental supervision. That's not a bad deal if there is no Boys and Girl's club around and afterschool activities were kept to a minimum.

    As you can tell Saint Rita's was an iimportant landmark in the lives of those in Haverhill who were of Italian descent. I only managed to cover a few events from my family tree. There are many, many more. I have an "Italians in Haverhill" tree on Ancestry and virtually every person I've researched has links to Saint Rita's. The church, like many others in the area, still has a place in everyone's hearts. After all two decades isn't all that long. People have fond memories of it closing and while they were saddened to see it go, the memories of generations of baptisms, weddings, funerals and community events still live on and will continue to do so for years to come in digital media and in stories.     

  I just wish I could find a picture of the place!! Sigh. Google Fu failed me.

See ya next time!

All Saint's church picture is property of Google Earth.