St. Rose of Lima Parish after being rebuilt in 1949. The original wooden church was destroyed by fire in 1947. Submitted photo

JAY — Through the course of three centuries, St. Rose of Lima Parish has been a growing constant of Jay’s community.

Founded in 1894 with Father N. Joseph Horan as its first pastor, the original church was built to hold 200 parishioners. Within fifteen years membership doubled and the church had to be expanded. The chapel was cut in two and separated, with a new center section tying the two sides back together.

In 1911, St. Rose of Lima Parish grew even more, overseeing construction of a chapel in Riley Village to serve workers who had come to the area for work at the new ground wood mill. Set on a field stone foundation, Our Lady of the Assumption Mission was built to accommodate about 115 people. Bishop Louis S. Walsh blessed the chapel on July 2, 1916.

In the same year (1916), back at St. Rose of Lima Parish, the building was enlarged again as new arrivals came to the area following the closure of the mill in Gilbertville. Two transepts increased capacity to 550. In the 1920s a convent and a large brick schoolhouse known as St. Rose Parochial School were built, with the Ursuline Sisters serving as teachers. In 1945, the Ursuline nuns left St. Rose and were replaced by the Sisters of St. Joseph from Winslow, Maine.

Tragedy struck when the 57-year-old wooden church was destroyed by fire on April 4, 1948. Mother St. Aurelie, superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and Sr. Marie Therese of Lewiston saved the Blessed Sacrament. Aided by 12 other nuns and nearby parishioners, all the movable items in the church were saved.

The Jay community rallied in the wake of the fire, first in its clean-up using trucks provided by local farmers and the International Paper Company to haul away debris remnants. And the importance of St. Rose of Lima Parish was evident, with $200,000 raised to build a new church.

“A simple review of the committee formed to build the new church after the fire reveals the names of French, Irish, Italian, and Czech parishioners, working together, despite their differences, for the glory of God,” said Bishop Joseph J. Gerry, O.S.B., at the parish’s 100th anniversary celebration in 1994. “As you know, that kind of cooperation and mutual respect was not always the rule in those days. But what you did demonstrated that a community founded on Christ and inspired by the Spirit can be united even though other communities let such tensions be the source of division and bitterness.”

More than money rebuilt the church. Volunteers built forms for the foundation and floor of the main church, and much of the material for it was donated by the International Paper Company. Cement was mixed in several small mixers by hand and laborers wheeled the cement to the forms with cement carts and wheelbarrows.

In November of 1949, Bishop Daniel J. Feeney blessed the cornerstone of the new church, saying he was proud of the “new church of God” in the diocese. Just 20 months after the disastrous fire, the first Mass at the new St. Rose of Lima Church was celebrated on December 10, 1949, by Fr. J.N. Boucher, who had been pastor of St. Rose of Lima for 24 years.

It was not just the rebuilding of the church that connected the church to the town’s mill and economy, according to Father Paul Dumais, St. Rose of Lima Parish’s current pastor.

“The mill and the church were like two lungs that helped the town to breathe,” Father Dumais said. “Every day at noon, the bell for Angelus would ring, calling members in for prayer. At the same time the lunch whistles would blow at the mill and children would filter down from the hillside, bringing their fathers hot meals.”

By the 1970s, the parish families had grown to nearly 1300 families. The interior of the church was renovated to Vatican II specifications, including the dismantling of the main altar and its repositioning to face the assembly. The organ was moved from the choir loft to the front of the church, and new pews and carpeting were installed.

St. Rose of Lima Parish has been an important beacon during times of economic difficulties, notably when International Paper employees went on strike in 1987. Father Joseph McKenna, who led the church through that period recalled the impact of the strike on the community.

“There was a lot of strife, not just in town and on the picket line, but within families. We had mill managers and striking workers who were related,” said Father McKenna. “But the church didn’t change or judge. Often it was the only place where families could gather and spend time in peace.

“The strike dragged on much longer than anyone could have anticipated. So many people lost their jobs permanently. My decision to make St. Rose of Lima Parish a neutral zone was a difficult one. I visited the union hall often. I wanted to help the striking workers, but I also didn’t want parishioners who weren’t on strike to feel the church wasn’t theirs too.”

Today, under the leadership of Father Dumais, St. Rose of Lima Parish continues its close ties and service to the community. The parish annually hosts the Catholic Rural Life Festival in September, highlighting the beauty and grace of rural life. It hosts or co–hosts programs that aim to find better ways to address hunger needs in the area, offers a wide range of resources to area seniors and families, and always finds ways to honor its roots, like with the Acadian Mi-Carême celebration during Lent.

St. Rose of Lima also reaches beyond its parish boundaries to benefit those in need around the world, including a “parish twinning” program that allows them to help St. Laurent Parish in the Diocese of Les Cayes, Haiti, with financial assistance and material support.

Tickets for the St. Rose of Lima Parish 125th Anniversary Dinner and Reception are available at the parish office. The cost is $10 each, with all proceeds benefiting the parish’s social ministry program. Children under 12 will be admitted for free.

St Rose of Lima Parish in Jay Livermore Falls Advertiser photo by Nicole Carter