St. Joseph Catholic Church is a

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church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

serving Beacon Hill and the West End in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by

Alexander Parris Alexander Parris (November 24, 1780 – June 16, 1852) was a prominent American architect-engineer. Beginning as a housewright, he evolved into an architect whose work transitioned from Federal style architecture to the later Greek Revival. Parr ...

and built in 1834 for the Twelfth Congregational Society, it was purchased by the Boston Roman Catholic Diocese in 1862. The first recorded Mass in the neighborhood was on March 17, 1732, in a private home near the current site of this church. Represented by the many decorative fleur-de-lis inside, the first Catholic Mass legislatively sanctioned and celebrated in New England was celebrated nearby by Father de la Porterie in 1788. Designed by

(architect of

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), and constructed in 1834, the building was consecrated as St. Joseph's in 1862. At the time, the West End community was diverse, consisting of working-class families of predominantly European descent. The crucifixion painting is thought to have been transferred from the Old Cathedral on Franklin Street to St. Joseph's in 1862. It is an enlarged replica painted by Lawrence Sargent (1803) of the original by

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(1758), housed at the

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. The

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pipe organ was installed in 1884, and, with its characteristic full-bodied sound, it is still in use today. The parish witnessed urban renewal in the 1950s and 1960s, which significantly changed the community. At the centennial anniversary of the parish, twenty flags from countries around the world, including the United States and the Vatican, were displayed from the balconies to represent the diversity of the parish. Regular Mass Schedule: Sunday 9:00 AM, 4:00 PM Monday, Wednesday, Friday 12:10 PM

References

www.stjosephboston.org
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Roman Catholic churches in Boston 1862 establishments in Massachusetts {{Boston-struct-stub