A Church Reborn

[by Fred Lynch in Chelsea, Massachusetts]

I met a man across the street from St. Rose Church on Broadway in Chelsea, Massachusetts, while drawing, who smiled when I told him that my grandfather was baptized in this church. With his Hispanic accent, he said that he was going into the church just now to prepare for today’s baptisms. He told me he is a deacon who has been involved with the church for many, many years.

In 1904, my grandfather was baptized here, along with four other children of Daniel O’Connor and Kate McMahon. The immigrant couple from Cork City were married there too, in 1901. That was nine years after Daniel came to America, and three months after he became a naturalized citizen. Kate, from the same parish back home, had arrived a year before their wedding. Daniel’s brother Frank O’Connor was married in St. Rose Church too, and his children were baptized there, too.

In 1908, a terrible fire swept through Chelsea, destroying much of the city, St. Rose included. But parishioners rebuilt. Today, the church looks mostly the same, but the community has been rebuilt. Santa Rosa, as it’s also called now, offers six services every Sunday—three in Spanish, two in English, and one in Vietnamese.

On a recent Sunday, I revisited to draw some more, and stepped into the church when I noticed a service was starting. I was curious to see the inside. Upon entering, I was struck by the joyful brass band blaring from the altar, and the parishioners rhythmically clapping as the priest entered the room. I stood wide-eyed with my back to the wall. Like the stained-glass window next to me, which was dedicated to the “Deceased Members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians,” I was there representing the past.