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Memories of an Altar Boy
In 1959 and in the fourth grade at Saint Agnes School, I became an altar boy. As I recall there were many of us that studied for this important and holy role. By study I mean that I had to learn the responses to the Latin Mass. Before Vatican ll the Priest had his back to the congregation and the Mass was said in Latin. At our first meeting with Fr. John Carroll, we were given a card that had the Latin responses on both sides of this card. We had to memorize these prayers and responses. This was no easy task for a nine year old. My parents would drill me each night, and as time went on I mastered this. After weeks of preparation, I along with many others, was ready to serve my first Mass.
The first time I served Mass was on the side altar of the lower church with a newly ordained priest, Fr. William Helmick, who grew up on Belton Street. Eventually, I began serving on the main altar on weekdays and on Sundays. Sometimes we were late for school because they needed altar boys to serve at the 8:00 weekday Mass. Of course, this was a good excuse for being late to school. If altar servers were needed for a funeral, then we would be asked to serve and we were excused from school.
Holy Week was an exciting time to be an altar boy. There had to be over fifty of us that would fill up the first few pews on each side of the aisle during the Triduum. On Holy Thursday following the prayer after Communion, all would kneel as the priest would incense the Blessed Sacrament on the altar. The Blessed Sacrament was then carried through the church to the place of reposition. That was the side altar in the upper church where the Baptismal Font is now located. Throughout the night different organizations such as the Holy Name Society as well as the altar servers would sign up for an hour to kneel before the Blessed Sacrament. This was done throughout the night as the church was open for adoration all night.
In 1978 while I was teaching at Saint Agnes School, I became friends with John and Ginny Schwamb whose son and daughter I taught. In 1990 I was invited to their 25th Wedding Anniversary. Shortly after that celebration, they found a picture of their wedding which took place at Saint Agnes Church. There I was on the altar serving at their wedding. Neither John, Ginny nor I knew that I was the altar boy at their wedding in 1966.
I thoroughly enjoyed my many years serving Mass at Saint Agnes Church.
-David Lambert
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Saint Agnes Band
As we celebrate Saint Agnes Parish’s 150th anniversary, I would like to share some history of the band. Saint Agnes Band was formed under the direction of Monsignor Oscar O’Gorman (1950-1968) and Fr. John Carroll, its first Spiritual Director. Fr. Myron Bullock succeeded Fr. Carroll. There were about 40 members who first joined. Dominic Amoruso became the musical director and Myles McSweeney its first drill instructor before Bob Harrington began his tenure. Over the next few years the band grew in numbers. In 1957 the band won the Prep Division Championship. This victory elevated the Prep band to the Senior Circuit of the CYO. Later, a junior band began so they could develop future Senior Band members. In the early 60’s Mr. Ed Denon became the musical director, and George Oliviero was the Senior Band Drill Instructor. It was a huge commitment to be a member of the band. Starting in September, we would begin practicing for our February winter concerts. Practices for the entire band were held on Tuesday nights in the grammar school hall. Other nights were reserved for sectional rehearsals. As the winter concert approached, more rehearsals were scheduled. The February concert was held in Lowe Auditorium at Arlington High School during the Presidents’ Holiday Weekend. The Sunday before was used as a dress rehearsal there. I remember in 1969 while rehearsing at the auditorium, Fr. Bullock rushed in to tell us that we had to cut the rehearsal short as ten feet of snow had fallen since we had arrived. Each year the first performance was held on Saturday afternoon. This performance was held for the nuns from the archdiocese. The concert was also held on Sunday and Monday night for the general public. It was a full house.. These became very popular and audiences looked forward to coming back every year. At the end of February, practices began for the upcoming summer field competitions held around the greater Boston area. Not only did we have music rehearsals, but drill practices were also held to prepare us for the CYO competitions. We would often practice at “The Pit” as well as Pierce Field behind Arlington High School. Throughout the Spring we marched in parades in Arlington for Patriot’s Day and Memorial Day. Scituate, Somerville, Everett, and Gardner were parades held in the summer months. During the summer we could have as many as ten competitions. At one time Saint William’s Band in Dorchester was our biggest competitor. Whenever we won a competition, we would then assemble on Broadway and march down Medford Street to let the community know that we had come in first place that day. In spite of it being 10:00 PM, or later, we had a huge crowd cheering us on. Being a member of the band was a huge commitment. We would get 2 weeks off every summer. The rest of the summer we were very busy with practices and competitions. Most importantly, this organization forged friendships that have lasted for years and continue to this day. There were many couples who met while in the band and remain married to this day. In 1969, many members were about to graduate from high school, and other factors made it difficult for the band to continue. A difficult decision was made to disband the senior band. A farewell concert was held at Lowe Auditorium in February 1970. We all came back for this spectacular concert. The Prep band eventually became the Senior band still under the direction of Ed Denon. They would go on to win many CYO competitions. As members aged out some joined area Senior Drum Corps such as the Boston Crusaders, Holy Family Defenders, 27th Lancers and others. Saint Agnes Band was such a vital part of Saint Agnes Parish. I remember just before we would board the buses to leave for a competition, Fr. Bullock would gather us around in a circle and say a prayer ending with: St. Agnes, Pray for us, Our Lady Queen of Victories, Pray for us. -David Lambert, SAS ‘65, AC ‘69, Saint Agnes Band, ‘59-’70
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Our Family Roots at St. Agnes Parish
During this year’s celebration of the 150th Anniversary of St. Agnes Parish, I can’t help but think of my parents and my mother’s family. Mary Cullinane Lambert grew up with her nine siblings on both Franklin Street and Medford Street. They all attended Saint Agnes School and received their sacraments at Saint Agnes Church. Before my parents married on July 25, 1944 at St. Agnes Church, my father, Herb Lambert, converted to Catholicism. Together they raised five children who also attended Saint Agnes School and Arlington Catholic High School.
Herb was one of the first men in the archdiocese to become an Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Eucharist for Saint Agnes Parish. He was so proud of that honor. Herb was a member of the Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus and the Holy Name Society. During the 1960’s he was the manager of St. Agnes Senior Band.
Mary was also very active in the parish. She worked for a time at Arlington Catholic cafeteria, was a member of Sodality, Arlington Catholic High School Women’s Club as well as a member of the Arlington Catholic Women’s Club which involved all of the Catholic parishes in Arlington. She was also involved in many other parish endeavors. When the Parish needed volunteers to help organize the first Mass of Anointing, Mary was there. It was originally called The Shut In Mass because it brought many people who were confined to their own homes or nursing homes to be able to receive the Anointing of the Sick. When St. Agnes Band had their winter concerts during the 1960’s, Mary, along with many other women, would get local businesses to take out ads for the program. She was very involved in the life of the band. In 1981 she began working at the Rectory retiring in 1990. As you can see Saint Agnes Parish has meant so much to our family.
-David Lambert
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Finding Our Home at St. Agnes
Fabiola Aguilera’s beautiful article in the Feb. 6th bulletin reminded me of my own family’s story. My parents moved to Boston in the early 30s from the deep southern state of Georgia with 3 little girls and another on the way. Although not a foreign country, Georgia had a very different culture and although the language was English, many northerners could not figure the southern accent.
Their top priority in finding a place to live was to be near a Catholic Church and a Catholic school. On the recommendation of a priest at St. Peter’s in Cambridge (where they were staying temporarily) they found their home at St. Agnes.
The church looked much the same but the school had only two stories. The playground was all grass and the equipment was a slide, a seesaw, and swings. In its later years, I think they added a roundabout. Everyone walked to school, walked home for lunch and back, and at the end of the day back home again.
Fr. Flanerty was the pastor and wore a beretta. At report card time he came to each classroom to personally hand out his report. As I recall he had a smile for all of us.
My three sisters and I received a wonderful education at St. Agnes School thanks to the dedicated St. Joseph nuns who gave everything to teach us our faith and how to live it along with all the scholarly things.
Our grammar skills were noticed at Arlington High School where my three sisters were scholastic standouts and proceeded on to Harvard, MIT, Harvard Law, and Harvard Divinity School. I mention this only because I hold it as a tribute to St. Agnes School, the dedicated St. Joseph nuns, and the importance of a Catholic School Education.
Later we found our homes at St. Brigid’s in Lexington, Sacred Heart Church in Milledgeville, Georgia, and Our Lady of Guadalupe in Taos, New Mexico.
But I am still here and I can look out my window and see the Steeple of St. Agnes lit up at night. The school is quiet but in the morning the colorful bouncing backpacks bring everything back to life and I wonder what the new memories will be.
-- Frances Florencourt
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On a May Sunday afternoon in 1928, Dad took his two older daughters, Mary and Catherine (5 ½ and 3 ½ year old) on a Lechmere-Arlington bus ride so Mom could rest at home in Somerville apartment with baby Thomas Jr. (1 yr). Their bus detoured to Franklin Street for the St. Agnes School May Procession on upper Medford Street. Bill Sullivan, from Center block of Franklin Street, was building two-family houses in higher-numbered blocks of Franklin Street. Dad bought 139-141 Franklin Street, a 5-minute walk to St. Agnes church and a block from the Hamlet St. Bus Stop, that would take him daily via the Boston transit system to his Boston Letter Carrier post. Mary started Grade 1 at St. Agnes School in September ’28, Catherine following her in September ’29.
Fourth child, born in January ’29 was baptized Agnes Cecilia at St. Agnes Church and followed by two more children also finishing St. Agnes school with Grade 9 in 1949. Mount St. Joseph Academy added two sisters of St. Joseph in the ‘40’s, with Catherine serving as Principal of St. Agnes School and Agnes as Principal of St. Raphael’s School in the ‘70’s. Child #6 with 19 years in St. Agnes parish, 13 years in St. James parish, and 40+ years in St. Camillus parish is now back with St. Agnes parish in the Arlington Collaborative.
-- Anne Melly Doherty
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In Loving Memory of "Happy" Ahern
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My uncle, Francis “Happy” Ahern, a 1929 St. Agnes School graduate and St. Agnes parishioner, led an eventful life. He grew up on Wyman Terrace in East Arlington. As a toddler, he fell through the ice on Spy Pond and his life was saved by a nearby skater, George Gallerani, of Cambridge. The heroic Mr. Gallerani, age 32, drowned in the process of saving him.
In his high school years, Francis was a Boy Scout and achieved eagle scout status. At Arlington High School, he was the quarterback on the football team and president of the student council. After graduation, he enrolled at Boston University. During his sophomore year, 1934, he accompanied his uncle on a business trip to Mexico City. While there, under mysterious circumstances, he was shot and killed. He was 19 years old. His body was transported by train back to Boston.
News reports stated that his funeral, held at St. Agnes Church, had the largest attendance ever seen in Arlington. Of note, one of the pallbearers was his first cousin, and future speaker of the house of the U.S. House of Representatives, Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr.
Besides my uncle, my other connection to St. Agnes parish is that my mother, Regina (Ahern) Harvey, was a St. Agnes School (1935) graduate and St. Agnes parishioner. My father, James E. Harvey, her Arlington High classmate, was a St. James parishioner. Their wedding took place in 1951 at St. Agnes Church.
--- Tom Harvey
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Catholicism Comes to ArlingtonOne hundred fifty years ago the local ecclesiastical authority incorporated a large area which included Arlington, Belmont, Lexington, and Bedford into the new Parish of Saint Agnes to meet the spiritual needs of an estimated 150 Catholic families. Most of whom were Irish immigrants.
We have often heard of how difficult it was for the early immigrants who moved to America from foreign lands. The early members of Saint Agnes Parish experienced many of those same hardships. They were unpopular because of their race and religious beliefs and the only jobs made available to them were low paying and for unskilled labor.
Since those early days, parishioners have made many personal sacrifices to support the needs of their church. Through their generosity, God's work has prospered in Arlington, and Saint Agnes Parish has provided a strong foundation for Catholicism in our community.
As the needs of the Parish grew, funds were raised to build many facilities, including Saint Agnes Elementary School, Saint Agnes Convent (now the Parish Center), Fidelity House with its Monsignor Flaherty Gymnasium, and Arlington Catholic High School with the addition of Monsignor Linnehan Library. Each facility has touched the lives of parishioners, enriched the education of our children, served in the performance of charitable works of mercy, and brought us together in a spirit of Christian community.
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Tom Tierney
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My grandfather, Tom Tierney, came to this country from Co. Galway, Ireland, alone and single, in the early 1860's, and settled in Arlington Heights boarding with a friend. Tom had no schooling, couldn't read nor write, his only skill was being willing to work hard. He got a job with the Arlington Gas Works on Grove Street as a "stoker" (shoveling coal) and built a house that still stands at what is now the intersection of Brattle St., and Summer St. He met his friend's sister-in-law Ellen Donovan, from Co. Kerry, and they were married in St. Peter's in Cambridge in 1868 by Father Manassas P. Dougherty, who later became the first pastor of St. Malachy's, now St. Agnes.
When St. Malachy's was being built all the Irish immigrants in Arlington would go to the site after their long day's work, and help dig the basement for the new church by hand. Tom and Ellen were charter members of St. Malachy's and raised 12 children there (and St. Agnes). Our family has had a continuous presence in St. Agnes since it began and when our grandchildren come to visit I delight in telling them they are the family's 5th generation to attend Mass at St. Agnes.
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