The Start of the Church

The Portuguese community of Ludlow started with a few workers recruited to the Ludlow Mills. They came in general from the area of Providence. Then a representative of the company would go to that direction and try to recruit more immigrants to add to the ones already established in Ludlow. Little by little the group grew and wives and children joined their spouses.

The Great Depression came and in order to survive a great part of those without a job had to return to the home country. They had their plot of land and could fair better working  it. Later on their sons, born in the USA, were confronted with a dilemma: to go in the Portuguese army and lose their American citizenship or return to their country of birth. It is said that the majority chose the latter. And the Portuguese community grew by leaps and bounds.

During the Second World War more immigrants arrived but it was in the late fifties, sixties and early seventies that the community as it is known today was rounded. The first groups were almost exclusively from the north of Portugal, from the province of Trás-os-Montes with a few exceptions from the Islands and Cape Verde. The Later groups came from the same north but with new elements now from Minho, Beiras and Estremadura.

Extremely religious and very much attached to their cultural roots from the beginning the members of the community started to feel a need to worship in their mother tongue and to celebrate their special feasts.

They were welcomed by Father Chabot of St John the Baptist Church that seeing how devoted they were promptly learned their language in order to minister and to get close to them. The community ended up with the 11.00 am Mass being celebrated in Portuguese. But they new that was not enough. They wanted their own church. For that purpose funds were collected for thirty years through breakfasts, little sales, and door to door contributions, in enormous and ingenious ways for a people with very little money but with a tremendous will and a beautiful and strong heart. They wanted their church to be called St Anthony’s and started celebrating annually his feat on June 13 with great joy. People came from everywhere to partake of their hospitality.

Finally in 1948 Bishop O‘Leary gave them permission and the new parish was born although without an edifice. A visiting priest from Portugal, Father Manuel Rocha, offered his ministry to the bishop who nominated him as administrator. Meanwhile Mass i.e. the Eucharist, left St John’s and was being celebrated at the Grémio Lusitano.

On Labor Day 1949 the present Church was inaugurated and dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima and not to St Anthony’s as it was planned. The reason was that Father Rocha convinced the community that many other churches existed already with the name of the saint but Our Lady of Fatima would be the first one in the Diocese. The people agreed with their spiritual leader.

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The Chapel and Shrine

The construction of the original Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima in Ludlow began under the direction of Rev. Manuel Rocha. It was a replica of the Chapel of the Apparitions in Fatima Portugal.

The chapel is set on a hill overlooking the church. A base of concreate, stucco walls over cinder blocks, 16 wooden columns, and enclosed enclave was the focal point of the devoted. A statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was venerated.

Since the early 80's the community felt the need to reconstruct the "Capelinha" due to it's advance state of decay.

Fr. David Farland, Fr. Rocha's successor, started a fundraising campaign for that purpose.

A new building was designed in July 1990, Fr. Vitor Oliveira (present pastor) inherited the project and with great pleasure oversaw it's completion.

In our shrine grounds we have two monuments that attest to our faith and culture.

1. A monument depicting in marble Our Lady of Fatima appearing to the three shepherds.
   
2. A St. Anthony Fountain with a Statue of the Saint, in granite, which replaced an old well that was on the grounds.

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Updates to the Church

The moment I visited the parish, well before I was named its administrator in July of 1990, I saw that there was a lot to do if we wanted to make long-term plans for the future. The first step we took was the acquisition of the property that was between our parking lot and the Lusitano Club Soccer Field. Then we concentrated our attention on the church building getting volunteers to build an access ramp for the handicapped.

Meanwhile, the construction of the new Chapel and of the Sanctuary was nearing completion. I started to organize a construction committee that, with the parish council, helped me to plan a long-term project of renovation. We concluded the first phase of construction, the rectory and parish offices. We avoided the traditional New England models and chose an architectural style that reminded us of our homeland – a Mediterranean architectural style.

We proceeded with a second phase that consisted of the interior renovation of the church building and its Sanctuary. We substituted the dark wooden panels that existed at the back of the Sanctuary and in some of the lateral walls. The lateral confessionals were transformed into small chapels where the statues of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Sacred Heart of Mary were placed, as well as the electric votive candles from the Sanctuary. At the entrance to the church, we built a small reconciliation room. The partition that separated the Sanctuary from the rest of the church was removed, and the floor in front of the main altar was substituted by dark gray Brazilian granite. The renovation of the Sanctuary was completed with a new main altar with a sculpture of the Last Supper imported from Italy, a new tabernacle from Madrid, new chairs, candleholders, and a crucifix imported from Braga. The pedestals for the tabernacle and for the statue of Our Lady of Fatima and the baptismal font were sculpted in granite by one of our parishioners.

The most ambitious part of the project came next. We wanted something that would provide light and color to the back of the sanctuary and complemented the statue of the Risen Christ sculpted in Braga. We proposed the idea to various studios and of all the projects that were submitted to us, we accepted that of J. Piercey Studios of Orlando, Florida, who sent us a design to be built in Italy in mosaic with the theme: "The Lord Comes in His Glory to Judge the World Surrounded by His Archangels." We then reached the conclusion that in order to broaden the visual perspective we needed to cover the two lateral altars with panels. Thus, coming from the same studio, we received the panels for the Tabernacle, showing two seraphim in adoration, and to the pedestal of Our Lady of Fatima, a scarlet-oak and "The Miracle of the Sun," all from Italian mosaic.

Then began the third and last phase of the project: the Parish Center. Even though we did not have 100% of the needed budget, the Most Reverend Timothy McDonnell, Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, gave us permission to begin the construction. What we used to call the "white house" was demolished and the foundation for the new center was laid.

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