Notre Dame Des Sept Douleurs Church

In 1877, Fr. Charles Crevier, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in North Adams, built St. Joseph's Chapel on
Columbia Street in Adams, to serve as a location for Mass for the town's French-speaking Catholics. This was the town's first Catholic church.

The local congregation grew, and in March of 1882, Bishop Patrick O'Reilly of Springfield elevated St.
Joseph's to a parish under the patronage of Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs (Our Lady of the Seven
Sorrows), appointing Fr. Jean Baptiste Charbonneau as its first pastor.

In time, the chapel's seating capacity of 500 proved to be too small. With the financial help of the
Brown, Renfrew, and Plunkett families, Fr. Charbonneau purchased an imposing property across the
street from St. Joseph's, and began construction of a new parish church. The cornerstone was laid on
June 15, 1887, by Bishop O'Reilly. The architects Perreault and Mesnard of Montreal were hired to
design the church, and the Barilett Bros. of North Adams were appointed the contractors. The church is notable in Adams for its exterior iconography reflecting the church's patron: seven swords are carved over the two side entrances, and a sword and heart over the main entrance.

Construction of a rectory, convent, and school (the first parochial school in Adams) quickly followed.

The church's French connections were strong in its early years. Sisters of the Holy Cross were brought
from Saint Laurent, Montreal to teach the schoolchildren. A church organ was procured from
Saint Hyacinthe in Canada, and three steeple bells named Fa, Sol, and La, were imported from the Paccard foundry in Annecy-le-Vieux, France, and blessed in 1905. Murals, the Way of the Cross, gold-leaf colonnades, electric lights, and statues were also added to the church.

When all was ready, Notre Dame church was solemnly consecrated ("dedicated" in today's terminology) on June 6, 1909, the first French parish church in New England privileged to undergo this sacred ritual. Twelve inset crosses circling the interior walls of the church were anointed by the Bishop; they remain today as perpetual signs of the consecration. The rite of solemn consecration impresses a sacred character on the building, such that it can never be put to any other use. Notre Dame is the only consecrated/dedicated Catholic church in Adams (the other two Catholic churches in Adams underwent a simpler rite of blessing).

After 50 years of service, the church was refurbished in 1930 by then-pastor Fr. Joseph T. Smith. Fr.
Smith was a much-loved pastor who in 1954 was elevated by Pope Pius XII to Domestic Prelate, a special honor granted in view of services rendered to the Church. He is the only Adams priest so honored. At his death in 1963, his long service as priest and then pastor at Notre Dame spanned 50 years, a record for any clergyman in Adams.

The years 1962-1965 witnessed the Second Vatican Council in Rome. Many changes in liturgy and
customs swept through American churches in its aftermath. In keeping with the fashion of that era,
Notre Dame church removed its murals, statues, and communion rail, and the ornate altar was replaced with a simpler one. Church updates included installing storm windows, restoring the stained-glass windows, rebuilding the church steps, and purchasing ceiling fans, a new organ, and carillons.

In 1994, the pastorate of Notre Dame parish was assigned to Fr. Daniel Boyle, the pastor of neighboring St. Thomas Aquinas church. Fr. Boyle continued as pastor of both parishes until 1998, when they were merged into one Parish of Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs and St. Thomas Aquinas. In 2003, the pastorate of St. Stanislaus Kostka, the third Catholic parish in Adams, was added to Fr. Boyle's duties.

Finally, in 2009, both St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Stanislaus parishes were suppressed, and all three
former Adams parishes were merged into a new parish on the Notre Dame campus under the patronage of Blessed (now Saint) John Paul II, with Fr. Boyle continuing as pastor. Notre Dame church remained as the parish church, although it retained its original name (a solemnly consecrated church's name cannot be changed without a grave reason and special permission of the Apostolic See). The churches of St. Thomas and St. Stanislaus were closed, but after appeal by the parishioners of St. Stanislaus, Rome overturned the closure of St. Stanislaus church in 2012, and today it serves as a Mission Church in the parish of Saint John Paul II.

Notre Dame des Sept Douleurs church remains in active use today as the primary parish church of St.
John Paul II parish.

Centennial Anniversary Book 1882-1982