Diocesan News
Diocese of Portland

Sacred Heart Church in Auburn to hold centennial celebration on October 22

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Sacred Heart Church

Bishop Robert Deeley will join with parishioners on Sunday, October 22, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Sacred Heart Church in Auburn. The celebration, which will include Mass at 11 a.m. followed by a reception, is an opportunity to gather to remember the past, to celebrate the lives and works of all who have worshiped and grown together in faith at the parish through the years, and to look to the future.

Sacred Heart Parish was founded in 1923 to serve a Lewiston-Auburn community that was growing due to an influx of Irish and French-Canadian immigrants, which began in the late 1800s. It was the second parish founded in Auburn, following St. Louis, which was established in 1891.

A seven-acre piece of property was bought for the new parish. It consisted of a home, which was used as the rectory, and a large stable, which was converted for use as a church. Mass was celebrated in the former stable for 15 years until a new Sacred Heart Church could be built. It opened in 1938.

The parish originally had 215 families but that grew to 600 by the end of World War II. The parish opened its own school in 1952 with Sisters of St. Joseph of Lyon as teachers. A convent for them was added in 1957. Today, the school building houses the St. Mary’s Renaissance School.

Sacred Heart Church underwent extensive renovations in the early 1990s, which included reversing the direction of the nave. The church had a sloping floor, and with the turnaround, the pews in the back were higher, rather than lower, allowing for better visibility of the sanctuary.

In 2008, Sacred Heart merged with St. Louis Parish and St. Philip Parish, which was founded in 1968, to form Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish. St. Louis Church closed in 2013, but the churches of Sacred Heart and St. Philip continue to serve the people of Auburn today.

All are invited to attend the October 22nd centennial Mass, for which Bishop Robert Deeley will be joined by current and former priests of the parish.