Two Parishes, One Community on Washington Street
Corpus Christi-St. Bernard Parish is the Roman Catholic faith community that bridges the western neighborhoods of Newton, Massachusetts, drawing its name from the two worship sites that came together in 2006. The parish stretches along Washington Street from Auburndale to West Newton, and the people of Newton have been gathering for prayer under one or the other of these parish names for more than two centuries.
The parish mission statement reads: "Corpus Christi-St. Bernard Parish is a Catholic faith community centered in the Eucharistic celebration. We give witness to our baptismal promises and commit ourselves to learn, love, and live the message of Jesus Christ." Everything from the daily Mass schedule to the parish's social-justice drives flows from that Eucharistic center. The parish belongs to the Archdiocese of Boston and is led today by Father Dan O'Connell, who has served as pastor since December 2012.
From Town Hall Masses to a Gothic Brick: A History of St. Bernard's
The older of the two founding communities began in the northern part of the city. In May 1869 Father Bernard Flood of Waltham, who had been saying Mass in the area since about 1866, purchased a lot at Washington and Prospect Streets and rented West Newton's Town Hall for Sunday services so the local Catholics could meet and plan a church of their own. The cornerstone of St. Bernard's was blessed on November 12, 1871, and on August 23, 1874, Bishop Williams dedicated a tasteful Gothic brick church that had cost about $45,000. Two years later West Newton was made a separate parish under Father Michael T. McManus.
Under the third pastor, Father Lawrence J. O'Toole (who served from 1886 to 1911), disaster struck on the evening of June 23, 1889, when fire nearly destroyed the church. The congregation again made its way to the Town Hall, but the pastor and the people rebuilt quickly, substantially along the old lines, and the rededication took place on April 27, 1890.
From a Pharmacy Hall to a Solemn Consecration: A History of Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi Church began in 1922, and it was a busy first year. The first Mass was celebrated on June 25, 1922, in Norumbega Hall above the former Keyes Drug Store (now BreadSong Bakery) on Auburn Street in Auburndale. The Rev. Thomas McManmon had been assigned as pastor on June 19, and on July 2 the parish was named Corpus Christi. A July census listed 190 families. By September the parish had opened its first Sunday school in Norumbega Hall and acquired the Hildreth home at 45 Ash Street to serve as a rectory.
Plans for a new church were submitted in April 1923, and the blessing of the ground and turning of the first sod took place that same month. By November the basement chapel was finished and ready for Mass. In the early 1940s funds were accumulated to build the present church, and on February 26, 1955, Cardinal Richard J. Cushing solemnly consecrated the completed upper church. Father Joseph F. McGlone arrived as administrator in 1972 and was named pastor in 1973, spending 30 of the parish's first 80 years there.
One Parish, Two Worship Sites
On July 1, 2006, Father Frank J. Silva became the first pastor of the newly formed Corpus Christi-St. Bernard Parish. In those first years Father Silva assembled a new pastoral staff, created and developed councils and commissions, made significant improvements to both worship sites, and sought to bring unity to the two communities. Father Dan O'Connell took over in December 2012, and his energy and vision have continued to build on the foundation laid by the priests who served both parishes for more than two centuries.
The parish offices sit at 1523 Washington Street in West Newton, just a short distance from the St. Bernard church. The Corpus Christi site is in Auburndale. Office hours run Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm and Friday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. The parish can be reached by phone at 617-244-0608, by fax at 617-969-1025, or by email at info@ccsbparish.org. Online giving is available through the parish's WeShare portal.
Mass Times, Reconciliation, and Adoration
The rhythm of parish life centers on the Eucharist. Daily Mass is offered Monday through Wednesday at 8:00 am, and the Saturday Vigil Mass is at 4:00 pm. Sunday Masses are at 8:00 am and 10:00 am. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is celebrated on Saturday afternoons from 3:00 to 3:30 pm, and confessions are also available by appointment. Eucharistic Adoration follows the Wednesday morning Mass from 8:30 to 9:30 am, offering a full hour of quiet with the Lord.
The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick can be conferred on anyone with a serious illness; the parish urges families not to wait until the last moment, as priest availability can be limited. Those interested in discerning a vocation to the priesthood or diaconate are invited to contact Father Dan through the parish office.
Preparing for the Sacraments: Baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation
Baptisms are celebrated at 11:30 am on the third Sunday of the month, except during Lent, and they may also take place during Mass. The parish asks that families begin by participating in Sunday Mass and registering with the parish. Baptism preparation is a two-part process: parents and godparents complete a video-based formation at home, then meet with a member of the Baptism team. A child must have at least one godparent who is a confirmed, practicing Catholic aged 16 or older. Adults seeking Baptism are invited into the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA) process.
First Reconciliation and First Communion preparation take place in second grade through the Faith Formation program, using Ascension Press's Renewed and Received programs. Children explore the depth of God's mercy, learn that Reconciliation is a place of victory, and encounter Jesus in the Eucharist over twelve lessons. Parents of older children or adults seeking First Communion can contact the parish to make arrangements.
Confirmation preparation has been restructured from a 9th- and 10th-grade sequence into a 7th- and 8th-grade two-year program. The change reflects the new national direction announced in January 2024, and Brendan and Lauren Belschner, the parish's Confirmation coordinators, are guiding the transition. The program emphasizes Confirmation as a commitment to active membership in the Church rather than a graduation from faith formation.
Faith Formation for Every Grade
Faith Formation sessions for kindergarten through seventh grade and Confirmation preparation for grades 7 and 8 both meet on Sunday mornings from 8:55 to 9:55 am in the Parish Hall. The K-1 year introduces children to the Bible and the story of Salvation History using Ascension Press's God's Plan in Scripture and the Great Adventure Bible Timeline. Second grade focuses on sacramental preparation, third grade revisits the Bible program in light of having received First Reconciliation and First Communion, and grades 4 through 6 turn to the Augustine Institute's Word of Life program to explore the Church's doctrine. The parish also partners with parents to present the Empowering God's Children safety curriculum each year, with an opt-out form available for families who prefer to cover the material at home.
Tim DeRosa serves as Director of Faith Formation and Youth Ministry. A 2022 graduate of Mount St. Mary's with a degree in theology focused on liturgy, Tim sees his work as accompanying and empowering families to integrate the faith into everyday life. He is supported by Sr. Irene Laurence, MFIC, a Franciscan sister, who can be reached for faith formation inquiries. The 2026-2027 registration fee is $85 per child with a $255 family maximum, with scholarship donations welcomed.
Youth Ministry: Middle School and High School
The parish youth ministry program, which works hand in hand with the Faith Formation program, builds on the framework of catechesis, discussion, evangelization, justice and service, leadership development, pastoral care, and prayer and worship. The middle school program is theme-based, always directed toward Jesus, and designed to help youth explore their faith, reinforce Catholic values with peers, and develop leadership skills. The high school program focuses on building lifelong friendships in a positive Catholic social environment and creating a safe, welcoming, and casual space where teens can challenge and explore their faith together. Parents seeking more information can reach the high school ministry at hsministry@ccsbparish.org.
Lay Ministry at the Altar
Corpus Christi-St. Bernard has a deep bench of liturgical lay ministry. Children in third grade and older are invited to serve as Altar Servers, typically one to two times a month. Adult and teen Lectors proclaim the first and second readings and may lead the Prayers of the Faithful; new candidates receive formation from a member of the pastoral staff in the spirituality of the Word, prayerful preparation, liturgy of the Word, and proclamation practice. Eucharistic Ministers prayerfully distribute the Body and Blood of Christ, and the parish emphasizes eye contact, the words of the formula, and reverence in touch as central to the ministry. To learn more about any of these roles, parishioners are encouraged to contact Sr. Suzanne Fondini.
Mass and Sacristy Coordinators prepare the sanctuary, ensure all liturgical ministers are present, and typically arrive 30 minutes before Mass and remain 15 minutes after. The Liturgical Environment team arranges flowers and greenery around the main and side altars, with special emphasis placed on the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. Ushers and Greeters help people feel safe and welcomed as they arrive at the church. The Funeral Team helps families choose readings, music, and other liturgical details and assists with set-up, greeting, ushering, and clean-up, offering the consolation that comes from a community burying its dead together as a work of mercy.
Music Ministry
Music at the parish is led by Mary Nolan, who has served as Music Director for eight years. Mary plays both the organ and the keyboard and directs the Adult and Children's Choirs. Leaders of Song are seasoned singers who lead the assembly at one parish Mass each weekend and at seasonal celebrations such as Christmas and Easter. The Adult Choir sings at the 10:00 am Mass and at other special liturgies, rehearsing for 15 minutes before each Mass and for one hour after Sunday Mass, with additional rehearsals scheduled throughout the year. High school youth are strongly encouraged to join. The Children's Choir comes together several times a year for Christmas, Easter, and First Eucharist celebrations, with children ages 6 to 12 invited to participate.
Commissions and Councils
The Parish Pastoral Council is a consultative body that advises the pastor, helps assess the needs of the parish, fosters unity, and creates a sense of community. Most council members are elected by parishioners for a specific term, with some appointed by the pastor. The Finance Council, appointed by the pastor, offers guidance and counsel on financial planning and budgetary matters. The Worship Commission encourages and facilitates full, active, and conscious participation at every liturgy, with particular attention to the major seasons of the Church year. Beyond these formal bodies, the Social Justice Commission organizes service opportunities with local, regional, national, and international charities, including the Advent Giving Tree, the Thanksgiving Food Drive, the Easter Basket Drive, Julie's Learning Center, Operation Rice Bowl, Bristol Lodge, and Soap for Prisoners. The Activities Commission, in turn, plans the parish BBQ, pancake breakfast, potluck dinners, and Easter egg hunt.
Parish Groups, Prayer, and Fellowship
Three recurring groups round out the parish's fellowship life. The Men's Prayer Group welcomes men of all ages on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm for discussion of topics of interest to the Church today, along with prayer and fellowship. The Scripture Study Group meets twice a month on Sunday evenings, virtually over Zoom and occasionally at Allen Place, to help parishioners take a closer look at the Bible through reading and discussion. The Guild is a social, religious, charitable, and educational group of parishioners that gathers approximately six times a year, with meetings that may include a spiritual talk, craft activities, a theatre outing, social outreach, or a dinner party. A modest annual fee helps defray the cost of materials.
Small Groups offer more intensive faith sharing. In summer 2026 the parish offered a six-week Wednesday morning small group at 10:30 am that used RENEW International's In the Light of Justice to explore Catholic Social Teaching, including the common good, the dignity of work in the age of AI, the option for the poor and vulnerable, solidarity, care for our common home, and faith in action. A Lenten small group is also offered each year.
Community Life Through the Year
The parish calendar weaves together the rhythms of the liturgical year and the social life of the community. The Season of Creation in September is marked by a parish Outdoor Mass. November brings a Mass of Remembrance for friends and family who have passed, alongside Julie's Thanksgiving Drive, which collects nonperishable food, paper goods, and Stop & Shop gift cards for families in need, with drop-offs at Allen Place. The Advent Giving Tree supports local communities with gift cards and gifts. The Poinsettia Festival fills the Parish Hall on the first weekend of December, accompanied by a daily calendar draw. February brings the Annual Parish Pancake Breakfast. Lent features Stations of the Cross, a three-day parish mission, and a Spaghetti Supper for fellowship, and the Guild Dinner in April closes out the Guild year. Julie's Back to School Drive in August rounds out the year with school supply collections for students in need.
Marriage, Funerals, and Family Life
The parish prepares couples for the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, walking them through readings, music, and liturgical details. A marriage-readings resource is available to help couples plan the celebration, and weddings at the parish follow the Order of Celebrating Matrimony. A priest is available to bring a civil marriage into the Church, to marry a Catholic to a non-Catholic or catechumen with the proper approvals, or to celebrate a Catholic marriage without a full Mass.
For families at the time of death, the Funeral Team offers consolation and practical help. The parish provides a detailed Funeral Liturgy Selection Form with extensive options for Old Testament and New Testament readings, the Responsorial Psalm, and hymns for the entrance, preparation of the gifts, Communion, and recessional. The team also coordinates with funeral directors, family contacts, and the parish's Music Director on arrangements.
The Liturgy Course
A distinctive feature of the parish is its Liturgy Course, a long-running series of short articles published in 2026 that walks readers through the parts of the Mass, the sacraments, the Paschal Triduum, and the ministries in the Church. The series covers the Introductory Rites, the Liturgy of the Word, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist in turn, with entries on the Greeting, the Penitential Act, the Gloria, the Collect, the Readings, the Responsorial Psalm, the Gospel, the Homily, the Creed, the Prayers of the Faithful, the Offertory, the Eucharistic Prayer, the Lord's Prayer, the Sign of Peace, the Fraction, and Communion. Separate sections explore each sacrament in depth: Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. The Triduum entries walk readers through Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and the Easter Vigil, while the ministries entries describe the roles of the assembly, acolyte, reader, priest, deacon, cantor, choir, and altar servers. The course is a way for parishioners to deepen their understanding of the Mass and the sacramental life of the Church.
Faith Formation in Spanish
The parish serves Spanish-speaking parishioners through fully translated materials, including the history of the parish, the staff, the sacraments, liturgical ministries, baptism preparation, the funeral team, faith formation, parish events, parish groups, daily readings, and the saint of the day. Sr. Suzanne Fondini, who spent half of her recent sabbatical at the Mexican American Cultural Center in San Antonio, Texas, learning Spanish, is one of several staff members able to bridge the two communities. Spanish-speaking families can register their children in the parish's Faith Formation program and participate in the same sacramental preparation offered in English.
Protecting God's Children
All parishioners engaged in any form of lay ministry are required to participate in the VIRTUS Protecting God's Children 4.0 training, a 2022 update of the original program that incorporates issues related to the internet and present-day approaches to child sexual abuse. The Archdiocese of Boston strongly encourages anyone who participated in a program before 2015 to attend the updated version. The parish periodically hosts a session in the Parish Center, and prospective lay ministers are asked to register through the parish office at 617-244-0608.
Meet the Staff
Father Dan O'Connell is a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, ordained in 1983, who has served in parishes in Lowell, Quincy, West Newton, Cambridge, and downtown Boston. In addition to his pastoral duties, he has worked as Associate Director of the Office of Spiritual Life at the Archdiocese's Pastoral Center, leading retreats, parish renewals, and catechetical workshops. He teaches homiletics through the Office of the Permanent Diaconate, studied homiletics at Catholic University in 1988, and is a member of the Catholic Association of Teachers of Homiletics. In 1989 he shot the pilot episode of CatholicTV's award-winning show We've Got To Talk, now the longest-running studio series in the history of the network, and is the recipient of the 1997 Proclaim Award from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Sr. Suzanne Fondini, MFIC, is the pastoral associate. A member of the Franciscan Missionaries of Christ the King for over 40 years, she grew up in East Boston, was educated at Newton College of the Sacred Heart and St. Bonaventure University, and served for many years as principal of Mt. Alvernia High School in Newton and St. Monica School in Methuen. She has also served as Provincial of her Franciscan order and on the provincial team working with sisters in the United States, Canada, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Bolivia, and Peru.
Sr. Irene Laurence, MFIC, serves as Director of Faith Formation. A native of Philadelphia, she has been a Franciscan for more than 46 years, with degrees in English and education and a master's in supervision and curriculum from Boston College, and an advanced certificate in ESL. She has served as a teacher, principal at Mount Alvernia Academy in Newton and St. Theresa Academy in Cresskill, New Jersey, and as assistant superintendent of schools in the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey.
Tim DeRosa is the Director of Faith Formation and Youth Ministry. Anthony (Tony) Caruso is the Pastoral Associate and Director of Finance and Operations, with a long career in community banking and a master's in ministry from St. John's Seminary. Paula Chesbrough serves as Director of Liturgy, with a master's in ministry from the Theological Institute at St. John's Seminary and a long career in banking before her retirement. Paige Carroll is the Coordinator of Parish Services. Brendan and Lauren Belschner lead the Confirmation program. Mary Nolan directs the music ministry, and Jay Porter serves as Facilities Consultant.
Getting to the Parish
From Route 128/95 North of Newton, take 128/95 South to Exit 39 for Route 30 East. Follow Route 30 East for 1.4 miles and turn left on Auburn Street. At the end of Auburn Street turn left onto Washington Street. The church is on the left. From Route 128/95 South, take 128/95 North to Exit 39 for Route 30 East and follow the same directions. From Boston, take the Mass Pike East to Exit 125A for Route 16 West. Follow Route 16 West to Washington Street and turn right. The church is on the right.
Daily Mass schedules, the parish calendar, the weekly bulletin, online giving, parish registration, faith formation registration, and ministry sign-ups are all available. The bulletin is also available through Parishes Online. The parish maintains a Facebook page and an Instagram account, and a video of the Baptism preparation course is featured on its YouTube channel. Anyone new to the area or curious about the Catholic faith is warmly invited to attend Mass, meet the parish staff, and consider joining this faith community that has been serving the people of Newton for more than 240 years.