Spotlight on St. Catherine's Parish

St. Catherine’s Roman Catholic Church on North Main Street looks like the set of a movie, but it’s understandable why its pious looking environment may have once been one.

A brick exterior, vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows create a traditional ecclesiastical atmosphere at St. Catherine’s, which was rumored to have been the basis for the Church at Stoneberry in the 1963 film The Cardinal.

That ambiance has helped it become the church for many families in Westford as well as many surrounding communities.

 “A fast growing church is one way I would describe it,” pastoral associate Peg Hicks said. “We were overflowing by the 1980s and 1990s when the whole computer industry was exploding in this area.”

Founded in 1892, St. Catherine’s first located a building across the street from the current site, moving into its current building in 1935 to handle the influx of new parishioners.

Since then, St. Catherine’s has grown to thousands of registered parishioners, and usually more than a thousand turn out for major holiday masses such as Christmas and Easter. But despite its size, the church is still a place for an intimate mass to reflect and repent.

“For a daily mass we might only have 20 to 50 people,” Father David White said. “But, it’s not so much about the numbers; it’s about the faith and the quality of the life that people that’s so, so important.”

According to White, what has helped St. Catherine’s grow is its proximity to so many major population centers.

“It’s pretty well-located,” White said. “We’re not that far from Boston. We’re not that far from Worcester. We’re close to New Hampshire. A lot of families are coming with young children, which is a positive sign that in the future the church will continue to grow.”

More information about St. Catherine’s Roman Catholic Church, including schedules and contact information, is available at www.westford.com/StCatherines.