About

As we look back over the past fifteen decades, and more, we have seen a history of which all of us can be proud. Each person who has ever been a part of St. Michael’s Parish has helped to forge a great history and to create a legacy of service and love in the name of Jesus Christ, for anyone seeking a home.

Our rich history begins on June 21, 1857, when a tiny Baptist church was dedicated as St. Bernard’s Mission Church, which would eventually become St. Michael’s Parish. The city’s Irish immigrants, many of whom had left behind the Great Famine, and who had to contend with malnutrition, hazardous work conditions and poor housing, began a ministry to the disadvantaged that became the bedrock foundation of our parish.

This legacy was acknowledged and lived out decade after decade, for new immigrants (Irish, Spanish Hmong, African, Haitian), by people of faith who had only one answer to strife; to love like Christ loved his people.

This small introduction is offered as a prologue to a history of our parish which can be found in WORLD HISTORY AND ST. MICHAEL’S HISTORY. This short history of St. Michael’s Parish is offered to you to help you understand, decade by decade, the developments in our parish in counter-balance to events taking place at the same time around the globe.

Our parish has grown and evolved over our 150+ years. The English, Irish brogue, French Canadian, Italian, and Portuguese languages of our early years, though still spoken by our community, have been enriched by Portuguese Creole, Spanish, Hmong, Haitian Creole, Kirundi, Kinyarwanda, Swahili and Arabic.  In a 2016 survey, St. Michael’s community members represented over 40 different countries of origin or identification. We are Many Languages, Many Cultures, One Community in Christ and we are so blessed to have such diversity in our Providence home.