History of Blessed Sacrament

      A  mission was first established in Allegan in 1907, during the time that Father Henry O'Neil was pastor of St. Margaret's Church in Otsego.  He offered the first Mass in Allegan in the G.A.R. Hall on the second floor above Wise Grocery (now Mode O'Day Fashions) on Locust Street in the business district.  The first Mass was attended by three people, Mrs. Mattie Terry, and Emmett and Tom Flynn.  After that, Fr. O'Neil rode the train from Otesgo to Allegan to say Mass every third week on Saturday morning.
     Eventually, the property, which included a large house on the southeast corner of Cedar and Trowbridge Streets, was bought from the Armstrong family, and a portion of the house on the corner lot was used to offer Mass every other week.  Later, this portion was remodeled into a chapel and  the other part as the present rectory.  This wooden church, known as the Church of the Holy Sacrament , was used until the present building was constructed.
     Pastors of St. Margaret's in Otsego who celebrated Mass in Allegan during the time it was a mission were: Fr. O'Neil (1903-1914), Fr. Joseph Lahey (1914-1918), Fr. John Griffin (1918-1920), Fr. William Gannon (1920-1926), and Fr. Donahue (1926-1934).
    Mrs. Doris Mason, a parishioner who attended early Masses in the wooden church, remembers about 19 people attending Mass at this time.  By 1930, there were 19 families in the parish.
    Blessed Sacrament was established as a parish, with Sacred Heart, Watson, as a mission in  October 1934, by Bishop M.J. Gallagher of Detroit, with Fr. James A Callahan, previous assistant to Fr. Charles Coughlin of Royal Oak, first resident pastor.
    Construction of the present church on the site of the wooden church was begun shortly, after Fr. Callahan's arrival.  Raising money to build the church was a major project for the many residents of Allegan and surrounding areas, who  attended the St. Patrick's Day fund raising banquets each year.
    While the church was under construction, the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd was offered to Fr. Callahan for the celebration of Mass.  For four or five months, the two congregations shared facilities, except that each used their own candles.
    Mass was first celebrated in the present church in August 1935, before the interior was completed.
    The bricks, purchased in Detroit for the exterior of the church, were shipped to Allegan at no cost to the parish, due to the kindness of Henry Ford I, who was a good friend of Fr. Callahan.  The solid bronze candlesticks in the church were donated by Fr. Coughlin.  Walnut trees for the pews and doors, and the rocks which decorate the exterior of the church, were donated by the farmers of the parish.
    As the  church neared completion, parishioners decided that a parking lot was necessary.  Three houses located on Cedar and Hubbard Streets were purchased and razed, and the parking lot, also used for many years as a playground, was added
    The house at 110 Cedar St. was  bought in 1951, to be used as a convent.  Until the Sisters moved in, in 1955, it was used for meetings, dinners, etc.
     The present school was bought in 1953, and Blessed Sacrament School was built in 1954 during the pastorate of Fr. Ed Jaworowicz.  The school opened in September 1955 under the direction of Sister of St. Joseph of Nazareth, Michigan and included grades 1-8, with Mother M. Natalie as its first principal.  Four lay teachers taught the upper six until February 1956, when they were replaced by three sisters.
    The school continued to function as a parochial school until 1966, when it became necessary to close because of a shortage of available sisters.  The building was then leased to the Allegan Public Schools for three years.
    In the Fall of 1967 pastor Fr. Donald Weber initiated the Total Religious Education Program, with the assistance of the school sisters of Notre Dame of Mequon, Wisconsin.  Fr. Weber was also spiritual director of three Cursillo weekends held at Blessed Sacrament in 1968 and 1969.
    The Allegan County Catholic Credit Union was organized in 1956 with Blessed Sacrament and Sacred Heart parishes participating.  It presently includes all but two of the country's nine parishes and has 1,201 members.  For 24 years the office was located in the basement of Blessed Sacrament School, but in the fall of 1979, it was moved to 402 Trowbridge.
    The priests who have served as pastors of Blessed Sacrament Parish have been Fr. James A. Callahan (1937-1947), Fr. Raymond B. Drinen (1947-1950), Fr. Edward T. Jaworowicz (1950-1967), Fr. Donald Weber (1967-1970), Fr. Francis J. Flynn (1970-1975), Fr. James Sullivan (1975-1978), Fr. Lawrence Woods
1978-1991), Father Jerome Heyman (1991-2006)

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