What a great blessing that we are celebrating our 193rd Parish Anniversary on the day that our Church was dedicated on the nativity of our Blessed Virgin Mary.

Based on historical account, our parish was founded in 1826 with Fr. Patrick O’ Neil as the first Resident Pastor. He organized the congregation until the first church was built in 1827, not as big as our church now, being thirty-four feet in length and twentyeight feet in width and had a gallery with pews added a few years later. The Most Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Philadelphia, did the dedication of the church on September 8, 1831.

In the course of history, our parish was moved to the Diocese of Pittsburgh when it was created on August 11, 1843. Different pastors from the Diocese of Pittsburgh administered the parish. Eventually, when the Diocese of Greensburg was created out of the Pittsburgh diocesan territory on March 10, 1951, our parish was once again transferred to the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Greensburg. Most Rev. William Connare, who at that time was the second Bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg, rededicated our parish to St. Mary, Mother of God with the feast day being January 1st after it was remodeled. He said he did this to avoid confusion from the fact that twenty-five parishes in the diocese were dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, many with the same title.

To date, our parish has had forty-four priests who served as pastors with one who served as Administrator for a short period until I was named the 45th pastor on July 1, 2015.

In the course of time, our parish underwent several repairs and renovations; however, one thing has been proven, because of your generosity, our parish continues to exist and to grow.

With the Parish Pastoral Council, the Finance Council and the Leadership Team, we are committed in serving you. We will adhere to our parish mission statement to continue to be a caring and welcoming family committed to building and strengthening a community of God, reaching out as disciples of Jesus Christ to Freeport and beyond.

St. Mary, Mother of God pray for us. May you continue to accompany us in our journey and bring us closer to your son, Jesus Christ, our Lord!