Founded in 1826, our Church continues to exist and serve the Catholic community, not only in Freeport, but the neighboring county in the region. And now we are celebrating our 191st anniversary.

To refresh a little bit of our history, St. Mary Church in Freeport began when Fr. Patrick O’Neil organized the congregation. It was in 1827 that the first church was built. Bishop Kenrick of the Pittsburgh Diocese dedicated it on September 8th, 1831 under the patronage of St. Mary of the Nativity. The original building measured 34 feet by 28 feet but was of inferior quality necessitating the construction of another building.

The present church building was completed in 1849 under the direction of Fr. M. J. Mitchell. The church was constructed of brick measuring 85 feet by 45 feet with a steeple in the front of the building. Even today, the church steeple makes St. Mary’s a town landmark. The new church was dedicated on December 28th, 1851 by Bishop M. O’Connor.

St. Mary’s belonged to the Diocese of Pittsburgh until 1951 when the Diocese of Greensburg was established. On December 8th, 1975, the Most Rev. William G. Connare issued a decree assigning a new title and feast day to our parish. We would now be known as St. Mary, Mother of God with the Feast day being January 1st.

In the course of time, the church underwent some renovations like in 1987 when a portion of the ceiling and roof collapsed inside. Miraculously, no one was in the church at the time. The parishioners rallied and with the assistance of their pastor, Fr. Denis Sweeney, were quickly able to raise $320,000 to complete the repairs. Then, in 2002, under the guidance of Fr. Thomas Ferderline, the church was painted, windows repaired, front doors replaced and a new furnace was installed.

We are grateful that since its foundation, the parish has produced seven priests and eighteen sisters. We cannot deny that our parish grew over the years and during the time of Fr. Edward Volz, he had to demolish the rectory and retreat center to give way for more parking. Also, a new fellowship hall was built in 2011 to serve the growing parish family members.

Right now we have 792 families that are registered in our parish. Of course, that includes those families who are inactive that we want to reach out to. We also see a lot of young families which gives a testament that we continue to be a growing parish in spite of being one of the oldest parishes in the diocese. To all, we celebrate and give thanks for the 191 years of our parish existence.