From the first Masses celebrated in Westfield sometime between 1828 and 1830, to our current parish family made up of thousands of faithful Catholics, St. Mary's has had a rich history. In 1853 the first St. Mary's was built. This wooden structure was quite simple. It was nearly burned to the ground on the eve of July 4th, 1854 by an unruly crowd led by the “Know Nothings“. Thanks to some opportune words by town selectman Hiram Hull and the presence of the men of the parish the mob was diverted.

St. Mary's became an official parish in 1862 with Fr. M. X. Carroll as her first resident pastor. To understand the scope of that first parish one need only realize that every other parish in Westfield as well as Our Lady of the Lake in Southwick were eventually split off of their mother church, St. Mary's.

In March of 1881 the original wooden church burned down. The immediate cause of the fire was attributed to a faulty flue. This great tragedy inspired in the people an immediate response. They cleared the debris, excavated the land and by Christmas of 1881 they were celebrating Mass in the basement of the church that we currently use. The completed church was dedicated on March 1, 1885 (yes we will soon be celebrating our 120th year in this magnificent structure).

St. Mary's has gone through many renovations most recently in 1982. We have also seen many improvements. Remember that the brick church as it was built did not even have bathrooms. Things like the elevator and air conditioning were also added.

In the spring of 2003 a call went forward to anyone interested in studying the need for a renovation of our parish church. Nearly 20 people responded. We have been meeting consistently since then, studying the National Conference of Catholic Bishops documents on Church renovations (Built of Living Stones, Art, Architecture and Worship), researching our own history, visiting other churches, assessing the structural needs and exploring various environmental options. In August of 2004 we employed the services of an architectural firm from West Springfield, Reinhart Associates Inc., to help us formulate a Master Plan. We are currently in the process of finalizing that plan.