http://www.hub4sacredheart.org/bulletin/spirit_supplement.pdf

The Rt. Rev. M.J. O’Farrell, D.D., Bishop of Tren-ton, on June 8, 1883, divided the old parish of St. Peter’s, New Brunswick, and created a new parish, consisting of the First and Second Wards, with the country adjacent, and sent the Rev. B.J. Mulligan as pastor, with authority to form the new parish, purchase land, erect the neces-sary buildings, etc…. On August 15 a meeting, presided over by the Rt. Rev. Bishop, at which were present the new pastor and Rev. Fathers Rogers, O’Grady and Martins, was held in the basement of St. Peter’s Church. About seventy heads of families in the new parish responded when the Rt. Rev. Bishop formally de-clared that he had created in the First and Second Wards a new parish with the Rev. Mulligan as its pastor, that a new Church was to be immediately erected and that it would be called "The Church of the Sacred Heart." So began Fr. James West’s 1932 account of the first fifty years of Sacred Heart Parish. His words echoed those written by Fr. James F. Devine in 1908 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Parish, and every major anniver-sary account since has be-gun with some form of Fr. Divine’s words. So we too begin our account of the first 125 years of the Church of the Sacred Heart in New Brunswick. The Church ‘The third oldest Catholic church in the city of New Brunswick, the Church of the Sacred Heart was de-signed by Patrick Charles Keely (1816-1896), one of the leading ecclesiastical architects of the 19th century. Keely, many of whose churches have been designated historic landmarks, was responsible for the design of some twenty cathedrals, including those in Boston, Chicago, Charleston, Cleve-land, Buffalo, and Hartford, as well as St. Patrick’s Pro- Cathedral in Newark. In fact it’s been suggested that if it were not for the fact that architect James Renwick’s partner, William Rodrigue, was the brother-in-law of Archbishop John Hughes of New York, Keely and not Renwick would have been the natural choice to design New York City’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In September of 1883, Keely drew up plans for a brick church which was to measure 122x60 and cost approximately $30,000–roughly $500,000 in current dollars. While certainly not an exorbitant price, find-ing the funds would require sacrifice on the part of the new parish’s largely Irish, largely immigrant members. On October 14, 1883, the cornerstone of the Church was laid by Bishop John O’Farrell with over 5000 people in attendance. By November 30th, with many of the fu-ture parishioners providing the labor, the walls of the new church had been erected to a height of about 15 feet. The First Mass For the first two and a half years of Sacred Heart’s ex-istence, the basement of the Church (the current Parish Hall) served virtually all functions of the church. It is there that with a temporary roof in place the very first Mass was said on Christ-mas Day 1883. While a contemporary account of the occasion has yet to be found, in 1933—when surely there were still any number of parishioners who could recall the events of that day—Fr. West provides this ac-count: "Our thoughts go back to the beginnings— to that Christmas night fifty years ago, when only the foundation of the Church was laid, but when the people in their enthusiasm, faith and love insisted upon having the foundation roofed, at considerable expense, so that they might welcome for the first time with a hundred thousand wel-comes the Child of Bethlehem in their own parish Church. What loving preparations were made! They brought chairs, carpets, altar equipment, etc., in order that Mass might be cel-ebrated on Christmas morning. How, like little children, they came to welcome for the first time the Christ Child. Another Bethlehem, indeed, was the basement of the Church that was to be, and how happy was He in these surroundings with His faithful adorers. We are told of the great snowstorm that made this an ideal Christmas Day. Coming generations can never forget the faith, generosity and sacrifices of the Irish and Irish-Americans who builded so well in this particular locality. They cannot forget the ‘Faith of their Fathers,’ and, inspired by the history of the past, will be encouraged to carry on and walk where they have trod." In 1984, when the Church was undergoing reno-vations in preparation for its centennial celebration, the original altar at which that first mass was celebrated was uncovered. Today it forms the nucleus of the lower church chapel where daily mass is said during the summer months.

 Pastors of Church of the Sacred Heart, New Brunswick

• Fr. Bernard J. Mulligan 1883-1895
• Fr. James F. Devine 1895-1918
• Fr. Joseph A. Ryan 1918-1926
• Fr. John J. West 1926-1947
• Fr. Eugene Davis 1948-1966
• Fr. Vincent A. Lloyd 1966-1972
• Fr. Louis A. Leyh 1972-1983
• Fr. Michael Cashman 1983-1995
• Fr. Jerome A. Johnson 1995-1999
• Fr. Raymond Leonard 1999-2003
• Fr. Joseph J. Kerrigan, Jr. 2004

 “Founding Father”: Fr. Bernard J. Mulligan Born in Ireland in 1845, Fr. Mulligan was a mem-ber of the Seton Hall College class of 1872, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 10, 1876 by New-ark Bishop Michael A. Corrigan. It was under Fr. Mulligan’s energetic direction that the Church, the rectory (the current Parish Center), and the original school were built. In 1895 Trenton Bishop James A. McFaul named Fr. Mulligan pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Camden where he served as Dean until his death on January 4, 1920.