On behalf of the Catholic communities of Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Gardner we welcome our fellow cyberspace pilgrims to our website. Established in 1764, Gardner, Massachusetts, situated in the north central part of the state, is known as the “Chair City” due to its once flourishing furniture manufacturing. The Catholic community began in 1856 with 125 Catholic families. In 1874, the Catholic community of Gardner celebrated its first Eucharistic liturgy at the newly established church, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish. In the 1890’s immigrants from the Quebec region of Canada began to settle in the area and by 1906 the French Canadian community built a church in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The church was named, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. By the mid-1900s, a new wave of French Canadian immigrants settled in the area. These immigrants were from the Acadian region of Canada, that is, from the east coast and spoke a different kind of French than the previous French Canadians. If you would like to know a little bit more about us and what’s going on with our people of faith click any of the three tabs below.