About Sacred Heart · Prince George, Virginia
Church of the Sacred Heart is a Catholic parish in South Prince George County, Virginia, founded in 1906 by Czech and Slovak immigrants who settled the rural farming community of New Bohemia in the years after the Civil War. It was the first Czech Catholic Church in the Commonwealth of Virginia and remains the spiritual heart of the historic New Bohemia Czech community, whose parish buildings, grounds, and cemetery were entered into the Virginia Landmarks Registry and the National Register of Historic Places on February 8, 2012. Today the parish is part of the St. John – Sacred Heart – St. James Catholic Cluster in the Diocese of Richmond and serves a vibrant, multicultural community of more than 600 families, including an active Spanish-speaking congregation.
- Established
- 1906
- Patron
- Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Rector
- Very Rev. Shay W. Auerbach, S.J., V.F. (Administrator)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Richmond (Deanery 9)
Why belong here
Sacred Heart offers a rare combination of deep historical roots and a present-day, multicultural parish life. It is the spiritual home of more than 600 families from many ethnic backgrounds, including an active Spanish-speaking community, and it serves some of the most vulnerable people in the region through Prison Ministry at Sussex I, Sussex II, and the Federal Correctional Reformatory, and Special Ministry to Poplar Springs Hospital, Waverly Nursing Home, and Southside Regional Medical Center. As part of the St. John – Sacred Heart – St. James Catholic Cluster in the Diocese of Richmond, the parish combines the intimacy of a small historic community with a wider cluster of clergy, faith formation, and pastoral care.
Mass times at Sacred Heart
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturdays 4:00 P.M. – 4:45 P.M.
Adoration times
- Holy Hour & Benediction: Mondays 5:30 P.M.
- First Friday Adoration: following the 10:00 A.M. Mass, concluding with evening prayer and Benediction at 5:30 P.M.
Parish History & New Bohemia
Sacred Heart is the spiritual and historical heart of New Bohemia, a rural Czech and Slovak farming community in Prince George County that grew from a handful of settlers — beginning with Joseph Machat in 1887 — into the first Czech Catholic parish in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The original wooden church, built by the Czechs themselves with lumber from their own farmlands, was blessed on September 27, 1906, and the surrounding community adopted the name "New Bohemia" in 1911 after parish leaders met with the Norfolk and Western Railroad. The parish complex was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Registry and the National Register of Historic Places on February 8, 2012.
- First settler: Joseph Machat, 1887
- First Czech Catholic Church in Virginia, 1906
- Dedicated eve of the feast of St. Wenceslaus, patron of the Czechs
- Community renamed from Estes to New Bohemia in 1911
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, February 8, 2012
- Parish Hall completed 1908; cemetery first interment 1908
Buildings & Architecture
The present church was dedicated on June 25, 2006 — the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the parish's 100th anniversary — as a new worship structure built onto the 1951 brick church, which had replaced the original 1906 wooden building. In keeping with the Czech tradition of saving and reusing, furnishings from the 1951 church were preserved and incorporated into the new worship space. The parish grounds also include the historic 1906–1908 Parish Hall, the rectory, and the parish cemetery.
- 1906 – first wooden church (built by the Czechs from local lumber)
- 1951 – brick church (consecrated 1952), now part of the present complex
- 2006 – current worship space dedicated, preserving 1951 furnishings
- Parish Hall (1908) and rectory adjacent to the church
Worship Schedule
Sacred Heart celebrates Mass in English and Spanish as part of the St. John – Sacred Heart – St. James Catholic Cluster. The Reconciliation schedule and other devotions are listed below.
- Weekend Vigil Mass – Saturday 5:00 P.M. (English)
- Sunday Mass – 9:30 A.M. (English)
- Sunday Mass – 1:00 P.M. (Spanish)
- Weekday Mass – Tuesday 6:30 P.M.
- Weekday Mass – Wednesday 10:00 A.M.
- Weekday Mass – Friday 10:00 A.M.
- Reconciliation – Saturdays 4:00 P.M. – 4:45 P.M.
- Holy Hour & Benediction – Mondays 5:30 P.M.
- Rosary – Fridays 5:30 P.M.
- First Friday Adoration – after 10:00 A.M. Mass, concluding at 5:30 P.M.
Cluster & Diocese
Sacred Heart is one of three parishes in the St. John – Sacred Heart – St. James Catholic Cluster of the Diocese of Richmond (Deanery 9), which shares clergy and ministry across South Prince George, Dinwiddie (St. John), and Hopewell (St. James).
- Diocese of Richmond, Deanery 9
- Cluster parishes: St. John (Dinwiddie), Sacred Heart (Prince George), St. James (Hopewell)
- Administrator: Very Rev. Shay W. Auerbach, S.J., V.F.
- Parochial Vicars: Fr. Julio Ciriaco Barrameda Buena, Fr. Jose Chrisly B. Ereño, JCL, Fr. Joseph Balikuddembe Ssemmanda
- Priest in Residence: Fr. Robert J. Cole
- Permanent Deacon: Rev. Mr. Robert Straub
Staff & Office
Parish staff coordinate office, faith formation, justice-and-peace ministry, and Spanish pastoral ministry for Sacred Heart and the wider cluster.
- Office Manager & Bookkeeper – Penny Merhout ([email protected], 804-732-6385)
- Pastoral Associate / Justice & Peace – Janice Petet ([email protected], 804-458-9223)
- Director of Religious Education / Spanish Pastoral Associate – Marissa Ayala ([email protected], 804-895-0056)
Faith Formation & Spanish Ministry
Religious Education at Sacred Heart is led by Marissa Ayala, who also serves as Spanish Pastoral Associate, coordinating the parish's Spanish-language Mass and pastoral outreach. The parish continues its immigrant-parish legacy of welcoming newcomers to Prince George County, now through Spanish-language ministry.
- Director of Religious Education: Marissa Ayala
- Spanish Pastoral Associate: Marissa Ayala
- Spanish Mass: Sundays 1:00 P.M.
Outreach & Prison/Hospital Ministry
Sacred Heart reaches beyond its walls through a substantial Prison Ministry and Special Ministry program that brings the sacraments and pastoral care to people in state and federal correctional facilities, a psychiatric hospital, a nursing home, and a regional medical center.
- Prison Ministry – Sussex I State Prison
- Prison Ministry – Sussex II State Prison
- Prison Ministry – Federal Correctional Reformatory
- Special Ministry – Poplar Springs Hospital
- Special Ministry – Waverly Nursing Home
- Special Ministry – Southside Regional Medical Center
- Justice & Peace ministry coordinated by Pastoral Associate Janice Petet
Parish Cemetery
The parish cemetery, established within two years of the first church, is part of the Sacred Heart Parish complex entered on the National Register of Historic Places. It contains the graves of at least fifteen of the original twenty-nine founding Czech families, including Joseph Machat and Father Jan Konicek, and remains a working parish cemetery.
- First recorded interment: 1908 (Vendy Cizek)
- Approximately 150 burials in parallel rows
- Large concrete crucifix statue donated in the 1940s in honor of Fathers Konicek and Stefl
- Some tombstones inscribed in Czech and English through 1945
- Cemetery contact: Church of the Sacred Heart Cemetery, (804) 732-6385
Visit, Contact & Giving
Parishioners and visitors are welcomed at the parish office and through the cluster's online giving and outreach options.
- Address: 9300 Community Lane, South Prince George, VA 23805
- Phone: (804) 732-6385
- Email: [email protected]
- Office Hours: Mon/Wed/Fri 9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.; Tue/Thu 1:00 P.M.
- Online: catholiccluster.com (Text to Give available)
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Jan (Jon) Konicek1905–1912
First Czech-speaking pastor; built the original 1906 church, rectory, and established the parish cemetery. Died in 1912.
- Father Leo Stefl1913–1939
Arrived just over a year after Fr. Konicek's death; expanded the Parish Hall, which also briefly served as a public school; celebrated Mass in Latin with Czech sermons and instruction; led the parish for 26 years.
- Father Stephan Shrahulek1940–c. early 1950s
Introduced bilingual worship (English sermon followed by Czech); oversaw the transition away from Czech-language services and the construction of the 1951 brick church.