St. Isidore Parish - St. Rose of Lima

About St. Rose of Lima Church, Rochester

St. Rose of Lima Church, at 282 Vaughan Hill Road in Rochester, Massachusetts, is one of three worship sites that make up St. Isidore Parish in the Archdiocese of Boston. It is the only Catholic church in the rural Town of Rochester, a quiet corner of Plymouth County historically defined by dairy farms and the cranberry bogs that still surround the church today. Sunday Mass is celebrated at 9:00 AM, with the Sacrament of Reconciliation offered beforehand at 8:30 AM. The parish as a whole also includes Sacred Heart Church in Middleborough and Saints Martha and Mary Church in Lakeville, allowing Rochester Catholics to participate in the wider life of the merged parish while keeping a local, intimate worship home of their own.

History of St. Rose of Lima

St. Rose of Lima was dedicated on October 12, 1961 by Cardinal Richard Cushing as a worship site for Catholics living in the Town of Rochester, who had previously had to travel to Sacred Heart in Middleborough and, after 1958, to Sts. Martha and Mary in Lakeville. While Mass had already been celebrated in Rochester at the Grange Hall by the Rev. Francis Greene, the new wood-and-brick church on Vaughan Hill Road gave the community its own home. In 1980 Cardinal Humberto Medeiros formally erected St. Rose of Lima as an independent parish and appointed the Rev. Harold Johnson as its first pastor. The parish was closed as an independent entity in 2004 during the archdiocesan reconfiguration under Cardinal Seán O'Malley and made a mission of Sacred Heart Church, before being incorporated in 2013 into the Cranberry Catholic Collaborative and finally in 2021 into today's unified St. Isidore Parish.

• 1961 — Church dedicated October 12 by Cardinal Cushing
• 1980 — Canonically erected as a parish by Cardinal Medeiros; Rev. Harold Johnson, first pastor
• 1986 — Rev. John P. Lyons appointed resident priest by Cardinal Law
• 2002 — Rev. Lyons removed after criminal charges; Rev. James Lanergan named administrator
• 2004 — Closed as an independent parish in archdiocesan reconfiguration; becomes mission of Sacred Heart
• 2011 — 50th anniversary Triduum of Thanksgiving observed
• 2013 — Forms Cranberry Catholic Collaborative with Sts. Martha and Mary (Lakeville)
• January 1, 2021 — Merges into St. Isidore Parish under Fr. Jude Thaddeus Osunkwo

Parish Staff & Clergy

The unified St. Isidore Parish is pastored by Fr. Jude Thaddeus Osunkwo (Fr. JT) with the assistance of a priest in residence, two permanent deacons, a pastoral associate, and a team of faith-formation, music, finance, and administrative staff. Day-to-day operations are coordinated from the Middleboro parish office.

• Rev. Jude Thaddeus Osunkwo (Fr. JT) — Pastor (ordained July 28, 1990; first pastor of St. Isidore Parish)
• Rev. Henry Nwanguma — Priest in Residence
• Deacon George M. Gabriel — Senior Deacon
• Deacon Alan Amaral
• Holly Clark — Pastoral Associate
• Michelle Parker — Finance & Operations
• Daiva Navickas — Administrative Associate
• Kelly Flaven — First Communion / Confirmation Coordinator
• Jen Flood — Faith Formation Assistant (Confirmation)
• Henry Rondelli — Music Director (Lakeville)
• Ezekiel Lewis — Music Coordinator, Sacred Heart (Middleboro)
• Jack Roussell — Music Coordinator, St. Rose of Lima (Rochester)
• Jimmy Dolan — Organist
• Rita Rondelli — Accompanist (Lakeville)
• John Dunham — Maintenance (all three sites)

Ministries & Volunteer Life

The parish describes itself as 'blessed with a great many ministries and volunteers.' Liturgical roles at Mass — altar servers, ushers and greeters, offertory, and flower and environment committees — are paired with outreach to the homebound, a Respect Life group, the Knights of Columbus, the Church Mouse Thrift Shop at Rochester, and the Sacred Heart Food Pantry in Middleboro. All volunteers must complete an annual CORI background check, sign a Code of Conduct, and attend VIRTUS child-safety training before serving.

• Altar Servers
• Ushers & Greeters
• Offertory
• Flower & Environment Committees
• Knights of Columbus (Fr. JT is a 4th-degree Knight)
• Homebound Visiting — parishioners bring Eucharist to the homebound; clergy visit area nursing homes
• Respect Life Ministry — meets Thursdays in the Lakeville Church Hall
• The Church Mouse Thrift Shop — at St. Rose of Lima, Rochester (Saturdays 9:00 AM–1:00 PM)

Faith Formation & Sacraments

Faith formation for First Communion and Confirmation is coordinated across the unified parish. The parish also prepares couples for marriage, families for baptism, and the sick for Anointing, with all sacramental requests handled through the parish office. The bulletin has recently listed openings for a Director of Faith Formation, a Coordinator for Family Ministry, and a Coordinator for Youth Ministry, signaling continued investment in formation.

• First Communion preparation — Kelly Flaven
• Confirmation preparation — Kelly Flaven with Jen Flood, assistant
• Baptism, Marriage, Anointing of the Sick — contact Parish Office
• Open positions — Director of Faith Formation, Coordinator for Family Ministry, Coordinator for Youth Ministry

Devotions & Special Services

Beyond Sunday Mass, the Rochester site and the wider parish maintain a steady rhythm of devotion. Eucharistic Adoration with the Divine Mercy Chaplet is offered on Friday evenings at Sts. Martha and Mary, and Stations of the Cross is celebrated there on the Fridays of Lent. Holy Day Masses are announced in the bulletin, and a Saturday-evening Alcoholics Anonymous group meets in the Middleboro parish hall as a community service.

• Eucharistic Adoration & Divine Mercy Chaplet — Friday 6:00 PM at Sts. Martha and Mary, Lakeville
• Stations of the Cross — Fridays during Lent, 6:30 PM, Sts. Martha and Mary, followed by Mass
• AA — Saturdays 7:30–9:00 PM, St. Isidore Parish Hall, Middleboro
• Holy Days — as announced

The Cranberry Catholic Collaborative & St. Isidore Parish

In June 2013, Sacred Heart Parish (Middleborough-Rochester) and Sts. Martha and Mary Parish (Lakeville) formed the Cranberry Catholic Collaborative, one of many collaboratives within the Archdiocese of Boston designed to share staff and resources while each parish retained its identity. After more than seven years together, by decree of Cardinal Seán O'Malley dated November 30, 2020 and effective January 1, 2021, the two parishes merged into a single new entity named St. Isidore Parish. The three worship sites — Sacred Heart, Saints Martha and Mary, and St. Rose of Lima — kept their original names, and the unified parish continues to be led by its first pastor, Fr. Jude Thaddeus Osunkwo.

• June 2013 — Cranberry Catholic Collaborative formed under Fr. John Sheridan
• February 2020 — Fr. Jude Thaddeus Osunkwo named Administrator of the Collaborative
• January 1, 2021 — Collaborative merged into St. Isidore Parish by decree of Cardinal O'Malley
• Epiphany Mass, January 3, 2021 — first parish-wide liturgy at Sts. Martha and Mary
• Three retained worship sites: Sacred Heart (Middleborough), Sts. Martha and Mary (Lakeville), St. Rose of Lima (Rochester)

Patron Saints: St. Isidore & St. Rose of Lima

The choice of St. Isidore as patron of the unified parish was deliberate. St. Isidore, born in Madrid, Spain, in the second half of the 12th century, worked as a laborer on a farm outside the city for most of his life, was canonized in 1622, and is invoked as the patron saint of farmers, laborers, and rural communities — a fitting patron for a region historically anchored by dairy farms and still shaped by working cranberry bogs. The Rochester worship site is named for St. Rose of Lima (1586–1617), the first person born in the Americas to be canonized, a Dominican tertiary known for her mystical life and care of the poor. Three hallmarks of St. Isidore's life are echoed in the parish motto: Faith, Family, and Hard Work.

• St. Isidore the Farmer — patron of the unified parish; feast May 15
• St. Rose of Lima — patron of the Rochester worship site; first canonized saint of the Americas
• Parish motto: Faith, Family, Hard Work

Practical Information

Parish Office hours are Monday–Friday, 8:30 AM–3:00 PM, at 340 Center St., Middleboro, MA 02346. The main parish phone (508-947-0444) serves the Middleborough and Rochester worship sites; the Lakeville office line is 508-947-2107. The parish communicates with parishioners through a Flocknote email system, the website at cranberrycatholic.org, and a printed Sunday bulletin that lists Mass intentions, liturgical notes, ministry news, and local announcements.

• Parish Office — 340 Center St., Middleboro, MA 02346
• Office hours — Monday–Friday 8:30 AM–3:00 PM
• Phone — 508-947-0444 (Middleborough & Rochester); 508-947-2107 (Lakeville)
• Website — cranberrycatholic.org
• Email communication — Flocknote system linked from the parish website