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St. Theresa of Avila Church and School are a Roman Catholic church and elementary school located in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. They are the only church and school in the Archdiocese of Boston named after St. Theresa of Avila.

History

Originally a mission of St. Mary's Church in Dedham, St. Theresa of Avila Church was built on Spring Street in West Roxbury in 1895. A modern gothic church was built on St. Theresa Avenue in 1930 to better accommodate the congregation, which the parish still occupies.

St. Theresa of Avila School was built in 1950, including a convent for the Sisters of St. Joseph who would be teaching at the school. In 1953, the parish received permission from Archbishop Cushing to acquire the defunct Henry Vane School and use it as an annex for St. Theresa's. In 1957, Monsignor Donahue had the building donated to the Christian Brothers to use for Catholic Memorial High School. The building was renamed Donahue Hall and has been used by Catholic Memorial since its founding.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley celebrated his first public Mass in the United States at St. Theresa's after being named a cardinal in 2006. He often celebrates Mass at St. Theresa's on October 15, St. Theresa of Avila's feast day,

The funeral for former Boston City Councilor Albert "Dapper" O'Neil, a Roxbury native, was held at St. Theresa's in 2007.

Retired Auxiliary Bishop Emilio Allué lived in St. Theresa's rectory from 2008 to 2018 before moving to a home for retired priests.

On September 1, 2020, St. Theresa's formed a collaboration with St. John Chrysostom Church. The two parishes remain physically and financially separate, but share a parish council.

Architecture

St. Theresa of Avila is a gothic style church designed by Maginnis and Walsh, with a prominent bell tower and rose window above the front entrance. The school building, while not modeled after the church in structure, was purposely designed with a gray brick finish similar to that of the church.

Community Involvement

Students at St. Theresa's visit Deutsches Altenheim Senior Home once a month as part of the school's service program. The students often do activities in connection to holidays.

During the summer of 2020, St. Theresa of Avila collaborated with Jamaica Plain Movie Night to host drive-in movie nights, projecting Groundhog Day and Casablanca on the back of the school. The first event raised $1,400 for COVID-19 relief.

St. Theresa's pastor Rev. John Connolly has been involved with the Boston Police Department as a chaplain, and has commended the department's community policing efforts.