In 1884, Saint Brigid’s Parish in Lexington built a chapel on The Great Road in Bedford. The site today is an empty wooded lot between the Marshall's/Whole Foods Plaza and Hillside Avenue. This chapel, dedicated to Saint Michael, was an unstaffed missionary adjunct to St. Brigid’s. A mission priest traveled between the two to conduct services on a regular basis. In winter and early spring, the commute was often impossible, and on those occasions, the congregation would gather in the chapel and one of their members—a sort of unofficial deacon—would hold services.

After 32 years—in large part due to the installation of electric street railways and trolley cars connecting Bedford to adjacent towns—Bedford’s Catholic population outgrew the chapel. St. Brigid’s enlarged the original building in 1916, adding two wings in order to double the seating capacity. Local Catholic population continued to grow, and in 1926 the nature of the town was altered significantly with the building of the Veteran’s Hospital, which created many new jobs. With this evolution and growth, the need for a separate parish with its own full-time priest was finally recognized.

In 1931, the Archbishop of Boston, William Cardinal O’Connell, established the Parish of St. Michael and assigned one resident priest, our first pastor. For the next several decades, two Sunday Masses were adequate for the needs of the parish. Sunday School for the children was held after the 9:15 Mass. The teachers were from nearby religious orders: sisters of the Christian Schools at Marycliffe Academy, brothers from the Maryknoll Seminary and, later, Marist nuns. The religious education program had a fine reputation and some of St. Brigid’s parishioners enrolled their children here.

The 1940s saw further growth through the establishment of Hanscom Field and the beginning of Route 128 construction, both of which would drastically change the town and the parish. Farms were demolished to make way for the Bedford Air Base (later named L. G. Hanscom Field). Route 128 construction was interrupted by the war and completed afterwards, in time to facilitate an electronics industry explosion. By 1950, the town’s population was a little over 3,000 – the suburban expansion and post war baby boom had begun. More than 300 units of affordable duplex housing were built to accommodate the influx of employees to the area.

In 1955, a curate was assigned to the parish. By 1956 the town’s population had risen to almost 7,000 and soon it was standing room only at the four Sunday Masses at St. Michael’s. The congregation was outgrowing its church once again. In 1960 there were seven Sunday Masses scheduled each week, six in the church plus one at the Page School for the children attending Sunday School there! In October 1960, the last Mass was said in the old church building. St. Michael’s present-day church building and rectory were built on Concord Road, on land donated by a parishioner. The church was dedicated on the Feast of Saint Michael, September 29, 1960, by Richard Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston.

The new church, designed by architect Chester Wright of Waltham, provided seating for 750 people including a choir loft and a “crying room” for small children. The design of the interior was soon changed. In the “spirit of Vatican Council II,” a curved wall and a table replaced the original altar; the communion rail and religious paintings were removed; the tabernacle was moved to one side; and the Stations of the Cross were remounted.

Construction of the new church building was completed just in time, for the 1960s proved to be a period of rampant residential development in Bedford. More than 850 single-family homes were built and the town population almost doubled over the decade to 12,500 inhabitants. During this period the parish population also experienced rapid growth and a second curate was assigned.

To provide a central meeting place for parishioners and accommodations for Religious Education classes, groundbreaking took place years later, in June 2002, on a Parish Center, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart. The Parish Center was officially opened with a dedication ceremony in June 2003, on the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. With approximately 18,000 square feet of new space, the facility gave us our own religious education meeting rooms; a new library; a youth ministry area; a parish hall; administrative space; and additional meeting and conference rooms.