The St Anne’s Church – Waterbury, Connecticut

St Anne's Church, 515 S Main St, Waterbury, Connecticut, Združene države Amerike

Website of the Sanctuary

+1 203 756 4439

Every day: from 8.00 to 5.00 pm

The St Anne’s Church – Waterbury, Connecticut for Mothers

The Shrine of Saint Anne for Mothers is the home of the Parish of St. Anne, in Waterbury, CT.

The Shrine is a place of pilgrimage and worship where they sanctity of life by honoring and praying for mothers, grandmothers and godmothers is promoted.

The Shrine of St. Anne is evolving from the French Canadian ethnic parish of greater Waterbury into a Shrine.

The parish currently consists of primarily english speaking individuals and families of French Canadian ancestry. The parish has wonderful music ministry with an excellent choir and other musicians that truly enhance the Liturgy.

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The St Anne’s Church – Waterbury, Connecticut has one Sunday Mass at 9:30 AM and on most Sundays there are several visitors and many who graduated from St. Anne School or were raised in the parish and have relocated.

The St Anne's Church - Waterbury, Connecticut

The Shrine of Saint Anne

In the Spring of 1906 ground was broken and the foundation begun for the majestic Gothic church dedicated in honor of Saint Anne, the mother of Mary. Actual plans for construction were made.

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The exterior finish for the church was chosen.

Samples of granite, yellow brick and other types of brick and stone were place on a table and the parishioners voted for the one they wanted. Granite was chosen.

For the next 16 years, the French-Canadian community of Waterbury, Connecticut, dedicated their time, talent and monetary funds for the completion of their parish church.

The Church exterior, including its two towering spires, was completed in one year. In 1912 the basement of the Church was finished and used for services.

Services were held there for more than a dozen years, the parishioners wished to finish the interior of the superstructure only after the necessary amount of funds were accumulated.

The St Anne's Church - Waterbury, Connecticut

The First World War intervened bringing to a halt the plans of the parish. In 1919 with the return of peace a campaign was launched to obtain the necessary funds needed to complete the interior of the Church, which would have an exquisitely detailed feminine Gothic design. The long delayed completion of the church resumed.

On December 17, 1922, Saint Anne’s was completed and dedicated with His Excellency John J. Nilan, Bishop of the Hartford Diocese presiding at the ceremonies attended by clergy from all over the state.

After the dedication of Saint Anne’s further funds were raised for stained glass windows, which were imported from Germany.

Countless numbers of stained glass windows were installed throughout the Church, depicting the great mysteries of our faith, from the fall of Adam and Eve to the Incarnation of Christ to the Coronation of Mary, Queen of heaven and earth.

On Ash Wednesday in 1971, Saint Anne Church suffered terrible damage from a fire which started in and destroyed the sacristy of the Church. In addition, the entire Church suffered smoke damage.

The blaze, which broke out just a half-hour after 700 worshippers filed out of the church after an evening Mass, was subdued in less than an hour by six fire companies. Fire consumed the first floor of the 60-by-40 granite church with smoke.

The blaze did no damage to the church exterior, but the firemen were forced to smash several stained glass windows to release the smoke, trapped within the foot-thick granite walls. At this point the parish did not have the funds to restore the interior of the Church to its original feminine Gothic style; instead they had to paint over the designs with simple grey paint.

On January 29, 1978, the sorrowful event of a fire was repeated in the church, destroying the sacristy a second time. There was extensive damage in the boiler room in the basement, the origin of the fire, and the stairwell leading to the sacristy. Heavy smoke spread quickly throughout the entire church and engulfed the high steeples. All the work that went into cleaning and restoring Saint Anne’s after the first fire had to be repeated, to the dismay of parishioners and city residents alike.

By April 5, 1979, there was indication that the two spires required pointing and the copper dome of the church needed repairs.

In June of 1979 over $350,000 was raised by the parishioners of Saint Anne’s in order to fund the repair of the church’s twin spires and the dome. These two features of the church’s structure distinguish Saint Anne’s from all other churches found in Waterbury.

In the 1980’s a new sound system was installed in the church hall; the large front wooden doors to the Church were refinished; protected glass was placed on the outside of the stained glass windows; the stain glass panes were put into new aluminum frames, and a handicap ramp was built.

In 1998 a large dingy old storage loft connected to the church was transformed into a brand-new parish meeting hall, church office, restroom and pastor’s study, with much of the space featuring exposed beams and soaring ceilings.

In 2003 and 2004 further repairs were done to the dome, the stone work of the twin spires of the church and exterior painting of the wooden window frames.

In 2005 stairs leading to the choir loft were repaired and asbestos was removed from the choir loft, which had not been used in the past 30 years.

With the Saint Anne’s façade easily recognized by the innumerable motorists traveling each day on Interstate 84, this Shrine still stands as a witness to the dedication of the parishioners of the last 100 years and as an icon of faith for our day.

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

From Hartford
Take I-84 West to Exit 22, take a left at the end of the exit onto Union Street, at 3rd traffic light turn left onto Elm Street and proceed to the church, straight ahead. Parking lot is on left side of church.

From New Haven
1. By Route 34 West to Route 8 North to Route 84 East (short distance). Take Exit 22 and then take a right at the 2nd light and proceed to the church, straight ahead – grey stone with two steeples and a dome. Parking is left of church.

2. By Route 69 through Prospect. At intersection with Silver street express go straight keeping Brass Cit Mall on your right. As you pass St. mary’s Hospital make a left onto Elm Street. Proceed to church, straight ahead – grey stone with two steeples and a dome. Parking is left of church.

3. By Route 10 through Cheshire Center, take Route 70 West – Exit 26 to Waterbury Route 84 West – Exit 22, left of the light. Proceed to church, straight ahead – grey stone with two steeples and a dome. Parking is left of church.

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

The Shrine of Saint Anne

In the Spring of 1906 ground was broken and the foundation begun for the majestic Gothic church dedicated in honor of Saint Anne, the mother of Mary. Actual plans for construction were made. The exterior finish for the church was chosen. Samples of granite, yellow brick and other types of brick and stone were place on a table and the parishioners voted for the one they wanted. Granite was chosen. For the next 16 years, the French-Canadian community of Waterbury, Connecticut, dedicated their time, talent and monetary funds for the completion of their parish church.

The Church exterior, including its two towering spires, was completed in one year. In 1912 the basement of the Church was finished and used for services. Services were held there for more than a dozen years, the parishioners wished to finish the interior of the superstructure only after the necessary amount of funds were accumulated. The First World War intervened bringing to a halt the plans of the parish. In 1919 with the return of peace a campaign was launched to obtain the necessary funds needed to complete the interior of the Church, which would have an exquisitely detailed feminine Gothic design. The long delayed completion of the church resumed.

On December 17, 1922, Saint Anne’s was completed and dedicated with His Excellency John J. Nilan, Bishop of the Hartford Diocese presiding at the ceremonies attended by clergy from all over the state.

After the dedication of Saint Anne’s further funds were raised for stained glass windows, which were imported from Germany. Countless numbers of stained glass windows were installed throughout the Church, depicting the great mysteries of our faith, from the fall of Adam and Eve to the Incarnation of Christ to the Coronation of Mary, Queen of heaven and earth.

On Ash Wednesday in 1971, Saint Anne Church suffered terrible damage from a fire which started in and destroyed the sacristy of the Church. In addition, the entire Church suffered smoke damage. The blaze, which broke out just a half-hour after 700 worshippers filed out of the church after an evening Mass, was subdued in less than an hour by six fire companies. Fire consumed the first floor of the 60-by-40 granite church with smoke. The blaze did no damage to the church exterior, but the firemen were forced to smash several stained glass windows to release the smoke, trapped within the foot-thick granite walls. At this point the parish did not have the funds to restore the interior of the Church to its original feminine Gothic style; instead they had to paint over the designs with simple grey paint.

On January 29, 1978, the sorrowful event of a fire was repeated in the church, destroying the sacristy a second time. There was extensive damage in the boiler room in the basement, the origin of the fire, and the stairwell leading to the sacristy. Heavy smoke spread quickly throughout the entire church and engulfed the high steeples. All the work that went into cleaning and restoring Saint Anne’s after the first fire had to be repeated, to the dismay of parishioners and city residents alike.

By April 5, 1979, there was indication that the two spires required pointing and the copper dome of the church needed repairs. In June of 1979 over $350,000 was raised by the parishioners of Saint Anne’s in order to fund the repair of the church’s twin spires and the dome. These two features of the church’s structure distinguish Saint Anne’s from all other churches found in Waterbury.

In the 1980’s a new sound system was installed in the church hall; the large front wooden doors to the Church were refinished; protected glass was placed on the outside of the stained glass windows; the stain glass panes were put into new aluminum frames, and a handicap ramp was built.

Choose from a variety of T-shirts - See more...

In 1998 a large dingy old storage loft connected to the church was transformed into a brand-new parish meeting hall, church office, restroom and pastor’s study, with much of the space featuring exposed beams and soaring ceilings.

In 2003 and 2004 further repairs were done to the dome, the stone work of the twin spires of the church and exterior painting of the wooden window frames.

In 2005 stairs leading to the choir loft were repaired and asbestos was removed from the choir loft, which had not been used in the past 30 years.

With the Saint Anne’s façade easily recognized by the innumerable motorists traveling each day on Interstate 84, this Shrine still stands as a witness to the dedication of the parishioners of the last 100 years and as an icon of faith for our day.

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

Posted in North America and United States