Mary Mother of God
75^th Anniversary

In 1930, a mission church was established in the Flagtown section of Hillsborough from Immaculate Conception Parish in Somerville to meet the growing needs of the local Catholic community. In 1948, Mary Mother of God Church was established as a free-standing Parish.

Over the past 75 years, the church adapted to the needs of the local community.   As the Catholic community grew, the Parish built a new church, a parish center, and a gym. Then church was finally enlarged. Through all this the Parish has met the pastoral, spiritual, and social needs of the people that make up this great community.

We celebrate how she has and continues to provide the sacraments, and how she centers herself on the Eucharist.

We celebrate how she has and continues to provide Religious Education to our children and those desiring to come into the faith, as well as Bible studies and Adult Faith Formation.

We celebrate how she has and continues to welcome people of many different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

We celebrate how she has and continues to serve those in need, both in our local community and throughout the country, and even the world.

We celebrate how she has and continues to be a good neighbor in the Hillsborough community.

We celebrate this and so much more throughout this year as we give thanks for those who have worked so hard to establish such a strong foundation, and we ask God for the grace to continue to do this and more as we move forward.

As we entered this year of celebration on our patronal feast day on January 1, 2023, we have accomplished some wonderful things:
 

• We successfully completed a $1.3 million capital campaign and during that time, began to do some much-needed repair and maintenance to our Parish Complex.
• The Youth Group conducted a 30-hour fast and raised $19,000 that has been used to help major food insecurity in Somalia and help to provide the possibility of an education to students in Guatemala.
• We conducted both a Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day dance to gather and celebrate our community.
• The Altar Rosary Society sponsored a Comedy Night that was open to the whole community, and again gave a chance to enjoy, celebrate and laugh together.
• The Parish sponsored a group of adults to go to Dunlow, West Virginia to work on building homes for people struggling there and raised over $17,000 to aid them.
• The Youth Group participated in Catholic Heart Work Camp in Drexel Hill Pennsylvania and helped with cleaning and repair work of a local church.
• The Women’s Group sponsored a “Night at the Ballpark” outing to watch the Somerset Patriots play and a fireworks display.  Over 140 tickets were sold, and a great time was had by all!
• The 75th Anniversary Committee designed a T-Shirt to commemorate the milestone and sold about 400.
• We completed a Pilgrimage to Marian Shrines in Lourdes, France, and Fatima, Portugal, offering prayers for our Parish. 
• The Heritage Quilted Banner, that allows each parishioner to share their own culture, is coming together. We can see how diverse our MMOG community is.
• Renovation of St. Francis Hall, led by our Spanish community and supported by people from the various Parish ministries, completed during the summer.
• Many parishioners experienced the “Be My Witness” program, where new friends were made as all grew closer to our Lord.
• We continue to conduct many other activities with participation from many parishioners, such as the diaper drive, back-to-school supplies, Christmas gift giving- tree, food pantry donations, and so much more. We look forward to continuing to come together as a community.

• Conducting a Parish Festival on October 7, 2023, from 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. to celebrate the many different communities that make up our Mary Mother of God family.
• Celebrating a special 75^th Anniversary Mass on Saturday, December 9, 2023, at 5:00 p.m.  Bishop Checchio will be the Celebrant.