The story of Saint John of the Cross Church is the story of the struggles of the first Catholics in a predominantly Protestant rural town and their efforts to establish, with the help of their Protestant brethren, first a mission and subsequently a parish in Middlebury Connecticut. The history of religion in Middlebury actually dates back to the year 1757 (1731, according to some sources) when thirty-three founding settlers of West Farms, as Middlebury was then known, petitioned the General Assembly of the Connecticut Colony for Winter Privileges. Such a request would have given the community the right to hold religious services at some more central point, rather than having to travel the rough and often frigid six miles to Waterbury's First Church during the winter months. Although initially denied, the petition was finally accepted by the Assembly in 1786 and services were held in private homes early on. Waterbury's resistance was strong because the granting of "Winter Privileges" would have meant the loss of income in the form of fines for non-attendance, as well as the weekly tithe.

 

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Chapter 1: The Beginnings of Religion in Middlebury

Chapter 2: Middlebury's Earliest Catholics

Chapter 3: Saint John of the Cross

Chapter 4: Father John F. Luftus - Middlebury's First Priest

Chapter 5: A New Church - A New Beginning

Chapter 6: A Succession of Pastors and Priests

Chapter 7: Vatican Council II - Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity

Chapter 8: Parish Activities and Organizations

Chapter 9: Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration - 1964

Chapter 10: Come Alive for '75

Chapter 11: Pope Elevates Pastor to Monsignor

Chapter 12: Church Celebratess 85th Anniversary

Chapter 13: Recent Years with a View to the Future