St Theresa’s

I cannot say enough great things about this school. They have an amazing focus on academics but also enrich children in other areas with extra curricular activities that include dance, basketball, lego and book clubs, and more. I can’t imagine my children would receive a more well rounded education elsewhere. The community surrounding the school is just as great. We have made lifelong friends with other families. An extremely high number of children test into exam schools no problem and attend high schools that include Latin, Latin Academy, and Roxbury Latin.

Located at the corner of St. Theresa’s Avenue and Center Street, St. T’s is about as West Roxbury as West Roxbury gets… for all the right reasons. It’s not glitzy, its services don’t offer a lot of flash or production values and and the place sometimes seems stuck 30 years ago. Maybe that’s not a bad thing, and here’s why…
This is a parish and parish community that care deeply for each other. From the school, to the programs it sponsors for youths, families and its older members, St. Theresa’s works to bring people together in a loving Christian way. The great thing is that its activities don’t occur on a sporadic, occasional basis — they’re happening all the time. Charity and love for one’s neighbor is the rule, not the exception.
At any time a visitor may see children learning about the Gospel in school as kids from a Scout troop put together a service project a few doors down from where a parish men’s group is contacting a list of social service providers for a troubled family while other parishoners are working on a clothing drive for a homeless shelter in Boston. Meanwhile, in the midst of Masses, weddings, and funerals, the parish priests are constantly counseling people with a wide range of needs and visiting the sick and elderly. In an ideal Catholic community the parish is a vibrant hub of social and charitable activities and St. Theresa’s is very much that in seemingly infinite ways.
Probably the best test of a parish is how strongly the surrounding community shares its values. In their daily lives the people of the parish are an accurate reflection of the parish itself. Caring for each other, publicly or quietly, taking care of their neighbors, carrying out the message of Christ in their daily lives… people from St. Theresa’s don’t see that as remarkable, it’s just the way things should be done.
With a relatively small staff of priests serving a large community St. Theresa’s offers a pretty straightforward, no-​frills schedule of Masses. There are a couple of vigil Masses on Saturday, followed by four on Sunday, the last at noon. Consider yourself very lucky if you attend a Mass conducted by Rev. Raymond Helmick. A Jesuit, he is a deeply thoughtful preacher always with a fascinating insights into the Gospel.
Some three decades ago St. Theresa’s looked and sounded a lot busier than today. There were more Masses, higher attendance at services, more priests staffing the church, and many more social and activities for youths. Today it’s a lot smaller, with fewer activities, lower attendance, and about two fewer priests than before. Though smaller it is still a place where people care for each other’s spiritual and human needs. Like it was 30 plus years ago it is still a dominant part of the community and although smaller in size it is still a caring, loving parish.