BROCKTON -- Bishop Mark O'Connell traded his clerical attire for jeans, work shoes, and a Bruins jacket to mark the start of the Archdiocese of Boston's annual Service Week at St. Edith Stein Parish in Brockton on May 20.

Bishop O'Connell picked up leaves, hauled trash bags, and even rode a small tractor on the grounds of the parish, smiling and waving as he did so.

"They put it on really slow for me," he joked to The Pilot after the ride. "So it was hard to screw up with that."

Bishop O'Connell was one of 101 volunteers from the archdiocese's Pastoral Center who spent their annual Service Week doing spring cleaning for the Catholic Tri-Parishes of Brockton, which comprises St. Edith Stein, Christ the King, and Our Lady of Lourdes.

"It's cool to see everyone out here," said Archdiocese of Boston building operations coordinator Austin Wilkinson. "Look at the progress that we've already made in just an hour. I enjoy it. It's nice to give back."

On May 20, volunteers at St. Edith Stein cleaned flower beds, planted new flowers in front of the statue of Mary, pulled weeds, raked leaves, and picked up trash and debris that had accumulated over the winter.

"It is our opportunity to help parishes in need to give back, meet the people at local parishes, work with them to provide a need that they otherwise couldn't afford themselves," said Archdiocese of Boston director of Parish Services Denise Biernat.

Service Week began in 2008 with 35 volunteers, and helps out at a different parish each year. This year, the archdiocese reached out to the Catholic Tri-Parishes of Brockton and asked if the church buildings needed any maintenance.

"I thought it was a tremendous gesture of kindness and support," Father Matt Westcott, pastor of the Catholic Tri-Parishes of Brockton, said. "I think the spring cleanup and the beautification of the three properties is very helpful.''

"Things like mulch and mowing lawns can go a long way," he added.

Bishop O'Connell said that Service Week is a chance for the pastoral center staff to demonstrate its role of serving parishes and the people in them.

"I'm very proud of our Pastoral Center," he said. "The important thing is the connection to the parishes. We who work in the Pastoral Center need to have connections to the parishes. So I love coming and joining them every year, and I'm grateful to those that organize it."