LYNN -- Holy Family Parish celebrated the 85th anniversary of its founding with a Mass of thanksgiving April 22 concelebrated by Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley and pastor Father Gregory Mercurio.

Holy Family Church was founded in 1922 by the Stigmatine Fathers at the invitation of Cardinal William O’Connell, then archbishop of Boston. Its mission at the time was to provide a faith community for Catholics of Italian descent living in the Lynn and Swampscott areas. The first church building to house the parish’s area of worship was destroyed by fire on Christmas Day, 1925. The parish dedicated a new basement church in 1928 that was later expanded into the present Tuscan-style edifice, which was opened in September 1955.

Today, Holy Family Parish is the spiritual home of not only many faithful of Italian descent, but also people who represent the diversity of the Lynn and Swampscott communities. Building on the traditions of its founders and looking forward to the needs of the faithful living in the modern world, Holy Family sponsors an innovative religious education program for the parish youth, as well as an extensive adult religious education program that attracts many participants from surrounding areas.