Father Ryan was succeeded by Rev. Monsignor John P. Phelan, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Worcester. He had also been Vicar General of the Springfield Diocese under Bishop O’Leary, a position which he retained when the Worcester Diocese was established in 1950 under Bishop John J. Wright. Monsignor Phelan was born in St. John’s Parish in Worcester and graduated from Holy Cross in 1892. He studied for the priesthood in St. Sulpice Seminary, Parish, and at the French College in Rome and was ordained on December 20, 1895 in Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston by Archbishop John J. Williams. After being on loan to Boston for three years, Monsignor Phelan was curate in a number of Springfield Diocese parishes. His first pastorate was St. Joseph’s in Auburn which he founded. Before Blessed Sacrament, he was pastor of St. Patrick’s, Whitinsville and Sacred Heart, Worcester. He was appointed Domestic Prelatein 1925, Vicar General of the Springfield Diocese in 1935, and Prothonotary Apostolic by the Holy See in 1945 on the occasion of his fiftieth anniversary of ordination.
In 1953, with an eye to the future, the new pastor decided that a new building was needed to accommodate the exceptionally large number of pupils attending the parish school. When it was completed, this new unit contained an auditorium, two classrooms, and a convent annex. On Labor Day, 1954, it was dedicated appropriately enough under the name of the Phelan Memorial Center. Monsignor had done heroic work raising funds for the project and was a large contributor himself.
Bishop Wright officiated at Benediction in the church before the dedication ceremony. He blessed convent, classrooms, auditorium, and a cornerstone of the new structure. A metal box containing copies of the “The Worcester Telegram”, “The Evening Gazette”, and “The Catholic Free Press”, a portrait of Monsignor Phelan, his biographical material and the names of the contributors to the center, were placed in the cornerstone.
During Monsignor Phelan’s pastorate, there was much media attention to the visitation of Our Lady to the three children in Fatima, Portugal. As devotion grew stronger, it seemed fitting that a shrine should be erected on the church property. It was located at the west side of the driveway next to the Newton Hill section of Elm Park. On April 13, 1952, Bishop Wright blessed the shrine. During the night of April 21, 1980 the shrine, along with the statures of the Sacred Heart and St. Anthony in the vestibule of the church was destroyed by vandals.
A dedicated parishioner generously replaced the shrine with a duplicate made of carara marble. Devoted gardeners of the parish continue to tend to it.
Another highlight of the Phelan pastorate took place on June 15, 1953 when the first evening Mass was celebrated. There was a procession to the Fatima Shrine, making the observance of the Feast of Corpus Christi, patronal feast of the parish. More than 1600 faithful attended. The Women’s Guild plus the past presidents of the Holy Name Society and a choir of 26 boys from the parish school marched in solemn procession to the shrine, each carrying a lighted candle. Following recitation of the rosary, led by 200 members of the Women’s Guild, the procession filed back into the church for Benediction.
The parish continued to grow during Monsignor Phelan’s time. Additional sections of the parish were taken for the establishment of St. Andrew the Apostle and St. Charles Borromeo parishes on November 3, 1954. St Charles’ parishioners worshipped in the Phelan Center Auditorium until the present church on June Street was completed.
During the years Monsignor Phelan was at Blessed Sacrament, he was actively involved in overseeing the liturgies. Generally speaking, he could be found on Sunday morning kneeling in the sanctuary when his curate said Mass. He also presided at most wedding in the parish. As his health failed, he still desired to say mass, so Father Michael Carney, his assistant, stood by him on the altar. Father Carney helped him get around the altar and kept his place in the missal during the liturgy. When Monsignor was unable to go to the church, he said Mass in the rectory. Death came for Monsignor Phelan, still pastor of Blessed Sacrament on March 3, 1955.