St. Brendan’s in Biddeford Pool turns 105. Courtesy photo

BIDDEFORD — To commemorate 105 years of worship, St. Brendan’s Chapel, located on 40 Lester B. Orcutt Boulevard in Biddeford Pool, will host a special anniversary Mass on Friday, Aug. 20, at 9 a.m. All are welcome to attend.

In the early 20th century, Fr. Timothy Linehan, pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Biddeford, recognized that many of the new immigrants who worked in Biddeford Pool were faced with long horse and buggy rides into Biddeford to attend Masses.

“If you can’t bring the people to the church, you bring the church to the people,” Fr. Linehan noted at the time.

In 1914, financial support from Biddeford Pool residents and vacationers produced the necessary funds to purchase the land for the chapel from Emma Goldthwaite for $3,900. Today, many of the families who live in the chapel’s surrounding area have ancestors who contributed to the building of the chapel, regardless of religious affiliation. Timothy O’Connell, a prominent architect, was selected to design the chapel. Among O’Connell’s other work were the Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul in Lewiston, St. Joseph Convent in Portland, and St. Mary Church in Biddeford. The original blueprints for St. Brendan are still on display in the chapel.

Contractor W.H. Tibbetts of Biddeford completed the chapel in 1916, and it remains much today as it did then. You’ll find no stained-glass windows and few adornments. The only statues are a small one of the Blessed Mother and one of Saint Patrick. Still, the knotted pine, exposed beams, and maple pews create a sense of warmth and welcome.

Today, the chapel opens around Memorial Day and closes around Columbus Day each year with a capacity of around 200 people. It remains a popular site for summer weddings.

Two trusts, the Harold Carroll Fund and the Norma and Ted Truman Fund, have been established to support the chapel’s upkeep. At present, two large windows above the sanctuary need to be replaced and the Gaelic Cross atop the building is also in need of repair. For more information or to contribute, contact Good Shepherd Parish at (207) 282-3321.