Parish History

Sacred Heart History Committee has written a book on the history of "Sacred Heart at Whitemarsh 1741-2015" and is available for purchase, $20.00. Please call the parish office if interested, 301-262-0704. An Addendum was published in 2022. Click Below:

On one of the highest sites in Prince George's County on Annapolis Road between Bladensburg and Annapolis is situated a small church - Sacred Heart Chapel. Its history goes back to the middle of the 18th century. The hill and many surrounding acres were a bequest of James Carroll, cousin of Charles Carroll of Annapolis, to George Thorold, a Jesuit priest. The Jesuits had built the Mission of St. Francis Borgia in 1722, and upon the death of James Carroll in 1729, they took possession of the land known as Carrollsburg, renaming it White Marsh Plantation. A residence for the Jesuits that included a chapel was located on the hill. The date for the chapel is set at 1741 when White Marsh became known as a worshipping community. This was one of the early Catholic Jesuit Missions in the English colonies. White Marsh is an historic place in more ways than one. It was the center of Catholic life in Prince George's County. The Fathers who resided there made missionary excursions not only to various locations in that county but also to Annapolis, Baltimore, Doughoregan Manor and areas of the present day District of Columbia.

For almost one hundred years prior to the American Revolution, harsh anti-Catholic laws were in effect in the English province of Maryland. Among other things, Catholics could not hold public office, priests were forbidden to hold religious services in public and religious organizations were barred from inheriting or purchasing land. The one glimmer of hope quickly taken advantage of was permission to build private chapels. Catholics who owned land seized this opportunity to build chapels adjoining their manor houses. The sacristy and sanctuary of the present Chapel, c., 1741, perhaps abutted the Jesuit residence. During this period, the Jesuit Fathers of White Marsh, with the help of indentured and slave labor worked the plantation as private citizens and served the small but growing Catholic communities in Prince George's and nearby counties.

Following the Revolutionary War the Jesuit Fathers under the leadership of John Carroll, S.J. called several meetings of the clergy for the purpose of organizing the Catholic Church in America. The meetings, called the General Chapters, the first of which took place in 1783, were held at White Marsh Plantation. Among other matters, deliberations of the General Chapters led to the appointment of John Carroll by the Vatican as Prefect Apostolic, making him superior of the missionary church in the thirteen states. The first plans for Georgetown University were also discussed. Here at White Marsh, the priests of the new nation nominated John Carroll as the first American bishop on May 18,1789.

The cemetery at Sacred Heart goes back to the 1700s. The first recorded date of a burial is in the very early 1800s. The enslaved who worked the plantation were buried here. Most of these burials (along with others) were neglected for at least a century. Begining in November of 2022 an effort was begun to re-discover and properly care for these burials.

A Novitiate for young men studying for the priesthood was moved from Georgetown to Whitemarsh in 1814 where it remained for twenty years. A famous missionary who studied at White Marsh as a novice in 1819 was Pierre De Smet.

A fire broke out in the priest house (rectory) on the night of May 15, 1853. The fire destroyed the priest house, the chapel and the vacant old Novitiate building. The chapel was rebuilt by 1856. The priests were known to be residing on the property, but the date of the rebuilt rectory is unknown. A red brick addition was added in front of the old rectory in 1888. The bell tower attached to the chapel was completed in 1876 and reconstructed in the early 1900s. 

After Pope Pius IX declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, and the apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes in 1858, a shrine in honor of Mary was built at White Marsh. During the early years the shrine was the focus of a number of pilgrimages but over time became overgrown and deteriorated. The shrine was re-discovered in the mid 1950s and a restoration was undertaken by the Order of the Alhambra in 1957. Known as the grotto of Our Lady of Rock Springs, the shrine is located at the end of the road leading from the rear of the main church, beyond the outdoor Stations of the Cross.

The annual parish picnic was a great day at Sacred Heart as far back as the late 1800s. It was the social event of the year and the largest source of revenue for the mission. In the early years the food was donated by the farm families of the parish and prepared in the rectory kitchen. Both white and African-American families came to the picnic but their tables were set apart from each other. There were dancing and carnival attractions. Ice cream and soft drinks were sold. People came by horse and buggy from Collington Station in the early years - later by bus. After the new church was built in 1969, a Labor Day Festival was celebrated until 2017. The parish feast of the Sacred Heart is celebrated each year in June with a solemn Mass and a parish picnic.

The small town of Bowie developed with the coming of the railroad and the Church of the Ascension was built near the train line in 1893 to accommodate the people. In 1903 Sacred Heart became a mission of Ascension when the Fathers of White Marsh moved to a residence near Ascension Church.

After the large estate of Belair was sold for development in 1957, there was a need for a new Catholic church. St. Pius X was established on Annapolis Road in 1962. From 1962 to 1965 Sacred Heart was a mission of St. Pius X. On May 29, 1965 with the continued growth of the new development, the mission of Sacred Heart was elevated to full status as a parish of the Archdiocese of Washington. Father John A Lubey was appointed as the first pastor. A new Church of the Sacred Heart was built and dedicated on October 26, 1969. 

In May 1989 the Bicentennial of John Carroll's nomination as first Bishop of the Catholic Church in the United States was celebrated on the hill at Sacred Heart. Clergy, parishioners and former parishioners came from far and wide to celebrate Mass and give thanks for all that had taken place at this historic location.

For over two hundred and seventy years the wooded grounds upon which our parish facilities rest have echoed with hymns of glory and praise to our God. They have provided the tranquil setting for generations of dedicated clergy and laity to join in worship and prayer. To paraphrase the words of our late Pastor Monsignor John F. Hogan, it is our most fervent hope that awareness of the rich heritage entrusted to us will kindle in our hearts a deep determination to keep our Catholic faith alive and dynamic and to pass it on to future generations.