St. Nicholas Parish, Ayer/Shirley

St. Nicholas Parish, Ayer/Shirley Welcome to the page for St. Nicholas Parish! Est. in 2023 from St. Anthony Church in Shirley which dates back to 1907 and St.

Mary Church in Ayer which dates all the way back to 1858, St. Nicholas Parish continues to serve and Ayer & Shirley.

Different angles and views of the St. John's Seminary chapel, as mentioned in my homily this weekend
05/24/2026

Different angles and views of the St. John's Seminary chapel, as mentioned in my homily this weekend

This day is an important day for our Parish! On this day, 1,701 years ago in modern day Turkey, the emperor Constantine ...
05/20/2026

This day is an important day for our Parish! On this day, 1,701 years ago in modern day Turkey, the emperor Constantine opened the Council of Nicea (May 20, 325), from which we get the Nicene Creed, which we pray every Sunday at Mass.

At the Council of Nicea, 318 Bishops from all across the Roman Empire gathered to discuss one of the greatest theological debates of the time: is Jesus Christ God?

A priest from Alexandria, Egypt, named Arius, had been teaching that Jesus was a created being, separate from God, and thus, NOT divine. This (false) teaching had grown in popularity and was threatening to split and divide the Church.

According to a longstanding tradition going back centuries, St. Nicholas of Myra, for whom our Parish is named, was so angered, that he got up from his seat during one of the debates, walked across the room, and slapped Arius across the face for his blasphemy against Jesus and his blasphemous teaching and denial that Jesus was truly the Divine Son of God!

Eventually, the Council of Nicea condemned Arius as a heretic, exiled, and excommunicated him.

The Council of Nicea gave us the doctrine in the Creed which we profess even today that Jesus is "Begotten, not made, consubstantial--of the same substance--with the Father."

Thank you to Hailey who made her First Communion last weekend, who led our procession for our Parish May Crowning out of...
05/10/2026

Thank you to Hailey who made her First Communion last weekend, who led our procession for our Parish May Crowning out of St. Mary's Church this morning after the 8:30 Mass and crowned the statue of Our Lady outside of St. Mary's church at the bottom of the stairs! Thank you as well to Janet Providakes for making the crown for Our Lady and for making sure Hailey didn't fall off the ladder!

05/08/2026

Bells for Leo! To celebrate the 1st Anniversary of the election of Pope Leo XIV (May 8 ), Archbishop Henning asked that all churches in the Archdiocese that were able to, to ring their bells at 1:15pm, the time that the white smoke first rose from the Sistine chapel and the bells first rang out from St. Peter's Square announcing the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XVI as our new Pope! St. Nicholas Parish rang the bells of St. Mary's Church in Ayer for 14 minutes in honor of Pope Leo XIV!

Blessings and congratulations to our Parish's First Communicants: Reese, Hailey, CJ, and Mikey! God's Blessings upon you...
05/05/2026

Blessings and congratulations to our Parish's First Communicants: Reese, Hailey, CJ, and Mikey! God's Blessings upon you and your families! May you always know the closeness and the friendship of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament! Please join us next weekend as our First Communion Students lead us in the May Crowning of Our Lady at St. Mary's Church immediately following the 8:30AM Mass in Ayer! A reminder as well that this Fall, Religious Education for ALL GRADES 1- CONFIRMATION returns to Saint Nicholas Parish! Registrations will open soon! Remember to reserve your spot today!

The Parish email is currently down. Please be patient with us as we work to rectify the situation. Thank you!
04/13/2026

The Parish email is currently down. Please be patient with us as we work to rectify the situation. Thank you!

03/30/2026

Thank you to everyone who helped make our Annual Ham Raffle a HUGE success! And CONGRATS to all our raffle winners!

🎼Today we celebrated, expressed our gratitude, and bid farewell to Mick Pare, who devoted 25 years to leading St. Mary’s...
01/04/2026

🎼Today we celebrated, expressed our gratitude, and bid farewell to Mick Pare, who devoted 25 years to leading St. Mary’s in song. Best wishes, Mick! 🎼

12/02/2025

You are amazing, you already gave! No need for a GivingTuesday post - 95% of the ASRSD Gift List is shopped!

A friendly reminder, as we head into our first Sunday of Advent:St. Mary’s Giving Tree is already going strong! We are w...
11/28/2025

A friendly reminder, as we head into our first Sunday of Advent:
St. Mary’s Giving Tree is already going strong! We are well on our way to making sure 150 kids in the ASRSD have a wonderful Christmas. Shop our Amazon Wish List (virtual giving tree) - https://bit.ly/ASHoliday25
Thank you!

Address

31 Shirley Street
Ayer, MA
01432

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 2pm
Tuesday 9am - 2pm
Thursday 9am - 2pm
Friday 9am - 2pm

Telephone

+19787722414

Website

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