St. Margaret Mary Alocoque Parish has origins dating back to the early 20th century. The Catholic community of Orwell was established as a mission, and achieved parish status in 1922. Early parishioners purchased and remodeled the old Orwell School to serve as their church, and it was dedicated to St. Mary on April 1, 1925.

The community acquired a plot of land for a rectory and cemetery later that year.

Catholics in nearby Rock Creek were supported by the Kujbus family— immigrants from Hungary—who purchased a ten-acre plot of land in 1953 in the hope that it could eventually be used for a parish. From 1956 to 1960, the community was a mission of Assumption Parish in Geneva, until it received parish status on July 24, 1960, and was dedicated to the Sacred Heart. The community had begun building a church in 1959, and the first Mass in the new structure was held at midnight on Christmas Eve that December. Following the example of Joseph and Rose Kujbus, parishioners have always taken pride in volunteering to meet the needs of their congregation—for example, the community’s Social Center was completed in large part through donated labor on October 14, 1976.

The two communities first began collaborating in 2009, with a shared administrator. In 2013, they began to share a pastor as well, until they were merged on January 1, 2025, choosing the name St. Margaret Mary Alocoque Parish. The new name retains Mary in the title, and it also reflects a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as Saint Margaret Mary Alocoque’s devotion to the Sacred Heart was her life’s work. Born in 1647 in France, she was a sister of the order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, who had visions of Jesus throughout her life, beginning at the age of 13. The parish’s dedication to Saint Margaret Mary Alocoque reflects the community’s devotion to the Sacred Heart and is a recognition of Jesus’ divine love.

Description from The March of the Eucharist, 2nd edition (2025) published by The Catholic Echo