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Catholic Church Centenary News | | |
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| Issue 2 – Sunday 10th May 2009 | ||
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Centenary Celebrations Weekend
Sunday 3rd May 2009
On Friday, we said farewell to Hugh Ryan at his Requiem Mass. As Father Stewart said, Hugh was a wonderful man who loved his faith and St Bridget's. Hugh was Chair of the Parish Pastoral Council and was the instigator of the provision of new carpeting in the church. He would have been delighted with the celebrations this weekend.
On Saturday, the first of two First Holy Communion Masses took place - the second Mass is this Saturday. Congratulations to all our children and to Eileen Sheedy and the catechists for all their efforts.
On Sunday, we were honoured to have Bishop George Stack to celebrate our special Centenary Mass and we are sure that the whole parish appreciated the particular care he took to acknowledge how blessed we are to have Father Stewart as our priest! The congregation found their voices and sang as we have never heard them sing before! At the end of Mass we sang the hymn "Praise my soul, the King of Heaven" and it expressed the feelings of us all. Our praise and thanks to God for a joyful Mass, for our courageous Tyburn Martyrs - Blessed John Haile and St Richard Reynolds - for our beautiful church opened in May 1909 and for our generous, active and prayerful Catholic community in Isleworth. It was fitting that the service included a baptism as a sign of the continuity of our community of faith. The church looked simply splendid and the reception that followed was sumptuous. Sincere and heartfelt thanks to all those who contributed to this historic event. Special thanks to the St Mary's School Choir who sang so beautifully, the children who formed the offertory procession, those who did the collection and our wonderful altar servers. Thanks also to Maureen and Katherine Hunter who did the flowers and Teresa and the team that ran the crèche in the parish hall during the Mass (the first to benefit from the recently sanded floor). For the reception, thanks go to our younger parishioners who did a marvellous job serving food (we hope to see you again at events later in the year), Burchell's Delicatessen, The Swan Pub and our catering trio, Teresa, Kathy and Bernadette who organised the food which was sensational, Hannah who made our centenary cake and to everyone who assisted on the day to make the reception run so smoothly.
A gift of a special Centenary prayer card for all of our parishioners was handed out at the Mass. If you were unable to attend, please take one from the Repository Shop counter.
On Monday, about fifty parishioners went on pilgrimage to the Tyburn Shrine near Marble Arch, where our Isleworth Martyrs died in 1535. Father Stewart celebrated Mass and spoke of their courage, their conviction and their faith. After Mass, one of the Benedictine Sisters spoke to our group about the life and times of the Tyburn Martyrs, her community and their devotion to all the Martyrs of Tyburn. We did have time to look around the centre, read more of its history and see relics of some of the martyrs. The visit was powerful, moving and inspiring and many present agreed that we might have an annual parish visit to Tyburn. Again, our truly grateful thanks go to the organisers of this memorable trip.
Press coverage of our celebrations should appear in The Catholic Herald and The Catholic Times in the next couple of weeks. In the past month, articles were been published in the Richmond & Twickenham Times and the Hounslow Chronicle. Copies of these will be on display in the church soon.
If you couldn't come to the previous events, it would be lovely to see you at the next Centenary event on Monday 25th May (Bank Holiday) which is the “Hidden Isleworth” Heritage Walk including a Guided Tour of St Bridget’s followed by Refreshments in the parish hall. More details in next week's parish newsletter.
For future events, please see the Centenary Programme (copies available in the porch) or contact Adrianne atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Joelle on 07971 322240.
God bless you all in our special year.
Centenary Committee | |||
On Monday, about fifty parishioners went on pilgrimage to the Tyburn Shrine near Marble Arch, where our Isleworth Martyrs died in 1535. Father Stewart celebrated Mass and spoke of their courage, their conviction and their faith. After Mass, one of the Benedictine Sisters spoke to our group about the life and times of the Tyburn Martyrs, her community and their devotion to all the Martyrs of Tyburn. We did have time to look around the centre, read more of its history and see relics of some of the martyrs. The visit was powerful, moving and inspiring and many present agreed that we might have an annual parish visit to Tyburn. Again, our truly grateful thanks go to the organisers of this memorable trip.
Press coverage of our celebrations should appear in The Catholic Herald and The Catholic Times in the next couple of weeks. In the past month, articles were been published in the Richmond & Twickenham Times and the Hounslow Chronicle. Copies of these will be on display in the church soon.
If you couldn't come to the previous events, it would be lovely to see you at the next Centenary event on Monday 25th May (Bank Holiday) which is the “Hidden Isleworth” Heritage Walk including a Guided Tour of St Bridget’s followed by Refreshments in the parish hall. More details in next week's parish newsletter.
For future events, please see the Centenary Programme (copies available in the porch) or contact Adrianne at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Joelle on 07971 322240.
God bless you all in our special year.
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