In 2019, a few families in Bedfordshire took the initiative to bring a successful U.S. model of Classical Catholic education to the U.K. with pastoral support from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. In its second year, the number of families using the Academy has already doubled, with more families joining and moving to the area this year in anticipation of September 2021.
Given the growing community in Warrington, and answering demand from local parents, we have started a centre at St Mary’s Warrington, with God’s help, from September 2023. The Academy offers a full Classical Curriculum, completely grounded on the magisterium of the Catholic Church, and a community of Catholic families. Trained, paid teachers provide two days per week of on-site tuition. For the other days of the week, comprehensive study plans are provided for parents to follow with their children. Parents benefit from structure, accountability and community, and their children gain Catholic friends for life.
Over the past 18 years, thousands of children have been educated with this curriculum in the U.S., so parents can be confident that it is a tried and tested system of Catholic education which results in robust qualifications, a lifelong love of learning and, most importantly, a deep-rooted faith.
If you are a parent who is interested in St Mary’s for your own children, please email Dominic Jones or Raymond Cilia, the Warrington coordinators of St Mary’s Academy: stmarysacademy.warrington@gmail.com giving your contact details and your children’s ages/current school years. Alternatively, if you would like to apply for the Warrington RCA, please fill out the application form at https://www.stmarysacademywarrington.co.uk/about/admissions
If you are a teacher who wants to work in such a Catholic environment, or have administrative skills that could help shape the Academy, please also contact us as above. We don’t need financial assistance to start up, but you could certainly also help us with prayer, in particular to the now Venerable Mother Elizabeth Prout, foundress of the female branch of the Passionists who used to run St Mary’s School in Warrington. Any financial support will be gratefully received by St Mary’s Academy: please contact in advance St Mary’s Academy on the same email: stmarysacademy.warrington@gmail.com or see website for details on how to give: https://www.stmarysacademywarrington.co.uk/donations
To allow us to plan the expected opening, we need to know by 1st August 2023 how many children will start with us in September.
Please be sure to contact us long before that deadline. Lastly, please share this information far and wide now. Thank you on behalf of many children – and their parents!
St Joseph: God’s foster-father. In the context of the Year of St Joseph, we will meditate on glorious St Joseph, the man who lived for thirty years in close intimacy with the Lord Jesus and Our Lady. St Joseph is a model for obedience to the divine will, for manly courage and strength as well as for purity. He is invoked as Terror of devils and Patron of the Happy Death.
Organised by Juventutem London. Preacher and Mass celebrant: Group chaplain Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP
Archbishop Malcolm McMahon OP of Liverpool has requested that the following message be sent out:
The Venerable Ignatius Spencer CP
It was with great happiness that I heard the news on 20 February 2021 that Fr Ignatius Spencer CP was declared by the catholic Church as having lived a life of heroic virtue and may now be called ‘venerable’. To get this news so soon after the very recent declaration of Sr Elizabeth Prout CP as ‘venerable’ is a remarkable grace to the Passionist Order and to the archdiocese. These two Victorian Catholics are as relevant to the mission of the church today as they were in their lifetimes. They show us how to reach out beyond ourselves and respond to suffering due to poverty and deprivation. My prayer is that the shrine at St. Anne’s, Sutton [NB: 18 minutes from St Mary’s Warrington] which harbours the mortal remains of three great Passionists, Blessed Dominic Barberi, Venerable Elizabeth Prout and the now Venerable Ignatius Spencer, will increase as a centre of devotion and prayer in the archdiocese. All three of these great disciples loved the poor and worked tirelessly for their bodily and spiritual wellbeing.
Venerable Ignatius, who had left behind a life of privilege, devoted himself tirelessly to visiting the poor, giving food and all his personal possessions to those in need. His preaching and writings showed him to be a true disciple of Jesus and in his daily life he lived out the passion of our Lord in heroic fashion. His life of service is a true example to his living relatives, Prince William and Prince Harry, and is to be emulated by us all.
7:50pm-8:20pm: Spiritual Talk by Group Chaplain Fr de Malleray, FSSP on “Remaining in the presence of God: the best kept secret that saints would die to share with us. Avoiding grave sins and dangerous occasions is a prerequisite to sanctity; then to become regular in saying our prayers, confessing our sins and receiving Holy Communion. But all along, nothing will help us like cultivating the presence of God lovingly watching us day and night. This is how so many sinners became saints.”
Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. Calvin Peter Goodwin, FSSP, who passed away yesterday around 9:30 am EST in Lewiston, ME, USA.
Born in America of a British mother, Fr Goodwin had lived for a short time in Wimbledon near London, and always treasured his British heritage, including a dry sense of humour. At our American seminary, he would often pray the Prayer for the Queen after his Low Mass. He had come to England in August 2009 to assist as tutor with Fr de Malleray at the Priests’ training session organised by the Latin Mass Socitety in London Colney, the then-pastoral centre of the Westminster Archdiocese. A highly cultured man and an expert in opera music, he was a frequent guest on a national radio to comment on opera performances. Fr Goodwin was the first Jesuit to join our Fraternity.
He had been actively involved in the professional tutorial DVD made in partnership between the FSSP and EWTN. You can watch his 21min presentation of the Traditional Mass for clergy here (where he quotes Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple!): https://youtu.be/JVVXPhcV9_4 .
Fr Goodwin teaches priests the traditional liturgical calendar at London Colney, England, 2009.
Fr. Calvin Goodwin, born October 24, 1948, was originally from Norwalk, Connecticut. He was a graduate of Fairfield University in Connecticut and received advanced degrees in philosophy from the University of Toronto and Theology from Weston School of Theology in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1974, Father Goodwin entered the Society of Jesus. During his formation years, he spent four years at Cheverus High School in Portland, where he taught Latin and Greek. Fr. Goodwin was ordained a priest on June 9, 1979 and returned to Cheverus to teach the classics for 20 years. A gifted teacher, he was loved by his students and greatly admired by his colleagues.
Fr Goodwin as Deacon at a Solemn High Mass incenses the clergy in London Colney, England, 2009. Cf https://www.flickr.com/photos/josephshaw/albums/72157622169807794/with/3868295328/
In 1999, moved by his great
love for the Traditional Latin Mass, Fr. Goodwin applied to the Fraternity of
St. Peter. From August 1999 to June 2000 he was Assistant Chaplain at our
apostolate in Pequannock NJ. Then from 2000 to 2013 he taught at the seminary
of the Fraternity in Denton, NE. He was definitively incorporated into the FSSP
on October 18, 2004. In addition to his teaching duties, Fr. Goodwin was the
spiritual director to many of our seminarians at OLGS. He later became
the Director of Priest Training for those priests wishing to learn the
Traditional Latin Mass. Throughout his priesthood, Father Goodwin showed
a special dedication to contemplative orders of sisters most notably, the
Sisters of the Precious Blood in Portland and the Carmelites in Danvers,
Massachusetts and later Valparaiso, Nebraska, serving as the Confessor for the
community and offering spiritual direction. In 2013, Fr Goodwin asked to
retire in order to assist his mother to Lewiston, while continuing to
collaborate with Latin Mass Magazine and to serve as a retreat preacher, among
other things.
In October 2016 Fr Goodwin
suffered a serious hemorrhagic stroke from which he came out quite diminished.
Unable to celebrate Mass again, he spent his last years in a nursing home,
surrounded by his mother and comforted by the visits of several confreres. He wanted
to offer his sufferings for the Fraternity.
✅Are you among the 99% of Catholic parents currently homeschooling during the lockdown? 🧐Would you be interested in a Classical Hybrid academy? 😍Have you seen our latest video? 💻Are you free for an hour on 22nd January?
Then register your interest in our Virtual Open Day!
As well as the centre in Bedfordshire, there’s been interest to open an RCA in:
– Warrington – South East (Sevenoaks area) – South East London
Today, 150th anniversary of Our Lady’s Apparition at Pontmain. In our times of gloom and doom at home and abroad, let our hope be kindled again through the wondrous account of the Pontmain Apparition. It was winter like now, the national situation was desperate like now, adults and children prayed, led by their priests, and Our Lady gave the message: “But pray, my children. God will hear you in time. My Son allows Himself to be touched. “
Our Lady of Pontmain, also known as Our Lady of Hope, is the title given to the Virgin Mary on her apparition at Pontmain, France on 17 January 1871.
The Apparition
The Franco-Prussian War (War of 1870) was the culmination of years of tension between the two nations, which finally came to a head on 19 July 1870, when Emperor Napoleon III of the second Empire declared war against Prussia. From the first days of the war, defeat followed defeat. By January 1871, Paris was under siege, two-thirds of the country was in the power of the Prussians, and they were advancing.
The apparition is said to have occurred at the height of the Franco-Prussian War. Pontmain, a hamlet of about 500 inhabitants, lay between the oncoming Prussian army and the city of Laval. The Barbedette family consisted of father César, his wife, Victoire, with their two sons Joseph and Eugène, aged ten and twelve, and another older boy who was away in the army. On the evening of 17 January 1871, the two boys were helping their father in the barn when the elder, Eugène, walked over towards the door to look out. As he gazed at the star studded sky he suddenly saw an apparition of a beautiful woman smiling at him; she was wearing a blue gown covered with golden stars, and a black veil under a golden crown.[3]
Norte-Dame d’Esperance de Pontmain
His father, brother, and a neighbour came out to look and Joseph immediately said he too could see the apparition although the adults saw nothing. The mother, Victoire, came out but she too could see nothing.[3] The boys’ parents could not see what their children were seeing that night and called for Sister Vitaline, the local school teacher. She, like the boys’ parents, could also not see the apparition, and called for two girls, Françoise Richer and Jeanne-Marie Lebosse, aged nine and eleven. Sister Vitaline suggested that perhaps Our Lady was visible only to the children. Without any knowledge of the apparition, these two girls looked into the night sky and began describing Our Lady in the same exact detail as the Barbedette boys had described.[4]
A crowd gathered to pray as word quickly spread among the anxious villagers. Children saw the beautiful Lady, and gleefully pointed up to her. Adults, however, only saw three stars forming a triangle. As they prayed the Rosary, the children saw the garment’s stars multiply until it was almost entirely gold. Next, the children saw a banner unfurl beneath the Lady. Slowly, a message appeared: But pray, my children. God will hear you in time. My Son allows Himself to be touched. Upon hearing the message read aloud, the crowd spontaneously began the hymn “Mother of Hope”. As they sang, Our Lady laughed and joined in the singing.[5]
The children squealed with delight as her hands kept time with the music. When the crowd began “My Sweet Jesus,” her expression changed to profound sadness and a red crucifix appeared in her hands, with the words “Jesus Christ” above it. Her eyes mournfully contemplated the cross during the hymn. As the people sang the “Ave Maris Stella,” the cross vanished and her smile returned, though with a touch of melancholy. Two small white crosses then appeared on her shoulders before Our Lady disappeared behind a cloud.[5] As the night prayers came to a close, the apparition ended. It was about nine o’clock. The Apparition had lasted about three hours.
The Description of the Lady
Years later, Joseph Barbedette, who later afterwards became a priest of the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, recounted:
She was young and tall of stature, clad in a garment of deep blue, … Her dress was covered with brilliant gold stars. The sleeves were ample and long. She wore slippers of the same blue as the dress, ornamented with gold bows. On the head was a black veil half covering the forehead, concealing the hair and ears, and falling over the shoulders. Above this was a crown resembling a diadem, higher in front than elsewhere, and widening out at the sides. A red line encircled the crown at the middle. Her hands were small and extended toward us as in the ‘miraculous medal.’ Her face had the most exquisite delicacy and a smile of ineffable sweetness. The eyes, of unutterable tenderness, were fixed on us. Like a true mother, she seemed happier in looking at us than we in contemplating.[5]
After the Apparition
That same evening the Prussian forces inexplicably abandoned their advance.[6] General von Schmidt of the Prussian Army who was about to move on the city of Laval towards Pontmain, received orders from his Commander not to take the city.
On the evening of 17 January 1871, the Commander of the Prussian forces, having taken up his quarters at the archiepiscopal palace of Le Mans, told Msgr. Fillion, Bishop of that diocese: “By this time my troops are at Laval”. On the same evening, the Prussian troops in sight of Laval stopped at half-past five o’clock, about the time when the Apparition first appeared above Pontmain, a few miles off. General Schmidt is reported to have said on the morning of the 18th: “We cannot go farther. Yonder, in the direction of Brittany, there is an invisible ‘Madonna‘ barring the way.”
The sudden stopping of the Prussian forces in sight of Laval, and their retirement the following morning, meant, together with the saving of Brittany, the turning back of the tide of conquering soldiery from that part of France. The war was practically at an end. On 23 January 1871, the long-hoped for Armistice was signed. Soon all the thirty-eight conscripted men and boys returned home unscathed.
Authorization of Our Lady of Hope
After that the devotion to the Blessed Virgin under the title of that of Notre Dame d’Esperance de Pontmain, Our Lady of Hope of Pontmain, was authorized by the ecclesiastical authorities, and the confraternity of that name has been extended all over the world.
After the apparition of Our Lady of Hope on 17 January 1871, pilgrims made up of both the clergy and the laity came to Pontmain. At the same time, inquiries and investigations were made about the apparition; the visionary children were submitted to various intense interrogations. Finally, on the Feast of the Purification, 2 February 1872, Msgr. Wicart, Bishop of Laval, issued a pastoral letter giving a canonical judgment on the apparition. Thus, the veneration of Our Lady of Hope of Pontmain was given official Church recognition and approval.
Joseph Barbadette became a priest of the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate; his brother Eùgene became a secular priest. He was assisted by one of the girls who had seen Mary as his housekeeper, and the other, Jeanne-Marie Lebossé, became a nun.[3]
Veneration
In May 1872, Bishop Wicart authorized the construction of a sanctuary, which was consecrated in October 1900. In 1905 Pope Pius X elevated the Sanctuary to the status of a basilica.[7]
Pope Pius XI gave a final decision regarding the mass and office in honor of Our Lady of Hope of Pontmain. A final papal honor was given to Our Lady of Hope on 16 July 1932 by Cardinal Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII, by passing a decree from the Chapter of St. Peter’s Basilica that the statue of the Blessed Lady, Mother of Hope, be solemnly honored with the crown of gold. The Lady then was crowned in the presence of archbishop, bishops, priests and the laity by Cardinal Verdier, Archbishop of Paris. The coronation took place on 24 July 1934.[7]
At Pontmain, it was a matter of a message of prayer, very simple in the dramatic circumstances of war and invasion. At Pontmain, Mary is a sign of hope in the midst of war. A place of pilgrimage, it attracts annually around 200,000 drawn from among the people of the region, with some international pilgrimages, especially from Germany.[8]
✅Are you among the 99% of Catholic parents currently homeschooling during the lockdown? 🧐Would you be interested in a Classical Hybrid academy? 😍Have you seen our latest video? 💻Are you free for an hour on 22nd January?
Then register your interest in our Virtual Open Day!
As well as the centre in Bedfordshire, there’s been interest to open an RCA in:
– Warrington – South East (Sevenoaks area) – South East London
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