Click HERE or on the picture below to see what we have to say about Catholic education, ordinations, liturgical beauty, assistance to families and more!
A great thank you to Stefano Mazzeo who made the video!
Please forward the link to your friends and acquaintances: we have less than 3 weeks left to raise the remaining GBP1.2m…
Dear Friends,
Greetings.
Thank you for your expressed interest for our Priory Campaign and/or for your generous pledge. I am delighted to announce that we have now nearly 1/3 of the amount pledged!
If you mean to send a donation, please find below the information for you now to order the transfer to our charity.
Please email our Shrine Secretary Jane Wright at warrington@fssp.org for any assistance.
To donate,
Bank Name: Lloyds Bank
Sort Code: 30-93-04
Account number: 02027225
Account name: FSSP England
For international transfers, you may also need:
Bank Branch: Palmerston Rd Southsea
Bank Address: Ariel House, 2138 Coventry Road, Sheldon, B26 3JW
IBAN: GB09LOYD30930402027225
SWIFT code: LOYDGB21361
Please continue to pray and speak to your friends and acquaintances about this project. I mean it. Look what just happened… I asked again people to pray last Sunday. Two days later, I got an email from someone who reads our magazine and had heard about our Campaign. He had spoken to someone who did not know us, and that person, hearing about it, decided to donate £200,000.00. Imagine the difference it makes to our Campaign, jumping from £327,475.00 to £527,475.00. See the power of prayer – and of sharing the information even with people you think might not be interested. To that end, please forward the link to our official page below, with all updates: https://fssp.co.uk/warrington/priory-campaign-18-july-18-oct-18/.
Also of interest: released for you first, our latest issue of Dowry with special Priory Campaign presentation: https://fssp.co.uk/2018-09-12-dowry-39-online/.
I will be on yearly retreat this coming week and will pray for your intentions. God bless you and all those dear to you.
Fr de Malleray, FSSP
Special Priory Campaign issue and new Personal Parish!
Click here or on the picture to open the pdf:
In this issue:
Editorial: Happy Thirtieth Anniversary
One More Priest Ordained, And More To Follow
The PRIORY CAMPAIGN: 18 July – 18 Oct 18
First EF Personal Parish in the United Kingdom
Who is the Patron Saint of our New Parish?
Tu Es Sacerdos in Æternum: Since June 9, 2018
Alexander of Hales’ Theory of Matrimony
The Prayers of the Angel of Fatima
Seventy Youths Take Part in our Summer Camps
Book on the Holy Eucharist: Ego Eimi – It is I
Three Retreats for: Youths, All and Clergy
Support our apostolate
Forward it to your friends!
It is our great joy to announce that on 8 September 2018, the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Bishop Philip Egan, the Bishop of Portsmouth, established us as a Personal Parish, under the patronage of St John Fisher.
Our parish community will continue to be located at St William of York Church, Reading, until such time as a permanent home can be found.
To view the joint press statement from the Diocese and FSSP please click here.
For more information regarding the new Parish, please see the ‘Who we are’ and FAQ tabs on the Reading page found under ‘locations’.
For Flickr albums of this years’ Summer Camp, see here (Boys’ Camp, 6-11 Aug) and here (Girls’ Camp, 13-18 Aug).
The 2018 Summer Camp for boys, under the patronage of St Peter, got underway on Monday. We are at a new location this year, in Bollington on the edge of the Peak District. The theme for the camp is the True Devotion to Mary of St Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort.
You can see photos of the camp at the Flickr page.
Please pray for the success of this camp and for all the participants.
Great aerial pictures and video of targetted Priory and former School in Warrington:
(thanks to expert team Tony & Fin!)
Help us buy back the former Benedictine Priory in Warrington (the two attached Georgian houses along Buttermarket Street aligned with church on the left of this picture) and Priory Court at the rear (the detached longer building at the bottom of this picture, where former St Mary’s School used to stand).
As you can see, both buildings are part of the same triangular compound as St Mary’s Church and current Priory (the modern looking smaller rectangular building surrounded by garden) – both legally owned by our charity. Unless we gather GBP1.5m by mid October 2018, the owner will turn the two other buildings into one-bedroom flats.
Instead, we have a great opportunity to buy them back and create a dynamic Catholic hub around our beautiful Pugin church! Please email Fr Rector if you can pledge money: malleray@fssp.org.
For further explanation, see our article in the latest issue of the Catholic Herald: How will faithful Catholics thrive under secularism? Try the ‘Village Option’
Please forward this news, and may God bless you!
LAUNCHING the PRIORY CAMPAIGN:
[updated] Nazareth in Lancashire…
Dear Friends, we have three months to raise £1.5m and buy back the former Priory and St Mary’s School next door to St Mary’s Shrine in Warrington (total Net Internal Area of 1,383.19 Sq m or 14,891 Sq ft.)
This is a unique opportunity to endow St Mary’s with the space we urgently need: parish hall, music room, clergy offices, and classrooms. In addition, a pro-life office, a publishing company, a vestments-sewing workshop and accommodation for retreatants could be added.
THEY SUPPORT THE PRIORY CAMPAIGN
Archbishop Malcolm McMahon OP, Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, SPUC Chairman and 40 Days for Life Director, and more:
“I am glad to support the Priory Project in Warrington. At a time when many sacred buildings are converted to secular use, St Mary’s retained its original purpose when the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter saved that beautiful Pugin church from closure. A sure indicator of a strong Catholic identity: four young priests were ordained at St Mary’s over the past three years. More space is now needed around St Mary’s Church for pastoral activities. Acquiring the former Priory buildings next to the church would answer that urgent need. I am honoured to support the Priory Campaign of fundraising.
Signed: Jacob Rees-Mogg, MP – on 3rd July 2018”
“In July 2015, I invited the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter to come to the archdiocese of Liverpool and to have responsibility for St Mary’s Church, Warrington. It has now become a centre for the celebration of the extraordinary form of Mass and the sacraments. I am very pleased that such a beautiful church remained open for divine worship and provides a spiritual home for many. As the local Ordinary, I have ordained four priests at St Mary’s Church over the past three years, and I have twice conferred the sacrament of Confirmation. I eagerly support the Priory Campaign which will secure for St Mary’s Shrine the space needed for their increasing pastoral activities.
Signed: Malcolm McMahon OP, Archbishop of Liverpool – 12 July 2018”
‘The Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in this country and especially in Warrington has demonstrated a strong commitment to the protection of vulnerable human beings. The Priory Project at St Mary’s Warrington includes a dedicated pro-life space with pro-life literature, counselling and prayer. To help rebuild a culture of life in our country, I very much hope that the Priory Campaign will be successful.
Signed: Robin Haig – SPUC Chairman; Robert Colquhoun, 40 Days for Life’s international campaigns director’
‘The priests of the Fraternity of St Peter successfully reintroduced the Church’s ancient Latin liturgy to St Mary’s, Warrington, when they were entrusted with this church by the Archdiocese of Liverpool in 2015. The existing congregation has received this liturgy with great interest and devotion, and it has attracted others from far and wide. The FSSP are able to hear confessions, to offer all the sacraments, to give spiritual direction to all who desire it, to instruction and receive converts, to foster vocations, and to publish a magazine devoted to their apostolate. This great and growing work now requires larger premises, and it seems providential that former parish buildings have become available for purchase. I support their Priory Campaign of fundraising to provide their apostolic zeal with the ambitious setting needed for many more English Catholics, lapsed and converts, to discover the riches of tradition.
Signed: Dr Joseph Shaw, Chairman of the Latin Mass Society’
“As the North West Coordinator of the National Association of Catholic Families I have seen first-hand that the clergy at St Mary’s Warrington cares for families. Despite their limited facilities currently, the Rector of St Mary’s Shrine and his fellow priests have welcomed our association to hold our Family Days at St Mary’s so that we can help and support Catholic families as they strive to remain faithful to the teachings of the Church on marriage and the family. During these Family Days, one of the priests has been very happy to give catechetical instruction to our teenage children and join us in the social element of our day, making themselves available to speak to and offer spiritual advice to parents.
The priests also offer catechism days, activities for young adults and spiritual advice for all parents generally. The church is large and beautiful, but a shrine hall and classrooms are needed for more families to come and benefit from their talks and conferences. Families coming with vans will appreciate the improved parking facilities if, as I hope, their Priory Campaign is successful. Those buildings next door look very fitting and there would be space for children to play. But there is little time. Please pledge whatever you can, and in any case, pray for success. We Catholic families in England urgently need such havens of orthodoxy and piety.
Signed: Maria Haynes, 17th July 2018″
“Renowned for its sacred music and architecture, St Mary’s Church in Warrington is a place of beauty and contemplation for all, in the centre of a busy Cheshire town. I believe that such cultural oases are much needed in our day and age. Not far from Warrington, we at Arley Hall & Gardens also offer a most special place to visit, with 500 years of family history and an exceptional garden. Well aware that significant resources are needed to maintain and develop such patrimony for the benefit of all, I happily recommend St. Mary’s Church Priory Campaign to provide extended facilities for worshippers and visitors alike, and hopefully an added benefit for the town.
Signed: Viscountess Ashbrook, of Arley Hall”
WHY YOU MATTER
Christianity is in peril worldwide, and ‘almost vanquished’ in the UK and Ireland, to quote the late Head of the Catholic Church in Great Britain, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor ten years ago. What would he say nowadays? Against such odds, our priestly Fraternity does its little best to help restore the reign of Christ. The Priory Campaign is not essentially about money and buildings. Important as those are, they are means to an end. The Priory Campaign is about souls. The Priory Campaign is about rolling up our sleeves to foster the reign of Christ. The Priory Campaign is about being creative, daring and proactive to implant a multifaceted Catholic hub, here in the North West of England. The Priory Campaign is about bringing together the skills and talents of many, to inspire, to enthuse, to empower.
This is why we appeal not only to those in our pews, but also to those watching us daily through our LiveMass channel, and to anyone interested in a Catholic shift from ‘manage decline’ to ‘love the village’ (and ultimately ‘Rebuild the Kingdom’). The St Mary’s compound in Warrington could literally become the core of such a village, as described in The Village Option article (cf Dowry Magazine #36, Winter 2017 (https://fssp.co.uk/category/dowry/).
A village is neither a fortress nor a ghetto. It is a place a convivial dwelling on a human scale. Whereas taking as our model the New Jerusalem might be slightly too ambitious (!), we modestly aim for ‘A Nazareth in Lancashire’ – a place where families and individuals will like to live, growing in sanctity around a beautiful church with daily Mass, confessions, homilies, catechism and direction.
OUR ASSETS
The Priory Campaign is not a dream. It is an aspiration based on objective assets. Which are they?
• As you know, we have a beautiful Pugin church in good structural repair.
• We have talented musician and dedicated parishioners.
• We have a growing network of supporters via LiveMass (http://www.livemass.org/): they pray with us every day and they value the recollection and beauty of the liturgy, as well as the daily homilies.
• We have dedicated and well trained priests serving here, currently four of us: Fr Armand de Malleray, Fr Konrad Loewenstein, Fr Ian Verrier and Fr Seth Phipps.
• We have a very supportive Archbishop: Archbishop McMahon of Liverpool came three times over the past three years to ordain four priests: Fr Matthew Jolly (4 July 2015, for the archdiocese); Fr Krzysztof Sanetra; Fr Alex Stewart and last month Fr Seth Phipps (all of them for the FSSP).
• We have legal ownership of this building, which confers utmost stability to our ministry and justifies a long term project such as the Priory Campaign.
• We are growing: While sadly seminaries, monasteries and convents are closing down all across the country, our little Fraternity is growing. On 18th July we will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of our foundation. From 12 founders on 18 July 1988, we are now 437 clerics serving in 129 diocese on 4 continents. Last week our fourth superior general was elected, Fr Andrzej Komorowski, and his council, securing stability for the next six years. In addition, our Fraternity in England ordained one priest per year. Mainstream Catholic media now affirm that what we offer is part of the solution for the future of the Church over here.
ASK IKEA
Why did the giant Swedish flatpack furniture firm choose Warrington to open their very first store in the UK, 30 years ago? Not because of our Fraternity, since we didn’t exist yet… ‘Let’s move to Warrington, Cheshire: ‘It’s where the canny live’ – says The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/…/lets-move-to-warrington-chesh….
With 2.5 million working age people living within a 30 minute drive, Warrington has the largest catchment of any city outside the M25. As a result Warrington ranked third in terms of highest business growth, bettered only by London and Aberdeen. Warrington was acknowledged as the number one “city” in the UK for high growth small businesses, housing the highest proportion of high growth firms at 15.8% compared to the national average of 11.8%.
House prices are still less than half than in the South East.
Warrington, with a resident population of 210,000 is a large town (Unitary Authority) located some 20 miles west of Manchester and approximately 15 miles east of Liverpool. The town has excellent communication links by road, rail and air. St Mary’s (Church and Priory WA1 2NS) are located ½ mile east of Warrington Town Centre in the commercial hinterland of the main business district.
AND NOW
We already have £300.000 pledged. It is one fifth of the £1.5 million needed. Just as we expect this project to benefit souls even at a distance from Warrington, we seek support from far and wide, not only among our local congregation. Admittedly, £1.5 million is a lot of money. But in London one would just get a studio or a very small flat for that amount. It is worth investing here.
Unlike other Church institutions though, we are poor. This is mostly due to the fact that we are merely eighteen years old in England, having only been established canonically in the UK in 2000. We have not yet had a generation of benefactors leaving their estate to us. The only one who did provided lasting financial stability for our first apostolate in the South. God bless her soul.
But we have…
• Time-proven tools of sanctification.
• Families and individuals increasingly eager to benefit from our ministry.
• One priest from the UK ordained every year.
Please help us. Speak to your friends about this historic opportunity, and pray for generous benefactors. Please help us build a strong Catholic community around St Mary’s, to secure a confident future for every soul and to provide inspiration for all who seek the kingdom of God and His justice. May Our Blessed Lady guide and protect this initiative.
At this stage, we are looking for pledges rather than donations.
Please contact Fr Rector: malleray@fssp.org.
God bless you!
Launch homily: https://vimeo.com/livemass/priorycampaign
and YouTube: https://youtu.be/PWuc96zOGs4
There are ten places remaining for girls aged 10 – 17 years-old on Summer Camp St Petronilla this August 13-18. The venue is the Salesian Savio House in the Peak District. If you would like to know more about the camp or to request a booking form, please email us here. (The Boys’ Camp is full.) FLICKR albums from previous years’ camps can be viewed here: Girls 2017; Boys 2017; Girls 2016; Boys 2016.
The Source of Civilisation
From Jesus “all that remains good in the world–even a half pagan world–takes its rise. All that remains of good civilisation comes from the Cross, from the Heart and Blood of the Redeemer, and on this account it is still a Christian civilisation. The Redeemer Himself has told us what should be the fruit of all His work of Redemption–the continuation of that Redemption itself. Don Bosco says to you today: ‘Live the Christian life as we have lived it and taught it.’ Don Bosco’s love of the Redeemer became love of the souls which He has redeemed at the price His Precious Blood, and he points out to you the great and powerful help on which you must count to carry out that love of Christ which translates itself into love of souls. Mary, Help of Christians, is your inheritance. One of the most precious fruits of the Redemption is the Motherhood of Mary. It is the Divine Redeemer Who has given us Mary as our universal Mother. Here is a help which has no limitations to its power–Mary, our Mother, who desires nothing more than to lend her aid to the good works which we desire to do for the glory of God and the good of souls.” (Pope Pius XI at the canonisation of St John Bosco in 1934, quoted from Saint John Bosco, Seeker of Souls by F.A.Forbes (1935), page 160.)
For more from the patrons of this year’s Summer Camps, see here, here and here.
LiveMass video of the ordination to the Sacred Priesthood of Seth Phipps, FSSP at St Mary’s Shrine in Warrington, England by Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, Archbishop of Liverpool, England 9 June 2018.
