Crawley Parish 150 Years

Crawley in the 19th Century

As part of the ongoing celebrations of the 150th anniversary of The Catholic Parish of Crawley,1861-2011, The Sisters of Notre Dame joined in a service of the Evening Prayer of the Church and blessing of the graves in the Friary Cemetery on Sunday 20th November 2011 at 3.00 pm.

The congregation were invited to bring along flowers in remembrance of their deceased loved ones,which were brought forward to the altar at the beginning of the service. During the service cards with the names of the deceased were placed on the altar. This was followed by a candlelit procession to the cemetery where the graves were blessed. These included the graves of deceased Catenian brothers and wives, Bill & Dot Gabriel, Michael & Meg Lydon, Dick & Mary Doherty, Jim Naylor, and Shirley Jennings, not forgetting John Blake former headmaster of St Wilfrids School, a very close friend of the Association.

Thereafter everyone was invited to the Friary Hall for refreshments, and Sister Joan Brown of the Sisters of Notre Dame presented the story of the nuns and their significant contribution to Catholic education in Crawley.

Towards Advent Festival - 19 November

This Saturday (19th November) sees the annual Towards Advent Festival in Westminster Cathedral hall. This is a gathering together of a wide range of Catholic groups and organisations to celebrate the Catholic Faith.

Door open at 10.00 and the festival will be opened at 10.30 by Archbishop Vincent Nichols. At 1.30 Monsignor Keith Newton, Ordinary of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, will deliver a talk on 'Joy and Hope in the Church'. At 3.00 there is to be a celebration of Blessed John Paul II in film, drama and music. This includes the documentary film "John Paul the Great" and contributions from the Oxford-based youth drama team who presented the play "The Quality of Mercy". Entrance to these two events will cost £2, but entrance to the festival itself is free.

Towards Advent is sponsored by The Catenian Association, The Knights of St Columba, and The Association of Catholic Women.

Further details see http://towardsadvent.blogspot.com/

Holy Souls

 (This is a bit late for the season, but still well worth reading since we pray for our departed brothers and widows at every meeting - Ed.)

This country is seeped and marinated in the Catholic faith; you do not have to scratch the surface too hard to find those roots and the English devotion to Holy Souls.

The Chantrey Chapels, some still here, or roads and places which still bear the name, the pilgrimages to holy shrines, and the way-side shrines.

And later, thanks to  the effects of the first world war and every conflict since, the reaction of people when Princess Diana died - the flowers & the candles, the need to pray and remember the dead is still very much a part of our culture today.

They all find their meaning in the Catholic faith, they are the symbols that point us to God - but without the church as a leaven they go awry and what we get is Elton John singing Candle in the wind.    

Our duty is also to pray for the souls in purgatory. Purgatory is much misunderstood, but God in all his goodness wants us to be whole and holy, proved by and worthy of the promises of Christ. Yes, we sin; yes, we let our selves and our loved ones down; purgatory helps us to be ready: to be in that union with God. to behold the fullness of his grace and worship him in a new way.

November is a time of life and time of the Resurrection. The colour black is not morbid but the mixing of the colours of the liturgical cycle of colours and they are mixed because our prayer, our work, our preparation in liturgy not only help us to see our goal, but they help those souls to be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

So our prayer this month for the Holy Souls will move mountains and bring people into the banquet of the lamb in heaven. This is our mission if we chose to accept it.

From Crawley Parish Newsletter

Tri-Circle Pig-Racing - 4th November

A pig race in progress

"What do you mean No. 5 won?"

"Tri-Circle what?" you may well ask. But yes, we do mean pig-racing. Furry little battery-operated pigs. The three circles involved were Crawley, Haywards Heath and East Grinstead. Crawley as the holder of both the trophies involved hosted the evening at St Joseph's Church Hall, Pound Hill.

Helen Pettingel (nee Jordan) and Iris Jordan present the Barry Jordan Trophy to Barry Prior of Haywards Heath Circle

Unfortunately Crawley may have been the holder of the trophies at the beginning of the evening, but by the end both trophies had departed. The Barry Jordan Trophy went to Haywards Heath and the Michael Lydon Trophy to East Grinstead. Threats were also heard that Crawley might not be holding the Visitors Cup for much longer either.

Helen presents the Michael Lydon trophy to Jim Fitzpatrick of East Grinstead Circle

After a very enjoyable evening, a total of £500.85 had been raised which will be split between the Presidents' Charities of the three circles.