100 Club 2019

Envelopes are now available in the shop for the 100 Club 2019. Just £12 gives you the chance to win £25, £15 or £10 each month AND raise up to £600 for the parish. Join today!

Vacancy at Castlerigg

Castlerigg Youth Centre, Keswick, are looking to recruit a new General Assistant, up to five days a week, 8am-2pm. Please contact Gillian, 017687 72711.

Fire Escape Doorway

A Fire Risk Assessment has been carried out of the Church and Presbytery. This identified the need for a fire escape doorway at the South end of the church. A new door is planned in the South-West wall of the transept between the Lady altar and the stained glass window. The doorway will have an oak door with dressed stone cill and lintels.

Confirmation has been received from the Diocesan Property Office that the Property Office and Finance Committee have voted unanimously to approve our application to install the fire exit door from Our Lady’s Chapel to the rear car park. It is planned to start work later this month. Alan Catterson

Penrith Foodbank

Many thanks for all the regular donations of goods received at both our churches.

These are taken to the Salvation Army for distribution on behalf of all the local churches. Your ongoing support is much appreciated. Fr John

The Guild of St Stephen - Altar Servers

Our thanks and congratulations to the 13 altar servers enrolled into the Guild at both Masses last Sunday. We also have a good number of servers recently started and we look forward to their enrolment in due course.

On 19th October St Catherine’s Parish received its Diploma of Affiliation to the Archconfraternity of St Stephen signed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols.

On Sunday 30th December our longer serving Altar Servers were enrolled into the guild. Other Altar Servers who are new and still in training will be enrolled when at least six months serving has been completed.

The three aims of the guild are:

1. To encourage, positively and practically, the highest standards of serving at the Church’s Liturgy.

2. To provide Altar Servers with greater understanding of what they are doing.

3. To unite Altar Servers of different parishes and diocese for mutual support.

St Stephen, Deacon and Martyr, Patron of Altar Servers: Pray for us

Servers Albs - As we approach Christmas it would be good to have the Altar Servers’ Albs nice and clean. Are there a couple of the parents who could take on this task please? Contact David or Mervyn.

Cumbria Flooding

Niall McLoughlin is a parishioner of St Catherine's and a young PhD Researcher (ESRC funded) at Bath University. He is asking you to share your thoughts and feelings about flooding, extreme weather and flood risk management in an online survey. The findings from this research will help promote better preparation, responses and community engagement in areas like Cumbria.

Niall wishes to thank all those who responded to the survey on flooding. A number of responses were received and the feedback has been very useful. There is still more time to participate. The survey can be directly accessed via this link: www.ukfloods.wixsite.com/survey

This research has full ethical approval from the University of Bath Psychology Ethics Committee (Ref: 16-323). For further information, contact: Niall McLoughlin (n.c.mcloughlin@bath.ac.uk) or phone 07944791928. Feel free to share the link with friends, family and anyone else who might be interested in taking part . Thank you. Jennifer McLoughlin

Interested in becoming a Catholic?

If anyone is interested in becoming a Catholic, please speak with Fr John. We could arrange a Journey in Faith or RCIA course to support you in exploring this further. The course would look at key areas of the Faith and our Spiritual Journey. If you would find this helpful, please get in touch during the next week.

Smarties tubes

The Monze Mission Hospital Group are raising funds for the new neo-natal unit.

As one of the activities, they will be giving out tubes of Smarties after Mass for you to enjoy and then please fill with 20 pence pieces and return to the church. There will be a box in the narthex, or please contact Judith Bayley, Laura Reid or Elizabeth Reid. Thank you.

Altar Serving at Weekday Mass

It would be a great help if the current adult servers could form a regular rota to set up for and serve the Masses from Tues-Sat. Not all days are covered at present. The preparation of church before Mass would leave Fr. John free for his own personal preparation.

If you can help, please sign the list in the sacristy or speak to Fr. John or Mervyn Edwards. New servers are welcome.

Thank you.

National Eucharistic Pilgrimage and Congress 7th-9th September 2018

Click here to download the report from Monica and Bernard Greaves who attended the Eucharistic Congress on behalf of the parish.

Permanent Diaconate

Bishop Paul has officially accepted parishioner David Greaves on to the formation programme for the Permanent Diaconate in our Diocese. This is a four year part-time programme of spiritual, pastoral and academic formation and discernment towards the vocation of being a deacon. Studies take place at intervals at a centre in Scotland with applicants from several diocese. David attends the introductory meeting on 25th August. As with many applicants and deacons, he continues in full time secular employment.

We assure David and his wife Rebecca and their three children of our prayerful support. Let’s keep them in our daily prayers.  Fr. John

Feast day of St John Boste — Tuesday 24 July 2018

St John Boste is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales to be canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970. Born at Dufton near Appleby in 1544, he was educated at Appleby Grammar School and later became the School’s headmaster. Living during the difficult times of Elizabeth I’s reign, he reverted to Catholicism and travelled to France to be ordained. For the next twelve years he risked his life as a missionary priest in the North of England becoming known as the ‘Stag of The Forest’ to his hunters. Betrayed by a friend, he was captured and imprisoned for several months in the Tower of London and suffered severe torture on the rack. He behaved with undaunted courage and resolution. St John Boste was hung, drawn and quartered near Durham on 24 July 1594 in a most brutal and purposeful manner as a warning to others. His faith never wavered as he recited The Angelus whilst ascending the ladder to his death. An eyewitness to his martyrdom was fellow priest, Blessed Christopher Robinson, who wrote a graphic account of the execution. Christopher was to suffer a similar fate at Carlisle in 1598. St John Boste Pray for Us.

We had a great walk up High Cup Nick, praying The Angelus at the top, in honour of St John Boste.

Thanks to Peter for organising it!

The burial place of George Leo Haydock, parish priest of St Catherine’s

There are historical references to the burial of Fr George Leo Haydock being within our church building. Though not our first parish priest Fr Haydock was not only responsible for the financing and erection of its building but was a man of some standing in Penrith, among other things he quelled a major riot between hundred of workers about to take place outside the town. He also annotated and, with his brother, edited what is now known as The Haydock Bible, a copy of which was used by president John F Kennedy for the swearing in of his presidency; another copy of which is on display in our church. A Texan, Mr Sidney Ohlhausen, who has made a life long study of the Haydock brothers, recently financed a radar-penetrating survey of the floor of St Catherine's to see if we can locate the burial place of this famous parish priest of ours.

We now have the report of the geophysical survey undertaken on 5th September to investigate the possibility that Fr George Leo Haydock is buried somewhere in the church. The report is lengthy and highly technical and on the nature of the geophysical evidence adduced it does not give a definitive or conclusive verdict on the possibility of the burial. Michael Mullett