The Friends of St. Walburge’s has now been launched for anyone who is interested (passionate!) about our Shrine Church. See below for more information. To join please click here. Thank You!
Announcement
Canon Tanner, Canon Post and I would like to try our best to maintain your Sacramental life here at our Shrines in Preston during this unprecedented crisis.
His Eminence Cardinal Nichols, together with the Bishops Conference of England and Wales have accordingly decreed that all public Masses in our country be suspended from 8pm on Friday 20th March until further notice.
Our community needs to cooperate in avoiding mass gatherings, which spread the virus, but our priority is to preserve and continue fostering the spiritual life and access to the Sacraments.
Therefore, there will be no public Masses or other services until further notice. Your priests will continue to celebrate Mass in private. One Mass per day will be live streamed on the ICKSP Preston Facebook page for you to watch (you do not need a Facebook account). https://www.facebook.com/icksp.preston/
The Church’s precept to attend Mass on Sundays has been suspended by the CBEW, to whom canon law gives this possibility for a serious reason. The Divine commandment to sanctify the Lord’s Day cannot, of course, be abrogated or suspended, and must be fulfilled.
We strongly recommend that you make a daily spiritual communion, with your families if possible, and that you receive the Sacrament of Confession at least as often as you usually do. Feel free to contact us to arrange confession at any time.
Given the current legal and diocesan restrictions, it is evident that it will not be possible for everyone to receive Holy Communion on a regular basis. We shall nevertheless do our best to accommodate individual requests. It is heart-breaking for a priest to have to write such words to his flock, but the root of our sorrow is the loss of the public celebration of the Holy Sacrifice, which should never be divorced in the minds of the faithful from Sacramental Communion.
On a more material note, the bills for the church still have to be paid and your priests still have to eat! We depend entirely on donations. Please continue to fill in your weekly Gift Aid envelopes and bringing them around from time to time at your convenience. You could also alternatively send us what you would normally put in the collection via bank transfer. Our bank details are:
Account Name: ICKSP / St Walburge
Account Number: 5234 7733
Sort Code: 40-10-22
Apart from any notice to the contrary, the church will be open for prayer daily from 7.30 am to 7.30 pm.
Sincerely Yours in Christ the King,
Canon Cristofoli
PS: The schedule for the coming days will be:
Saturday 21st March: St Benedict
11am – 6pm: St Walburge’s open
12 noon: Live Streamed Mass from EM (closed doors)
Sunday 22nd March
10 am – 5.15pm St Walburge’s open
10.30 am Live Streamed Mass from EM (closed doors)
Weekly Schedule from Monday 23rd March
7.30 am – 7.30 pm St Walburge’s open
9.30 am Live Streamed Mass from a private oratory (closed doors)
Confessions as usual
The Spire receives regional TV coverage
We have received a lot of favourable coverage of our opening of the Spire for people to explore the 172 steps and see the panoramic views of Preston and beyond. An item on Granada Reports can be viewed here.
Remembrance Sunday – 2019
Sunday, 10th November, was Remembrance Sunday, and on this day, at the Memorial Altar dedicated to the men of Preston who fell during the Great War, a Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated. At the end, the catafalque before the high altar was incensed. Photography is courtesy of Michael Durnan.
All Souls 2019
On All Souls’ Day 2019, a Solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated in St. Walburge’s Church with a catafalque, draped in solemn black and surrounded by candlelight. Photography courtesy of Michael Durnan.
All Saints 2019
Solemn High Mass was celebrated at English Martyrs’ Church for All Saints’ Day 2019. The photography is courtesy of Michael Durnan.
Feast of Christ the King – 2019
The Feast of Christ the King was celebrated by a Solemn High Mass at St. Walburge’s church and was followed by a procession of the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of Preston near the church. Here are some pictures of the procession.
Sponsor a parachuting priest! £5000 needed!
What is St Benedict’s Academy all about? We are a part-time academy based in Preston, Lancashire, looked after by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, and welcome children from age 5 to 18. In September, the academy will be entering into its third academic year, having started in January 2018.
The education provided at St. Benedict’s is all deeply rooted in the Catholic faith, as all subjects lead back to Our Lord. Whether in the study of History, with the Incarnation as its centre-piece, learning about and admiring the wonderful creation of God through the sciences, or in the study of the sacred language of the Church, Latin, through looking at the texts of the Mass, as well as passages from the Vulgate, Christ is always at the centre.
As priests, it is a great privilege to be able to teach the children, and to pass on the faith to them. The Sisters Adorers teach Catechism and French, as well as Gregorian Chant and Polyphony. It is wonderful to have religious around the school, as an example and inspiration to the children!
Every Friday, at 12 noon, there is a sung Mass at English Martyrs, at which some of the boys from St. Benedict’s serve, and the rest of the children sing the Kyriale of the Mass, as well some of the Ordinary, along with one or two polyphonic motets.
While the majority of the teachers at St. Benedict’s are volunteers, there are in fact many other essential costs needed to run the formation of the children, which include: heating of the building, electricity and water bills, textbooks, insurance and maintenance of the Academy.
As the academy is a charity, we never wish to turn a family away if they are not able to afford the fees and at present the majority of families do not pay fees. In order to keep the Academy running and to provide a strong catholic education to as many children as possible, we rely on the donations of generous benefactors.
As we read in our dearly-beloved Missal at Christmas time, “Thine almighty Word, O Lord, leaped down from heaven”. Priests must always imitate Christ in all things. Therefore, Canon Vianney Poucin, accompanied by Philip Russell (a trustee) and Kevin Russell-Young (a parent of three of the children) will also be leaping from the heavens (15000ft), but by means of an aeroplane and a parachute in order to raise funds for St Benedict’s!
The planned date is the 4th September in Lancaster
Will you help make Catholic Education great again? Will you sponsor them?
#If you feel able, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/parachuting-priest