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