St. Brigid

Introduction

Saint Brigid in Newmains, within the Diocese of Motherwell, became a parish in 1896 and the present church was built in 1933.

History

The church was a brick structure, as economics decreed. Father John McCay built a chapel school in Newmains in 1871. Father James Humble was responsible for the erection of the present Chapel House in 1897. A parish hall was formally opened by Father Lyons on June 7th 1928.

Father Stopani died in 1937. Patrick Gallagher, a stonemason, crafted a baptismal font that remains in use, along with two other fonts that stood at the inside entrance doors. Dean Van Hecke, who became Parish Priest of Wishaw in 1893, promptly improved the church's state of repair and reseated the aisles.

Music and liturgy

St Brigid's has about 20 readers for Sunday Masses and another half dozen for weekday Masses, who proclaim the Word of God and announce the Prayers of the Faithful. St Brigid's has 15 Ministers of the Eucharist who distribute Holy Communion at Sunday Masses and take Communion to the sick and housebound in homes and care homes. The RCIA Group was established in 1997 under the guidance of a Pastoral Assistant, and by 2002 had welcomed over 40 new members into the Church. St Brigid's Conference of the Society of St Vincent de Paul was established in 1922 and meets fortnightly on a Monday evening after Devotions.

Parish life

St Brigid's Centre was first granted a Public House Licence in 1999, and a Bar Group committee of half a dozen members runs the bar. All children of primary age living in Saint Brigid’s parish fall within the catchment zone of St Brigid’s Primary School. Ample, clearly marked parking space is available in the church grounds.

Regular events

The senior citizens' group arranges a Summer Outing and a Christmas Dinner in the Parish Centre each year. At the Sunday 12 o'clock Mass, primary children celebrate the Liturgy of the Word in the Meeting Room behind the Altar. New altar servers are invited to join once a year, around the end of August. The Church Stall is opened before and after all weekend Masses. The RCIA programme runs from September to Pentecost each year.

Sacraments and pastoral care

In St Brigid's parish, the parish priest requires parents to attend Sunday Mass regularly before agreeing to baptise a child. Volunteers in the parish can lead the Rosary in the home each evening and a decade before the remains are removed to the church. The family can supply readers for a funeral Mass, but the Parish will provide a reader if needed.