The Most Blessed Sacrament, Leicester

Introduction

Lady Effie Millington Drake funded the establishment of a shrine to the Blessed Sacrament in England, enabling the first Foundation of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation in England.

History

In 1935 Bishop John McNulty invited the Congregation of the Most Blessed Sacrament to establish a new parish in west Leicester. Father Anthony Kaas arrived as first parish priest in January 1936. The foundation stone of Eymard House was laid on 17th September 1938 and completed in August 1939. The permanent church was completed and brought into regular use on Palm Sunday in April 1957.

In 1977 Kirby Muxloe was transferred from Saint Peter's to Blessed Sacrament parish. Eymard House was sold and a presbytery built in the grounds of the church; a new parish priest arrived in September 1990. In September 2019 a new parish priest became priest of both Saint Peter's and Blessed Sacrament. The temporary church was a wooden hut on Gooding Avenue, approved by Leicester City Council for only five years. In 1944 the American 82nd Airborne Division set up Divisional Headquarters in Braunstone Park, and their chaplain celebrated Mass in the temporary church.

Parish life

The parish is multinational, with large numbers of African and Filipino parishioners and around forty languages spoken. The Friday Drop-In, developed as a response to the new millennium, has raised around £200,000 given to charities and local causes. The parish has developed links with other Christian churches and supported ecumenical initiatives.

Regular events

The parish celebrates the Fiesta Santo Nino and the feast day of Blessed Cyprian Tansi as highlights of the liturgical year. The Bishops Mass for the Travelling Community is usually celebrated at Blessed Sacrament. On the eve of the feast of Santo Niño, parishioners and friends join in a solemn feast-eve Holy Mass celebration in the church.