St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church : Cleator

<body> <p>St. Mary's, St Mary's, St. Marys, St Marys, St. Mary's Church, Catholic Church, St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, cleator, moor, cleator moor, church, rc, r.c., roman catholic, pilgrimage, grotto, calvary, lourdes, prayer, hymns, religion, cross, crucifix, jesus, mary, immaculate, heart, saint, mary, bible, holy bible, pugin, cumbria, cumberland, lake district, the lakes, lakeland, tom duffy, sean duffy.</p> <p>St. Marys Roman Catholic Church is situated on the outskirts of the Lake District National Park, it is home to the renowned Grotto, an identical replica of Lourdes. St. Mary's, St Mary's, St. Marys, St Marys, St. Mary's Church, Catholic Church, St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Prayer, Religion, God, Jesus, Calvary, Saint, Priest, Knights of Saint Columbia, Lourdes, Holy Mary, Holy Bible.</p> <p>With the large number of Catholic Immigrants arriving at Cleator Moor during the 1850's there was a spiritual need for a Church in the parish. At that time the Catholic Priest at Whitehaven, Father William Gregory Holden of the Order of St Benedict [OSB] saw this need and founded a Mission at Cleator. He obtained land at Brookside and built the new Church there in 1853. The original Church which had been dedicated to St Bega opened in December of that year. The building of this original Church, was off a stone structure in the decorated style having a stone tower, and the Church when it was built could accommodate some 600 Parishioners. The cost of this Church had been in the region of Ł1,500, and would later become part of St Marys School, on the building of the new present Church.</p> <p>Father Holden who had been ordained a Priest on October 27th 1816, left Whitehaven to live in his new Parish, but sadly died there, at Cleator on the 8th January 1859 at the age of 68 years. He was succeeded by Father Williams who in turn was succeeded by Father Matthew Gregory Brierly OSB, who became Parish Priest from 1868 until 1875, and many think that even though Fr Holden founded the mission, it was Fr Brierly that saw it firmly established, as within a year and a half from his arrival, the foundation stone of the larger present Church had been laid; the need for this new and larger Church had become an necessity because of the increasing number of Catholics arriving in the Town, and it was on the 23rd of June 1872 that the present Church, which had been built to a design by Messrs Pugin and Pugin of London, was opened and dedicated to "Our Lady of the Sacred Heart".</p> <p>Parish Priests who have served Cleator: 1853 - 1859 Fr William Gregory Holden. OSB, 1859 - 1868 Fr Francis Bernard Williams. OSB, 1868 - 1875 Fr Matthew Gregory Brierley. OSB, 1875 - 1887 Fr James Oswald Burchall. OSB, 1887 - 1889 Fr Dunstan Essington Ross. OSB, 1889 - 1889 Fr Charles Augustine Wray. OSB, 1889 - 1891 Fr Joseph Aelred Worden. OSB, 1891 - 1892 Fr Thomas Paul McCabe. OSB, 1892 - 1901 Fr Edward Norbert Ward. OSB, 1901 - 1905 Fr Robert Edmond Kershaw. OSB, 1905 - 1906 Fr John Aloysius O'Leary. OSB, 1906 - 1911 Fr Francis Benidict Scannell. OSB, 1911 - 1956 Fr Fredrick Cuthbert Clayton. OSB, 1956 - 1972 Fr Kevin Francis McCann. OSB, 1972 - 1972 Fr Andrew Gibbons. OSB, 1972 - 1981 Fr Francis Cookson, 1981 - 1990 Fr John Valentine Cahalane, 1990 - 2002 Fr Timothy Sullivan, 2002 - Fr Emmanuel J Gribben</p> <p>It was in 1911 that one of the most revered Priests in living memory, took over from Father Scannell who had moved to Birtley and died there on April 5th 1913 at the age of 57. This Priest was Father Fredrick Cuthbert Clayton OSB. He had been born in Nottingham on 4th August 1869 and was ordained a Priest on June 26th 1898. He had been sent to Cleator as a young Curate on 4th June 1904, and after serving well under Fr Scannell he became Parish Priest himself on Fr Scannells departure in July 1911.</p> <p>Father Clayton continued to administer to the spiritual needs of the parish, and was ably assisted by another of Cleators revered curates Father Kevin Francis McCann who had came to the parish in September 1930 and who on Dean Claytons death on April 1st 1956 would himself become Parish Priest until his own death in January 1972. Between them they served the parish for 94 years, Dean Clayton from 1911 until 1956 and Fr McCann 1930 until 1972. It was on the death of Fr McCann that the rule of the Benedictine Order in charge at Cleator ended. One of the greatest achievements that Father Clayton is remembered by today is the building of the Grotto to Our Lady Of Lourdes, which had been built by the men of the Parish during the depression of 1926. The idea to build this replica of Lourdes was met by a great response by the men of the Parish, and vouchers for Footwear and clothing was given to the Volunteers. The Grotto was completed and opened on Sunday 30th October 1927 by the then Abbot of Douai, the right Reverend Edmund Kelly OSB.</p> <p>In 1979 a major repair and restoration programme was carried out in the Grotto area, with the building of a new altar and placing of the Way of the cross. It was rededicated by Cardinal Basil Hume on 27th July 1980. The Grotto is a place of Annual Pilgrimage, and a centre of devotion, not just for Catholics, but for all faiths. The Grotto is appointed one of the Marian Shrines in the Lancaster Diocese.</p> <p>Standing at the top of the Grotto overlooking the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, and at the end of a pathway which has the Stations of the Cross on either side, stands a replica of Calvary, which was erected by the parish to commemorate the silver Jubilee of Father Claytons service in the parish of St Mary's. This cross stands some 18 foot high and is around 7 foot wide on a large mound of rough stones surrounded by bushes, at the foot of this mound is a large vault, were a number of the deceased Priests of Cleator are interred.</p> <p>These being: Abbott Hurley OSB - died 28 Dec 1940, Father FR Aspinall OSB - died 26 Nov 1949, Dean FC Clayton OSB - died 1 April 1956, Father FC Mc Cann - died 19 Jan 1972. On the cross is a figure of Christ, which is itself around six feet. This figure is made from Zinc and came from abroad. It was on Sunday August 11th 1929 that the then Bishop of Lancaster The Right Reverend Thomas Bernard Pearson OSB unveiled and blessed this Crucifix, which still stands as a testimony to the love that the Parish had for Father Clayton.</p> <p>St. Teresa of Lisieux was born on the 2nd of January 1873 at Alencon in France, and was given the name Marie Francoise Therese Martin, she was the fifth child of the Martin family, all girls. Therese's mother died when she was only five years of age, and it was shortly after the death of his wife that Mr Martin moved from Alencon to Lisieux.</p> <p>Her sister Pauline entered the Carmel at Lisieux when Teresa was only nine, and five years later her other sister Marie also joined the Carmel. It was because of this influence that Teresa confided in her Father that she also wished to devote her life to God as an enclosed Carmelite. The Carmelite authorities and the Bishop of Beayeux refused to hear of this because she was so young only being 14 years of age, a few months later she went with her father to Rome, and at a public audience with Pope Leo X111, when she should have knelt for the Pope's blessing, the timid girl broke the rule of silence and asked the Pope, "In honour of your jubilee, allow me to enter the Carmel at fifteen". The Pope was very impressed but he upheld the decision made by the superiors. "You shall enter if it is Gods Will", was his reply with great kindness.</p> <p>Teresa didn't have long to wait, as by the end of the year the Bishop of Beyeux gave his consent and on the 9th day of April 1888 she entered the Carmel at Lisieux at the age of 15. She was professed on 8th September 1890. In 1893 Sister Teresa was appointed to assist the novice mistress. When her Father died in 1894, her other sister Celene, joined with her sisters by herself entering the Carmel.</p> <p>It was some eighteen months later at the age of 23 that illness struck and heralded a period of cruel suffering which ended only with her death. It was during this long illness it would appear that Teresa was given the gift of Prophecy, as it was during this period that she made these three utterances which have gone around the world: I have never given the good God aught but love, and it is with love that he will repay. After my death I will let fall a shower of Roses. I will spend my heaven in doing good upon Earth. My little way, is the was to spiritual childhood, the way of trust and absolute self-surrender.</p> <p>In June of 1897 Teresa was moved to the Convent Infirmary where she suffered her days and nights in terrible pain, even after receiving the Last Rites of the Mother Church, she still lingered on until on 30th September 1897 at the age of 24 saying her final words on Earth: Father in Heaven - I love you. She was beatified by Pope Pius X1 in 1923, and in 1925 only 28 years after her death this same Pope proclaimed her a Saint. The Shrine at the Grotto of St Mary's, to St Therese of Lisieux was dedicated on 6th July 1932 by Father Taylor of Carfin, Scotland.</p> </body>