AFTER serving the Roman Catholic population of Warrington since the 1700s, the Benedictine monks of Ampleforth Abbey have had to relinquish their last church in the town – the historic St Mary’s Church in Buttermarket Street.
The Grade 2 Listed church in the town centre will be taken over by the Priestley Fraternity of St Peter and on Saturday, November 21 at 12 noon there will be an inaugural event to mark the occasion.
Monks from Ampleforth Abbey once had four churches in Warrington, but due to a decline in their numbers, they are unable to maintain a presence in the town.
The Priestley Fraternity of St Peter have a special charism as they only celebrate the ancient Latin Tridentine Mass, so they will herald in a new dimension to Catholic life in Warrington.
The inaugural service will take place on the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady.
There will be a Polyphonic Solemn High Mass of inaugurationof the ministry of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in Warrington, in the presence of the local Ordinary, the Most Rev Malcolm McMahon OP, Archbishop of Liverpool, and of the Right Rev Cuthbert Madden OSB, Abbot of Ampleforth, whose Abbey founded and ran St Mary’s Priory Church.
St Mary’s Priory Choir will sing Mass for Four Voices and Christe adoramus Te by Claudio Monteverdi (1567 – 1643) and Ave Maria for Eight Voices, by Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611), under the direction of Michael Wynne.
All are welcome and refreshments will follow the service.
More details: http://stmarysandstbenedictswarrington.co.uk
Historic takeover of town centre church
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