Welcome to St Brigid's Roman Catholic Church

St Brigid's Church

Welcome to St Brigid's Roman Catholic Parish in the Diocese of Motherwell, Scotland.

St Brigid's is a thriving parish of some 1,600 people, with a proud history in Newmains that stretches back to 1871.

Indeed the chapel/school established here in 1871 is still standing - though it is now a Parish Centre serving the social needs of the whole community.

We became a Parish in 1896 and our present Church was built in 1933. Now we gladly carry the Gospel of Christ into the third millenia.

Visit the heritage section of the website to find out more about the history of St Brigid's.

Words from Father Kelly

 PRO-LIFE

The Gospel of Jesus is always a message of life and hope and love. It begins with Jesus giving us his "Mission Statement", "I come that you may have life and have it more abundantly". Jesus continues to teach us that He comes to do the will of His Father and that will is that not one of those entrusted to His care should be lost. The message of redemption is for each one of us a message of the eternal love of God and His desire that we should all reap the benefits of Jesus' redemptive mission that allows us to call ourselves the children of God, heirs to the kingdom of heaven. This is where the dignity and value of our lives lie. That God loves each one of us and wants us to share heavenly glory.

In recent times we have reflected on the work of the Society of the Innocents seeking to support mothers in their pregnancy and helping them give their child the grace of life and the hope that life can bring to our world. Recently also we have welcomed the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child or SPUC. Again the message is the same, every conceived child is sacred from the moment of conception and eternally loved by God. In this month of November we pray every day for those who have died that they may know the joy of the Lord's promise of the happiness of heaven.

This week too is celebrated as National Adoption Week when we are encouraged to think of the special vocation of offering a family life opportunity to children whose natural parents are not able to do that for them. The St Margaret's Adoption Society always needs support and the interest of families willing to adopt or foster the children who come into their care. This is very much part of the Pro-Life apostolate and so we pray this week in a special way for the success of their work.

Jesus offers us all the gift of life. He offers us the graces of Faith, Hope and Charity to get the best out of our lives and then he promises us the fulfilment of our lives in the glory of heaven. This is our Life, this is our Hope, it is why every day we try to follow the Lord. 

Fr Hugh P Kelly

Parish Prayer to St Brigid

Saint Brigid
You were a woman of peace.
You brought harmony where there was conflict.
You brought light to the darkness.
You brought hope to the downcast.
May the mantle of your peace
cover those who are troubled and anxious,
and may peace be firmly rooted in our hearts and in our world.
Inspire us to act justly and to reverence all God has made.
Brigid you were a voice for the wounded and the weary.
Strengthen what is weak within us.
Calm us into a quietness that heals and listens.
May we grow each day into greater
wholeness in mind, body and spirit.

Amen

St Brigid's Cross

The Saint Brigid’s cross is a custom that marks the feast day of St. Brigid, which falls on the 1st of February, the beginning of spring.

The making of the cross has many meanings and stories; one ritual is that the cross is hung over the door as a way of protecting the household from evil spirits and energies.

Another tradition that is practiced is that a new cross is made each year on St. Brigid's day, and the old one hanging from the year before is then burned to keep fire from the household.