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

Today in our Liturgy we come to the end of the Season of Christmas. Already most of us will have got rid of the Christmas Trees, the coloured lights and decorations. The world of work has called us back from celebrations and parties, for the young school has resumed and so life returns to normal in the middle of our winter.

Our Liturgy today asks us to pause. Thirty years after the Magi returned to their own lands, after the shepherds went back to their work, Jesus comes from Nazareth, a grown man. He comes to the River Jordan where John the Baptist has been proclaiming renewal and repentance. His message is the message of the nearness of the long awaited Messiah. He points out Jesus to the crowds following him. There is the one whose shoe lace I am not worthy to untie. Yet Jesus comes to him and he asks John to baptise Him with his baptism of penance, of renewal of a new faithfulness to the Covenant God made with Abraham.

Some of the early Christian writers saw this moment as even more important than Christmas. Christmas was the celebration of the birth of our Saviour, an infant child. The Baptism of the Lord marks Jesus willingly accepting His vocation. He will fulfil the Father's will to be our Saviour. Those quiet thirty years of life in Nazareth sharing His life with Mary and Joseph and all the neighbours and friends of the family are now over. From this moment His public mission begins and through Galilee and Judea He will set about proclaiming the eternal love of the Father for everyone "I come that you might have life and have it more abundantly"!

We have a slang expression we sometimes utter to those who might not be in agreement with our actions: "Oh get a life" might be our reply. Today Jesus invites each of us to "get a life" and that life is the life of His Word that expresses the eternal love of God for all of us, a life He would win for us through His Passion, Death and Resurrection. As His life on earth neared its conclusion he prayed at the Last Supper "that not one of those entrusted to his care might be lost".

Jesus will help us "get a life" but only if we allow it. Let 2020 be a year of renewal for all of us. Come back to the Lord, hold Him close and we will know His love and life.

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.