Daughters
of
Mary
and
Joseph
celebrate ...

... 40 years at St Andrew's, Thornton Heath

Church of St Andrew, Thornton Heath
Friday, 25th September 2009

More photos and a full report ...

Some of the priests in the Entry Procession including Fr Chima Ibekwe, Fr Cornelius Boyle, Fr Francis Moran (Parish Priest), Canon Michael O'Dea, Canon Frank O'Sullivan, Fr Raj, Canon Jim Pannett, Fr Tom Cooper and Fr Joe O'Connor

Some of the sisters singing the recessional hymn

Choir and musicians after Mass, including Sr Annette (centre)

More of the choir after Mass

The cake

Around the cake - with Fr Francis from left to right: Sisters Annette,
Mary Jude, Jennie and Sheila

Refreshments after Mass

Some of the congregation after Mass

Some of the sisters and congregation enjoying refreshments

Bishop Paul with choir member Rose Tang
 

On 25 September 2009, Bishop Paul, joined the Daughters of Mary and Joseph as they celebrated a 40-years residency within St Andrew’s parish, Thornton Heath. Since their arrival at the parish in 1969, the sisters of the DMJs have brought love, care and education to the community, with a door that is always open to the homeless, hungry and desolate.

The second half of 1969 – The Beatles launch their Abbey Road album, Concorde breaks the sound barrier for the first time, Harold Wilson was Prime Minister and as man walks on the moon for the first time - and the Daughters of Mary and Joseph move into their house in St Andrew’s parish. Joining the parish on 25 September 1969, the sisters made an immediate impact on the community as they spread their ethos of ‘care for all’ across all sectors of society: from tending to the needs of the sick at Mayday Hospital, instigating and teaching catechetical programmes to young children, working with the Catholic Housing Association, and teaching in St James the Great Primary School.

Father Francis Moran, parish priest of St Andrews comments, ”Many, many thousands of parishioners of St Andrews are greatly indebted to the Sisters, who have lived and worked among us over the last four decades. They have helped countless young people, visited the elderly and sick at home and in Mayday Hospital and given tremendous practical help to those on the margins of society in the area. It is great to have this opportunity to recognise and celebrate all they do. Long may it continue.”

The Daughters of Mary and Joseph were formed in 1817 in the small market town of Aalst, Belgium, during a time of crises and famine. In a desperate attempt to help the town, a young 28-year-old priest, Constant van Crombrugghe, teamed with an older single lady, Colette de Brandt, and invited the domestics who worked in the town’s college to form a religious community. Together they opened a lace-making factory to help the destitute girls of town, with the profits from the lace being used to buy food for the girls’ families. Alongside teaching the skill of lace making, the sisters also gave the girls a basic education, which included religious study – a high-risk undertaking as the Dutch Rule of Belgium expressly forbade such teaching. The sisters then went on to open other schools throughout Belgium and this was the beginning of the religious congregation known today as the Daughters of Mary and Joseph.

140 years ago, the DMJs arrived in England and in 1869 they opened their first school - Coloma Convent Girls’ School in Croydon, which this year became the most successful all-girl comprehensive school in the UK. Now, the order of the DMJs have a strong presence throughout the UK, Belgium and Ireland, Africa and the Americas, fulfilling their calling as ‘instruments of mercy in the hands of God’. Their most recent project being the opening of the new Coloma Prep School in Uganda.

It is their work within the parish of St Andrews which has been life changing for many of the people of Thornton Heath, from education and housing support, right through to tending to the sick and being a constant source of support to those in desperate need. This continues today with the present community of Sisters Annette Lawrence, Jennie Eldridge, Mary Jude Parkinson and Sheila Moloney

The 40th anniversary celebrations were marked during the Mass by a renewing of the DMJ vows, followed by festivities in the church hall, to which all were welcome. St Andrew’s parish reflected on the joy that the DMJs have brought to them and prayed for many more anniversaries to come.

Samantha Giannini