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March is the month where we considering the majority of the Lenten Season this year before we move into April and thoughts of Holy Week and the joy of Easter.  However, we begin the month celebrating with our Welsh friends on St David’s Day when leeks and daffodils will be seen in many places.  We celebrate too with our Irish friends too as we celebrate St Patrick’s Day on the 17^th.

Saint David was a native of Wales and was made bishop of Mynyw, now the city of St Davids, during the 6th century David.  He was a renowned preacher and teacher and founded a number of ‘Houses’ and monasteries and is the Patron Saint of Wales.  March also gives the Patron Saint of Ireland.  St Patrick was a fifth-century Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland and was known as the Apostle of Ireland, he shares his role as Patron Saint of Ireland with two others Brigit of Kildare and Columba.  Patrick was never formally canonised,nevertheless, he is venerated by the church and by the people around the world.

If you are free on the evening of the 17^th March then join us at the Lenten Supper, a wonderful occasion when we have music and potato pie and a great deal of fun.

Of course, we should not forget Sunday 19^th March for it is Mothering Sunday, not Mother’s Day which is an Americanism created in 1908 by a lady who wished to celebrate her own mother.  Mothering Sunday can be traced back to the 8^th Century and in the church, we celebrate this day as we remember our own mothers, the Blessed Virgin and Mother church all of whom sustain us by prayers and constant love throughout our lives.

In the same week we remember St Joseph (20^th) and also the Annunciation of the BVM (25^th).  So, it is a month of saints and month to recall so many people of the past as we move to the Feast of the Resurrection.

Let us use this month to prepare, to put right relationships with God and other people who we have wronged or hurt in any way.  We hurt people sometimes without even knowing it perhaps by ill-chosen words, or by doing what we want without care for those we love, or even worse by ignoring people.  Put things right, seek forgiveness and then with St David, St Patrick, St Brigit, St Columba, St Joseph, and the Blessed Virgin we can love our Lord knowing that we are doing his will.

May God bless you all.

Reverend Fr. Ronald Croft

Sunday 5^th February is the day that we celebrate the Feast of Candlemas, though the actual date is the 2^nd of February.  It is a service that marks the end of the Christmas season and is 40 days after the event at the stable in Bethlehem.  It is also the Feast of the Presentation when Mary and Joseph took our Lord to the Temple to present the child to God as the Jewish custom dictated.  In the readings for that day, we are privileged to hear the words of the Nunc Dimittis as the prophet Simeon’s ‘life is fulfilled’ now that he has seen the Lord.

Very few people have been granted the wonderful gift of seeing the Lord on a one-to-one basis.  There must have been thousands that saw him as the Bible record the huge crowds that followed him where he stopped on his journey. Many were fed by him, either spiritually or practically, on the hillside during what is called the ‘Sermon on the mount’.  Of course, our Lord’s life was littered by encounters as he healed the sight of an individual, or cured people from leprosy, or indeed brought them back from the dead.  These were times of miracles, more general encounters that benefitted just one person.

The truth is that those same things still happen, times when inexplicable things happen and people are cured of terrible illnesses, times when science is confounded by healing that seemed beyond the skills medicine. Such events cannot be explained, nor should they, other than to say that God still works wonders in the lives of people; they do indeed have a personal encounter and sometimes they do not even know it!

God’s love for us is constant and as strong as ever.  His arms are open to welcome all who would come to him and long to change their lives, find a new path and experience God’s grace.

Why not join us at Candlemas on the 5^th or Ash Wednesday one the 26^th as we begin the Season of Lent or at any of our services – they are shown to the right of the website.  You will be warmly welcomed.

May God bless you all.

Reverend Fr. Ronald Croft

A very Happy New Year to each and every one of you!!

Now that the joys of Christmas are a fond memory with thoughts of family gatherings with the odd over-indulgence of either food or drink, we happily welcome in the new year.  2023 will, I hope, be year of peace where people in the Ukraine will be able to live without fear of missiles pounding in their communities and that war will become a distant memory.  Our Lord is the Prince of Peace, and my heart goes out to all who live amongst violent people where fear is part of their daily lives.

On the 6^th January we will be remembering the journey made by the Magi, the wise men, men of peace who travelled from the East in search of the Christ-Child.  Some say that these men were Astrologers, Seers, even fortune tellers and there is a mystery that surrounds them, but the one thing we are sure of is that they brought gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.  This visit to the Child is known as the Epiphany, the manifestation, the showing of Christ to the world. 

The church has a tradition, which we use at St Hilda’s of using chalk on the entrance to our homes to scribe the initials C+B+M which means ‘God bless this house’ (Christus bendicat mansionem).  No one knows the names of the Wise men, but tradition grew around the Latin phrase above that their names were Caspar, Balthasar, and Melchior and they stuck!

We show Christ to the world by the way we live, the love we show, through our prayers and, not least through our smile.  Pray for peace, the peace Jesus came to bring a peace that is in the heart of men, women, and children where the gifts we have can be shared and where fear has no place.

Peace be with you, and God bless you all.

Reverend Fr. Ronald Croft

Father Croft’s Musings for the month of October

“In the days of thanksgiving one psalm let us offer, for the saints who before us have found their reward……

…… These stones that have echoed their praises are holy, and dear is the ground where their feet have once trod.” 

Here at St Hilda’s October is a very special month as on 23^rd we celebrate the Anniversary of our Dedication.

On the 18^th October 1904 the Bishop of Manchester consecrated St Hilda’s church and so in 2022 we shall be celebrating 118 years of God’s praise here in Prestwich. 

St Hilda’s has stood as a bastion of the Faith through all the years and we are continuing still to this day to provide a place where everyone is welcomed to our beautiful church through faith, worship and friendship.

A Dedication Festival reminds us of the debt that we owe to those who throughout the intervening years have helped to preserve this wonderful heritage and It is our duty and our privilege to continue this tradition.

St Hilda’s is a place where all the Sacraments are celebrated and is a Place of Welcome for anyone in the wider community. 

I hope on Sunday 23^rd October to celebrate a High Mass with Father Paul Denby preaching and to give thanks and praise for the Blessings we have received in the past 118 years. 

May St Hilda’s continue to be a Beacon of Light and Praise for many more years to come and we pray that St Hilda of Whitby will continue to look after our community, our congregation, our Parish School and all who live and work in this Parish.

Every Blessing

Reverend Father Ronald Croft