Parish Priest

Fr. Vincent McShane

Email: vianney.halewood@

btinternet.com


Pastoral Assistants

Sr. Clarissa and Sr. Ijeoma (Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary)

Tel: 0151 421 1758

Sr. Catherine Farrelly (Daughters of Charity of St Vincent De Paul)

Tel: 0151 220 2525


Weekend Masses

Sunday Vigil

Sat 5.15pm Holy Family church

Sunday Morning

9.30am St. Mark's church

11.00am Holy Family church

Sunday Evening

6.00pm St. Mark's church

Information on all other Masses, including weekdays, can be found in the News section.

St. John Vianney

By 1790, the French Revolution forced many loyal priests to hide from the government in order to carry out the sacraments in their parish. The Vianneys continued attending Mass, even though it was illegal. In order to attend Mass, the Vianneys travelled to distant farms where they would pray in secret. Since these priests would risk their lives day by day, Jean began to relate to priests as though they were heroes. His First Communion lessons were secretly carried out in a private home by two nuns. In 1799, in his own home, he had his First Communion ceremony. During the ceremony, the windows were covered so that the light of the candles could not be seen from the outside. The privacy of his Catholic practices continued, especially during the process of Confirmation.

Jean learned how to read and write from his older sister, due to the Revolution's effect on France's education system. His childhood was usually spent working in his father's farm. In 1802, the Church was re-established in France, resulting in religious peace throughout the country. By this time, Jean was concerned about his future vocation, and longed for an education. He was nineteen when his father allowed him to leave the farm to be tutored by M. Balley, the curé (parish priest) of Ecully. M. Balley taught in Latin, in a school that educated students to prepare for the clergy. Most of Jean's classmates were boys between eleven and twelve, and learned easily. The school taught arithmetic, history, geography, and Latin. Jean struggled, especially with Latin, since his past education was interrupted by the French Revolution. If it wasn't for Jean's deepest desire to be a priest, and M. Balley's patience, he would have given up his struggle to continue.

During The War

Jean Vianney's studies were interrupted during 1809, when he was recruited by Napoleon's armies in Spain. His recruitment was a mistake, since privately tutored theological students in the archdiocese of Lyon were exempt from conscription. Although Jean had knowledge of this, he obeyed the orders. Jean went to church to pray during the morning before departure. He then realized that his comrades had already left, and was arrested. He was later released because the recruiting captain believed his story. Shortly after he was sent to the barracks at Lyons, he became ill and was hospitalized at Roanne where nuns nursed him back to health. Once released from the hospital, he was sent back to the barracks but fell behind. As it became later into the night, he met a young man who volunteered to guide him back to his group, but instead he led him deep into the mountains of Le Forez, to a communal village, called Les Noes, where other deserted troops had gathered. He lived there for fourteen months hidden in the byre attached to a farmhouse under the care of Claudine Fayot, a widow with four children. He assumed the name Jerome Vincent, and under that name he opened a school for village children (Dom Ernest Graf). Since the harsh weather isolated the town during the winter, the deserters were safe from gendarmes. However, after the snow melted, gendarmes came to the town constantly, searching for deserters. During these searches, Jean hid inside stacks of fermenting hay in Fayot's barn. An Imperial decree, passed in 1810, granted all deserters from the years 1806 to 1810 to be exempt from punishment, allowing Jean to go back to Ecully legally.

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