About Us
St. George's Roman Catholic Church is a parish church in Maghull, Merseyside, operating in the Archdiocese of Liverpool. The parish is over 138 years old, and has been the home to many generations of Catholics in the town and its surrounding areas. St. George's is also the parish church of two Catholic schools: St. George's Roman Catholic Primary School and Maricourt Roman Catholic High School.
Mass is celebrated every day in the church, as well as the other sacraments being celebrated regularly, including: baptism, confession, confirmation, marriage, and the Sacrament of the Sick. Funeral Masses are also said for those parishioners who have departed from this world into the next.
In addition to the sacraments, the church frequently hosts a variety of events and activities for parishioners and non-parishioners alike, from fundraisers to prayer sessions, theology groups to pilgrimages.
Please consider visiting us in person, or contact us via phone or email for more information about the chuch and its activities.
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May God bless you all.
History
Serving Catholics in Maghull since 1887
Catholics have been present in Maghull for many centuries. Before the Reformation, Mass was celebrated in a chape located at the end of Damsfield Lane- a chapel which is still present in the grounds of St. Andrew's Church.
For the first fifty years after the 1829 Act of Catholic Emancipation, most of the region's Catholics celebrated Mass in St Benets Church in Netherton, which meant travelling on foot across the boggy mosses of the River Alt. Local parishioner Mr. John Massey asked his brother, William Massey ( a priest for Ulverston in the Lake District) , to write to Bishop Bernard O' Reilly to gain permission to celebrate Mass in Maghull. Permission was granted, and the first few Masses were celebrated in the house of Mr. Massey in 1887, before then being regularly celebrated in a barn house owned by Mr. Massey located in spot next to where the Social Centre stands today.
After ill-health forced Fr Massey to retire, Bishop O' Riley appointed his secretary, Fr C.V. Green as a supply priest for the parish, where would remain for the next fourteen years. During this period, the barn chapel become a local parish chuch buidling for the parish, and Fr. Green dedicated the building to the Protector of England, St. George. On 4th September 1887, the parish of St George was founded.
With the increase in Maghull's population, the parish was in need of a new building to celebrate the Mass as Mr Massey's barn was deemed too small; so a new barn owned by Mr. Thomas Colgan was rented and used as a church on the 26th June 1888. The building also functioned as a school building for the local children of the parish, where Ms. C. Warner would serve as its first teacher. Eventually, in resposne to an appeal from the Bishop to find a permeant school-chapel for the Catholics living in the area, many wealthier parishioners made financial contributions to help fund a purchasing of land close to the first chapel (Mr Massey's Barn) and the construction of a new school- chapel building on the site. Many local farmers and labourers gave their assitance to help dig out and prepare the foundations; and on Sunday 6th October 1887, these foundations were blessed by the Bishop of Liverpool. On 27th May 1890, the school-chapel was completed, and after approval by the Department of Education, 89 children would be schooled in this building by Ms. K. Fallon.
In 1927 , the parish was, again, in need of a new and bigger building for its congregation. Famous architechets, Messrs. Pugin & Pugin were put in charge of designing a new parish church building. In 1929, at a cost of £12,000, the new and current church was opened to the public.
In the centenary year of 1987,the church (which, up until then, had been accompanied by a parish hall) was treated to a new Social Centre building.
Foundation Stone of the New Church
Canon Charles V. Green
Interior of New Church in 1929
John Massey's Barn
Thomas Colgan's Barn
Thomas Colgan's Barn Interior
School/ Chapel and Teacher's House
Who Was St. George?
St. George is the patron saint of England, Ethiopia and Georgia, as well as being the patron saint of military and scouting. His feast day is the 23rd of April.
Little is known about the historical St. George. Historians believe that he was born in Cappadocia in the 3rd century and to have died around the year 303 A.D. during the persecution of Christians under Roman emperor Diocletian. According to tradition, St. George was a soldier in the Roman army at a time when it was illegal for soldiers to be Christians. When ordered to renounce his faith under pain of death, George refused and was subsequently tortured and executed by decapitation.
The most famous story about the saint is a medieval legend in which he is said to have slain a dragon that was attacking a town in what is now modern day Libya. Before George's arrival, the people of the town offered the dragon two sheep a day to appease the beast; but, they soon ran out of sheep to feed the dragon, and were forced to offer human beings instead. One day, the king's daughter was chosen to be offered to the dragon, but George managed to kill the beast and save the princess.
During the Crusades, St. George became a popular saints amongst knights, and many depictions of St. George during this period were made of him dressed in crusader armour and bearing a flag with a red cross on a white background. The cross later came to be known as St. George's cross- and emblem which now features on the flags of England and Georgia, as well as national regions, such as Genoa in Italy and Catalonia in Spain.
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St. George, pray for us.
