Parish of Saint Catherine of Alexandria

Welcome to the Parish of Saint Catherine of Alexandria here in Lydiate.

Our Parish comprises the churches of Our Lady’s and St. Gregory the Great, and we’re proud of our two Parish Primary Schools; St. Gregory the Great and St. John Bosco. Our Parish community was established in 2018 under the title of St. Catherine due to the historic presence of the Catholic Community in these parts and directly symbolised in the monument of Saint Catherine’s Chapel.

As a community, we strive to live out the Gospel in our day-to-day lives, inspired by our community celebrations of Mass and other forms of prayer. We believe that it is because He loved us first that we are able to love one another, and so, as an outward-looking community, we see our purpose as we meet Christ in our neighbour and support the local community in whatever ways we can.

Saint Gregory's Easter altar

We will be using all types of social media to reach out to everyone across the community. We will keep them updated with relevant information and links for support. You can use the link to access Our Lady's online services.

Parish of Saint Catherine of Alexandria Facebook Page

Christmas Services

Christmas Mass Times - With Christmas Eve being a Sunday we need to consider the times of masses that morning. Experience over the years tells me that not many people attend Sunday morning mass when it is Christmas Eve due to attending later in the day. Your comments would be welcome, but my suggestion would be one in each church Saturday/Sunday Morning.

  • Christmas Eve St. Gregory’s Church 4.30pm
  • First Mass of Christmas Our Lady’s Church 7.00pm
  • Vigil Mass of Christmas Christmas Day – 10.00am Our Lady’s Church
  • The Christmas Day 10am Mass will alternate between our 2 churches for the coming years.
  • Last year it was St. Gregory’s church.
  • Boxing Day - 10.00am St. Gregory’s

Christmas Poinsettia - If you would like to buy a Poinsettia in memory of a loved one to be displayed in our churches, they can be brought to either church no later than Wednesday 20th December.

Advent at the Cathedral - Sunday 3 December - Advent Sequence at 5.00pm - As the season of Advent begins, the cathedral choir and clergy offer a sequence of music and readings to prepare us for the Advent journey. The service lasts around an hour and features the choir singing from a variety of places around the cathedral. Sunday 10 December, 3.00pm - A Ceremony of Carols - The boy choristers join harpist Elizabeth McNulty to perform Benjamin Britten’s sequence of carol texts. The performance lasts around 40 minutes and is free to attend, with a retiring collection.

Ukraine Appeal Update

Archbishop Malcolm has approved the launch of an Archdiocesan urgent and major appeal to support Ukraine.

Anyone wanting to make a financial donation can do so by texting the numbers below:

  • Text HELPUKRAINE to 70085 to donate £2
  • Text HELPUKRAINE to 70450 to donate £3
  • Text HELPUKRAINE to 70460 to donate £5
  • Text HELPUKRAINE to 70470 to donate £10

(Texts will cost the donation amount plus one standard network rate message.)

Financial donations can also be made by bank transfer and by cheque as follows:

By bank transfer to:
Account name: Archdiocese of Liverpool
Sort code: 40-29-12
Account no: 01551493
Reference: Help Ukraine

By cheque made payable to 'Archdiocese of Liverpool' and with 'Help Ukraine' written on the reverse side of the cheque. The cheques can be sent to the finance department at St Margaret Clitherow Centre.

All donations will be sent to the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London.

Collection Centres Open

We are now in a position where we can open our collection points for donations to Ukraine.

We have partnered with the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy (diocese) of Sambir-Drohobych in the Lviv region of western Ukraine as their Bishop Hryhoriy (Gregory) Komar has previously been taught by one of our priests, Father Francis Marsden, while he was studying for the priesthood.

We have been in direct communication with the Bishop and he has requested the specific items outlined in the poster at the back of church and below:

We are collecting the following items to donate to Ukraine:

  • First aid kits and battlefield first aid kits (including sterile dressings, safety pins, antiseptic fluid/cream/spray, disposable gloves, burn free kits, eye wash)
  • Bandages - different widths (including halo chest seals, torniquets, splints, QuikClot Combat Gauze, Steri-Strips, triangular bandages, Tourni-Key Plus.)
  • Toiletries (including toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shampoo.)
  • Bedding, sleeping bags, blankets, mattresses.
  • Generators and different types of chargers.
  • Nappy rash creams and baby bath lotions (all ages and sizes).
  • Powdered baby milk and feeding bottles.
  • Pain relief (e.g Paracetamol, Ibuprofen).
  • Warm underclothing (including socks).
  • Sanitary products
  • Nappies (all ages and sizes).
  • Rucksacks.

Our collection point will be:

St Gregory’s Parish Centre, 94 Liverpool Road, Lydiate, L31 2NA

Please note, as the delivery chain is currently at capacity, we are exploring various options for delivery. In the unlikely event that we are unable to supply these items to Ukraine, all goods will go to a local charity.