GREAT SOLIDARITY IN MARTINBOROUGH”.

The sudden and provocative decision  by the Parish Administration in Masterton to close St Anthony of Padua Catholic  Church in Martinborough late last year left us, the local  Catholic community, to review and sort out our immediate destiny including  our usual Christmas Eve Vigil Mass and Carols celebrations. 

Suggestions and offers of alternative venues from other local Church denominations were considered. However past numbers for this celebration of at least 170 plus and the need to retain our historical presence in Martinborough left us with the clear view we had to be on site for Christmas and beyond.…..even if this meant being outdoors alongside the church building and under the trees on the church property. 

In the event we were outside and the evening had a “biblical” feel about it.  (The Holy Family  were in temporary accommodation and amongst the cattle in the stable…..not to forget angels, wise men and shepherds). We had horses in the paddock along -side that were interested in the proceedings and didn’t smell or create health hazards!!!!

With help from Sharon Penny, our Lay Pastoral Leader  we accessed 100 chairs from Chanel College to add to our local supply. The conservative attendance was around 185 plus, with many standing or even sitting on the steps of the closed church. This made for a special and memorable celebration. The night started out balmy and chilled later……..but the rain held off. We were supported by Marguerite Tait-Jamieson on the electric key board and local “choristers” helped the congregation sing with great gusto.

It is interesting to note that St Anthony’s  will be 100 years old in 2023 and our officiating priest on the night, Fr Binu from India comes from a parish in his homeland which is over 2,000 years old and was established by the apostle, St Thomas  (the doubter). However our community here in Martinborough has rallied well and we have no doubt that St Anthony’s will reach it century with due celebrations……inside the Church!!

We have approval for a second engineer peer review of our Church which we hope will be carried out early this year, 2019. Interesting to note that the Government regulations allow for use of our building until 2033 while improvements are considered and carried out but the Church Administration went for automatic closure. We, the local Catholic community, had no input.

Despite all this the Community of St Anthony’s has much appreciated the offers of support from the other local churches and the wider Martinborough community and we are very thankful for this.

Margaret Bath

It has been pointed out that the church came through the 1942 Wairarapa 7.4 earthquake completely unscathed – Editor.