St. Patrick Catholic Church

About us

 

Early records indicate that there were Catholic Masses celebrated as early as 1846 in Mount Sterling, but the first parish was formally established in 1868.  At that time, a house purchased by Father Lambert Willie on East Main Street served as the Catholic church. 

 

It was not long before the congregation outgrew this building, prompting Father Patrick Jones to secure a larger location.  St. Patrick Catholic Church was built in 1882 on the site of the old Drake Cotton Factory on West Main Street, which had been destroyed by John Morgan and his Confederate Raiders during the Civil War.  The church still stands there today.

 

 

 

Our Mission

 

We, the people of St. Patrick's Church,
are the Catholic faith community of Montgomery County.
We, the body of Christ, are each uniquely gifted by God
and called by Jesus to discipleship.
Though few in number, we strive
to become leaders and examples of our faith.

Our faith calls us to assemble
to be nourished by God's Word and sacrament
and to celebrate the mysteries of God's revelation, especially on Sunday.
We are called by the Holy Spirit to continual self-growth
through breaking open the Word, education, prayer, and service.
We use this growth to nurture the seeds of faith in our children.

We respect all God's creation, especially God's gift of life,
and feel a strong sense of responsibility
to serve the poor and unchurched in Montgomery County.

We conduct our lives in a manner
that will praise and glorify God.
As a sign of Christ in the world,
we work to build the Kingdom of God.

 

 

The Story Of Saint Patrick

 

Legends about Patrick abound; but truth is best served by our seeing two solid qualities in him: He was humble and he was courageous. The determination to accept suffering and success with equal indifference guided the life of God’s instrument for winning most of Ireland for Christ.

 

Details of his life are uncertain. Current research places his dates of birth and death a little later than earlier accounts. Patrick may have been born in Dunbarton, Scotland, Cumberland, England, or in northern Wales. He called himself both a Roman and a Briton. At 16, he and a large number of his father’s slaves and vassals were captured by Irish raiders and sold as slaves in Ireland. Forced to work as a shepherd, he suffered greatly from hunger and cold.

 

After six years, Patrick escaped, probably to France, and later returned to Britain at the age of 22. His captivity had meant spiritual conversion. He may have studied at Lerins, off the French coast; he spent years at Auxerre, France, and was consecrated bishop at the age of 43. His great desire was to proclaim the Good News to the Irish.

 

In a dream vision it seemed “all the children of Ireland from their mothers’ wombs were stretching out their hands” to him. He understood the vision to be a call to do mission work in pagan Ireland. Despite opposition from those who felt his education had been defective, he was sent to carry out the task. He went to the west and north, where the faith had never been preached, obtained the protection of local kings and made numerous converts.

 

Because of the island’s pagan background, Patrick was emphatic in encouraging widows to remain chaste and young women to consecrate their virginity to Christ. He ordained many priests, divided the country into dioceses, held Church councils, founded several monasteries and continually urged his people to greater holiness in Christ.

 

He suffered much opposition from pagan druids and was criticized in both England and Ireland for the way he conducted his mission.

In a relatively short time, the island had experienced deeply the Christian spirit, and was prepared to send out missionaries whose efforts were greatly responsible for Christianizing Europe.

 

Patrick was a man of action, with little inclination toward learning. He had a rocklike belief in his vocation, in the cause he had espoused.

 

One of the few certainly authentic writings is his Confessio, above all an act of homage to God for having called Patrick, unworthy sinner, to the apostolate.

 

There is hope rather than irony in the fact that his burial place is said to be in County Down in Northern Ireland, long the scene of strife and violence.

 

Source:  http://www.americancatholic.org