Spiritual
Introduction, Foundation of the parish, The church, The presbytery, The clergy, Parish, Congregation, Spiritual, Education, Social and economic, Some notable events, Acknowledgements
In 1868 Mass was said at St Osmund’s every Sunday and on at least four weekdays, with Mass once a month at Evenwood and four times a year at High Coniscliffe and Aldbrough. Sunday evening service was held each week at St Osmund’s, with confessions before Mass and on Saturday evening. In addition, for adults there was the Confraternity of the Rosary and for the children Sunday Schools at Gainford, High Coniscliffe, Staindrop, Aldbrough and Evenwood. Fr Rodgers superintended that at Gainford himself, the others were conducted by laypersons. He reports that those at Evenwood and Staindrop were very difficult to keep going because, “there are not a dozen grown up people in both put together who can read any way well & some of them are not very good Catholics”.
Fr Rodgers comments in his report of 1868 that most of the children of the Evenwood mission were baptised at Bishop Auckland because it was much cheaper and handier to get there by rail. In 1890, coincident with his death, the responsibility for serving Evenwood was transferred to Witton Park. We do not know for how long quarterly Masses at High Coniscliffe and Aldbrough persisted.
By the time the notice books were started by Fr Knuckey in 1901, St Peter’s had been established and he was acting as chaplain there. The pattern of services at St Osmund’s was: -
Sundays
Holy Communion at 8.30, Mass at 10am, Rosary and Benediction at 6pm preceded by instruction at 5.30pm.
Weekdays
Mass on Mondays and Wednesdays, Holy Communion on other days at 8am, Rosary and Benediction on Thursdays at 7pm, preceded by instruction at 6.30pm.
This was the basic pattern throughout the greater part of this century, although during the period between 1938 and 1966 when St Peter’s had its own chaplain, there was generally Mass every day at St Osmund’s. There were some minor variations. It looks as though the practice, established by Fr Rodgers, of people coming to confession before any service had continued for some 70 years. When
Fr Dent arrived in 1929 he made a special announcement, “Confessions are Saturday 7-8, Sunday before 8.30 Communion, Thursday after Benediction. No confessions before Mass – certainly not on Sunday – unless it be the case of some aged or infirm person who cannot go at any other time, or those who have
a long distance to travel to church”.
In 1951 the time of Sunday Mass was changed to 10.30am, “to fit in with transport from Staindrop”. In 1957 a second Mass was introduced on Sunday at 8.30am (in lieu of communion only), possibly necessitated by the increasing congregation in the 1950’s, with the numbers then attending Mass exceeding the seating capacity of the church. In 1966 Mass replaced Evening Devotions on Thursday on Friday evening and regular Evening Devotions on Sunday ceased. These were re-established by Fr McClean in 1981, but were never well attended. In 1985 a Vigil Mass was introduced on Saturday evening, with Masses on Sunday reduced to one, at 9.30am.
Throughout the decades, there existed at various times a number of lay organisations.
There is little information on the scope of their activities or how many participated, and they will simply be listed, with the year in which there was first documentary evidence of them, as follows: -
- Confraternity of the Rosary (1868).
- Apostleship of Prayer (1901).
- Altar Society (1901).
- Catholic Needlework Guild, later referred to as Women’s Sewing Guild (1926).
- Men’s Committee (1929).
- Children of Mary (1944).
- Catholic Women’s League (1954), replaced in 1959 by St Osmund’s Guild, Fr Stanley noting in his diary that a much smaller and more parochial organisation than the CWL would be more appropriate to so small a parish as St Osmund’s.
All these organisations had become defunct by the end of the 1970’s.
For most of this century there were regular processions in honour of the Sacred Heart around Corpus Christi time and of Our Lady, particularly in May, and also periodically there was Quarant Ore (the 40 hour Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament).
All these activities appear to have died out by the early 70’s. Missions were held every few years, the first mention being by Fr Rodgers of an eight day one having been given by Redemptory Fathers in 1864. The last to be held was a five-day one given by Fr Ed Gould between 10th and 15th July 1977.
When St Osmund’s was left without a resident priest and came under the wing of the Holy Family, Darlington, there was some discussion about the pattern of services, dictated to some extent by the availability of priests.
It was finally agreed to maintain the Sunday morning Mass at 9.30am and two weekday Masses, initially on Wednesday and Thursday, currently on Tuesday and Thursday. There is also the Rosary on Monday afternoon, organised by the parishioners and led by one of them on a rotated basis. The direct participation of parishioners in Services, which had not existed to any significant extent before, now embraces many aspects. There are Special Ministers who administer Holy Communion at Mass and take it to the sick and housebound afterwards, rotated for lay readers, Offertory Procession and Greeters etc. Four times a year and on some other special occasions, the children fulfil all these functions except that of Special Minister. At the moment (and particularly while there is a retired priest living on the premises) there is no need for the Special Ministers to conduct services, but the foundations are there if ever that need should arise. More parishioners are probably now involved in active participation in (and hopefully understanding of) the Liturgy than there were in the heyday of the traditional approach.
