2026 IS THE JUBILLEE OF THE PARISH OF ST URBAN.

This Sunday after the 10.30 Mass we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Parish of St Urban. The Diocesan archive shows that from 1902 to 1951 the parish was a chapel-of-ease to the Cathedral and the chapel was on Brookfield Road. In 1951 a presbytery was purchased on Monkbridge Road, and the first Parish Priest was appointed - Fr Eugene Tehan. The present St Urban’s opened in 1963 and the old chapel became the parish hall, unfortunately the hall was later demolished. To mark this special year, during the Holy Year of 2025, an icon of St Urban was commissioned from Aidan Hart. Aidan has an international reputation as a maker of icons, he also painted the fresco in St Urban’s sanctuary, also the cross above the sanctuary. The icon of St Urban is my personal gift to the parish to mark both the Holy Year and the church’s jubilee. The icon will be dedicated and blessed at the 10.30 Mass this Sunday, also silver medals of the Archconfraternity of St Stephen will be presented to Lewis Chang and Jaikaila Benjamin to mark over 10 years of faithful altar service. After Mass there is a “bring and share” lunch together to mark the special year for our parish (a huge “thank you” to those who have contributed to this). There will be a display of old photos and photo albums showing how the church and community has developed over the years. Recently I also discovered several liturgical items bought by the people of the parish over the years that were damaged and broken and therefore unusable. I have some of these repaired and restored and I hope to have them on display too. On a more mundane level, subject to the approval of the Diocese, a new central heating boiler for St Urban’s will be going in soon. I am also exploring how to repair to the noticeable crack in the masonry above the sanctuary. Do come along to the meeting room after Mass. Let us pay a tribute to those who have built our parish over the years, perhaps share your memories with your brothers and sisters, and make it a day to remember for future generations after us.

Fr Chris