Welcome to St Brigid's Roman Catholic Parish in the Diocese of Motherwell, Scotland.

St Brigid's is a thriving parish of some 1,600 people, with a proud history in Newmains that stretches back to 1871. Indeed the chapel/school established here in 1871 is still standing - though it is now a Parish Centre serving the social needs of the whole community. This year marks the 140th. Anniversary of the Church's presence here. We became a Parish in 1896 and our present Church was built in 1933.

A month has gone by since I edited this space for Christmas. The decorations are long down and the tree and all the trimmings are back in the loft until the end of the year and the cycle of life continues. Already in January we have welcomed in the New Year and as always placed it in the care of Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church.

We have celebrated the Feast of St Kentigern or Mungo, disciple of St Ninian and founder of the Church in Glasgow. Indeed the establishment of his monastic foundation on the banks of the Molendinar near the present Glasgow Cathedral laid the foundations of the City itself.

We have celebrated the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an important week of prayer and reflection for all the Christian Churches that we work more earnestly to make Christ's presence in our world more real and effective.

The country celebrated again the memory of Robert Burns, our National poet whose life was fairly tempestuos but who could capture in words the beauty of nature and the beauty of human love.

Now we quickly move into February and we begin by celebrating our Parish Feast Day on the 1st. when again we recall the faith and leadership of St Brigid which endeared her to the Irish people so deeply that they brought their love and confidence in her powers of intercession with them when they left home to find work in a foreign land. That foreign land has become our home and we treasure our Patronage of St Brigid as a tribute to the faith of our fathers and mothers but also because she points us today in her footsteps inspired by the Gospel of Our Lord. As it was her light so many centuries ago, so it is our light today The pupils of St Brigid's will lead us in our morning Mass and the Diocesan Choir will lead us in a special evening service for the Feast in this our 140th year as Church and School in this place.

Fr Hugh Kelly, Parish Priest