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HISTORY OF THE FIRST YEARS 'My Lord Bishop Crispian Hollis, dear Families, Friends and Benefactors: 'Tonight as we celebrate the Official Opening and Blessing of our new Chapel, we give thanks to God for all the Blessings He has bestowed on us from the very beginning when we became a Diocesan Community. Our grateful thanks go to our Rt. Rev. Bishop Crispian Hollis, who has accepted us, the Dominican Sisters of Saint Joseph, into his Diocese of Portsmouth in July 1994. We had to be approved by the Sacred Congregation for Religious in Rome, and this was certainly short of a miracle when it was accomplished through the powerful liaison of Mgr. Cyril Murtagh who is with us tonight. It is still a mystery to us how he has done it, and we thank him for such an extraordinary accomplishment. Thank you, Bishop Hollis. Thank you, Mgr. Murtagh! 'In April 1998 we moved from St. Joseph's House of Prayer, Ashurst, to Shirley Holms Road; and it was Mr. James Trant - a great friend of our community - who had helped finding this House for us. As the House needed improvements and alterations, James moved in with his builders and transformed it very fast into the Priory it is now. For such thoughtfulness, kindness and generosity we thank James Trant and his builders for the hard work and for all the tremendous support we received from them. 'One thing was missing: a place of worship, worthy of the glory and honour of God. We needed a Chapel, not only for our Community Liturgy, but also for the many people who join us for retreats and conferences. In order to build a Chapel we needed the permission of our Bishop Crispian Hollis. His reply was one of great support and encouragement and we received his Blessing to go ahead. 'Our next step was to seek permission from the New Forest District Council. Supported by written statements from our neighbours and neighbouring Parishes, permission was granted on the 9th August 2000. Our thanks go to Mr. Kevin Ault, Lymington; Mr. Barry Rickman, Sway; Gwen Meaden, Sway, whose support on the Council have helped us tremendously. 'We then placed St. Joseph in charge of the "Chapel Project" - our daily prayer to him: "O glorious St. Joseph, you have have the power to render possible that which seems impossible..." has been answered. HE HAS DONE IT! THANK YOU, ST. JOSEPH!
'Our choice of architect has been rewarded as we celebrate the success of this building tonight. We thank Mr. Columba Cook for his artistic skills, his tremendous gifts of designing and planning. His choice of builders has been a master stroke: Carpenter, Oak and Woodland Co., Chippenham, and F & S Noble Ltd., New Milton. The result of all his work is obviously manifested as we now have a worthy dwelling place for God. 'We thank all our families, friends and benefactors who have rallied round and supported us throughout these last years. Every first Sunday of the month Holy Mass is being celebrated for all of you. May the Lord himself reward and bless you abundantly with His love. 'Yours gratefully in St. Dominic, Sr. Margarita OP and Community
A LIGHT MOMENT FROM 2005:
AN INTERESTING VISIT FOR BISHOP CRISPIAN
On 16th September 2005 Sister Mary Veronica Brennan made her Final Profession in the presence of Bishop Crispian Hollis at St. Dominic's Priory, Sway, and in the beautiful Chapel full of friends and family, the latest and smallest of which was Jorge Brown, relaxing happily in the arms of Sister Veronica. Jorge is Sister Veronica's great-nephew, and this was the first time he had been introduced to Bishop Crispian! We offer our best wishes and congratulations to Sister Mary Veronica as she enters permanently into a life generously devoted to God and to the spreading of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
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