Details
Ref: Catholic mass held at St Mary’s Church to celebrate Celtic’s Birth & the founders of the club
Location: St Mary’s in the Calton, Glasgow
Summary
In 2012, in honour of the 125th season anniversary of the club’s birth, a mass was held in honour of the club, the founder and it’s deep Roman Catholic roots.
Since then an annual mass has been held, and has been well attended by many.
Articles
Scottish Catholic Observor
http://www.sconews.co.uk/news/59920/faith-is-the-leaven-in-the-bread-of-celtic-fc/
Y Peter Diamond | November 15 | comments icon 0 COMMENTS print icon print
celtic glasgow mass
Faith is the ‘leaven in the bread’ of Celtic FC
St Mary’s Church in Glasgow’s Calton held the annual Celtic memorial Mass on Monday evening to celebrate the ‘historic links between the parish and football club.’
Around 200 people, including Celtic FC staff and directors, gathered at St Mary’s to ‘acknowledge a very important facet of the club,’ according to Canon Tom White, parish priest of St Mary’s and St Alphonsus’.
Before the Mass, Tony Hamilton, chief executive of Celtic FC Foundation, gave some insight into the projects being run by the charitable arm of the club, including the launch of the Christmas appeal, which raised over £250,000 in 2018.
History
Terry Dick, a Celtic FC historian then gave an oration about the ‘symbol of hope’ which the creation of Celtic gave to the community of St Mary’s and poor of the East End, who were largely Irish immigrants.
Terry said: “St Mary’s Calton is central to the Celtic narrative and the formation of the club’s admiral ethos. The parish community doesn’t just know the history, they helped to make it.
“That band of Victorian brothers, the soberly dressed first committee, looking out proudly from fading images, driven by the dynamic leadership of John Glass and inspired by the altruism of Dr John Conway, were also men of this parish.”
During the homily, Canon White reflected on the Gospel of Matthew 25 being at ‘the heart of the motivation of the founding fathers of Celtic, including Br Walfrid.’
Humble beginnings
“It is true to say that no matter how Celtic Football Club evolves from its humble beginning as a club formed in a parish hall to a club reconstituted several times in terms of its business face, surely at the heart of Celtic’s identity must be Matthew 25, because from it’s inception they have been feeding the hungry, inviting the stranger, clothing the naked and visiting the sick.”
During the Mass, music and song was provided by St Margaret’s Youth Group, who fundraise throughout the year to visit Lourdes with Glasgow Archdiocese.
Canon White added: “It’s good for us to be here, acknowledging a very important facet of the club, an important facet which is like leaven in the bread. Without the yeast of charity and Faith, Celtic would be a naan bread but with the yeast of Faith by God it makes it a bloomer.
“That’s what we celebrate, that actually we have a higher power, that we never toil alone.
“That indeed when the Celtic support say, ‘You’ll never walk alone,’ we know that because we walk with our founder’s Faith and we hope that He will call us one day to graze amongst the sheep and not the goats.”
Anniversary Mass to be held at St Mary’s Church to celebrate Celtic’s birth
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2021/november/05/anniversary-mass-to-be-held-at-st-mary-s-church-to-celebrate-celtic-s-birth/
By Celtic Football Club
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Celtic’s annual celebratory Mass will be held this year at St Mary’s Church in the Calton at 12noon this Saturday, November 6 to mark the 134th anniversary of the club’s formation.
Celtic was founded from the parish of St Mary’s following a meeting in the church hall on November 6, 1887, and every year since the 125th anniversary, the club has enjoyed a celebration Mass in the church to mark the anniversary of its foundation.
This year’s Mass will be conducted by parish priest, Canon Tom White, and will be a celebration of Celtic’s long and storied history.
It’s sure to be an afternoon filled with emotion and a huge sense of pride, so we encourage supporters of all faiths and none to come along and share it with us.
Canon Tom White, parish priest of St Mary’s, said: “It’s a real pleasure to welcome back the Celtic Family to St Mary’s – the birthplace of the club.
“Numbers were restricted at last year’s Mass due to COVID-19 restrictions, so it will be great to welcome back Celtic supporters in larger numbers to celebrate this very special occasion.
“The Mass started as a celebration of 125 years of the football club, but it has now become an annual event and it is important that we continue to remember Brother Walfrid, the Founding Fathers and the community from which they hailed.”
Celtic Anniversary Celebratory Mass
October 26, 2015
CELTIC Football Club, Celtic Graves Society and Celtic FC Foundation are delighted to announce a celebratory Mass at St Mary’s in the Calton on Friday, November 6, 2015 at 7pm to commemorate 128 years since the birth of Celtic Football Club.
The Mass, like the 2012 event, will be conducted by Father Tom White, Parish Priest and will be a celebration of our club’s history.
Following the Mass, congregation members will be invited back to Celtic Park to enjoy a simple meal in the Jock Stein Lounge where donations will be requested for Celtic FC Foundation’s Christmas Appeal 2015.
The appeal is an annual initiative where we aim to provide a proper Christmas meal to families who would otherwise go without and to support various charities who look after people who lead chaotic lives across the city.
The famous history of Celtic Football Club is one of unsurpassed faith, hope and vision. On Sunday, November 6, 1887 a group of local businessmen gathered in the church hall of St Mary´s parish, Calton, to discuss the setting up of a new football club in the East End of Glasgow. Led by an Irish Marist, Brother Walfrid, Celtic Football Club was formed for the maintenance of dinner tables for the children and the unemployed.
There is no doubt that Brother Walfrid and these men had a clear vision. It is not inconceivable that they would never quite have imagined the true impact that this colossal club would have on the local community, nor could they ever have imagined that 128 years on, poverty and hunger would still be an issue in many parts of the country.
It is their vision and purpose that drives this club and its supporters forward, and with charity and community at its absolute core. Their ethos continues to this day through the work of the club’s charitable arm, Celtic FC Foundation, whose key priority areas are: Improving Health, Promoting Equality, Encouraging Learning and Tackling Poverty.
Fr White said: “November is the month when we remember our dead, it’s known in the Church as the month of the Holy Souls. It is right and fitting that in this month of November and in this the hundredth anniversary year of Brother Walfrid’s death that those associated with Celtic and St Mary’s should remember and pray for Brother Walfrid.
“The last time St Mary’s formally welcomed the club was three years ago for the 125th Anniversary Mass on the eve of the Barcelona victory. I look forward to welcoming the club and its associations again. Here’s hoping this Mass is as beneficial for us all as the last time!”
Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell said: “We are delighted to support the Celtic Graves Society in this Mass at St Mary’s, a place of course so close to the heart of Celtic.
“Throughout the year, the society carries out fantastic work in preserving the memory of so many great names of the club’s illustrious past and we are pleased to assist in these initiatives as we recently did when we remembered and honoured Jock Stein, one of the greatest names of all.
“We are sure the celebratory Mass in November will be a fitting commemoration to Brother Walfrid and our great club.”
Celtic FC Foundation CEO Tony Hamilton said: “The Mass at St Mary’s on November 6 to recognise the formation of the club is an important one. Our charitable roots are uppermost in my thoughts and I look forward to seeing as many people as possible return to Celtic Park after the service for some food and hopefully the opportunity to raise some money for Celtic FC Foundation’s Christmas Appeal.”
A Celtic Graves Society spokesman added: “The Celtic Graves Society are honoured to be working with Celtic Football Club, Celtic FC Foundation and Father Tom White from the parish of St Mary of the Assumption to mark the anniversary of the most important date in the club’s history.
“For it was in that ‘mean little hall’ at 67 East Rose St, situated through a lane, aptly named Irish Wynd which was rented by the League of the Cross from June 1886 to September 1893 where Celtic Football Club were born.
“Much has changed in the East End of Glasgow since our founding, but many of the issues alive in 1887 remain relevant today and the Celtic Graves Society are delighted that the club, one of the giants of the modern game, are keen to remember our humble beginnings and to give the Celtic support the opportunity to do so too on November 6.”
