160th Dedication Mass St Joseph the Worker, Lyttelton
by Dave Sanders, Host and Organiser of this event
During Labour Weekend, a special Mass was offered to mark the 160th anniversary of St Joseph’s Church, Lyttelton. Past Lyttelton parishioners joined together at St Anne’s Church, Woolston, in the more recently established Stella Maris Parish of Christchurch East, to celebrate and acknowledge this anniversary. We were blessed to have our last three Lyttelton parish priests in attendance, with Fr Denis Nolan and Fr Dan Doyle concelebrating the Mass. Our last living Lyttelton Sister of Mercy, Sister Judith Murphy, also joined us from Nazareth House, supported by Sister Kathleen and Sister Anne. Mass was followed by hospitality in St Anne’s church hall.
St Joseph’s Parish held its first Mass on 29 June 1865, some 22 years before the establishment of the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch.
Since that time, St Joseph’s has been a dedicated spiritual family. Included in our Parish were two schools (St Mary’s and St Joseph’s) and our Sisters of Mercy.
St Joseph’s church was completed on schedule and opened on the feast of Sts Peter and Paul on 29 June 1865, at a cost of 900 pounds. Funds for the new church were not only collected locally, but also from the Wellington and Sydney archdioceses, and 100 pounds was contributed as a gift from the provincial government of the day.
Eventually, after completion of its fit-out, the total cost was twelve hundred pounds.
The Lyttelton Times reported a couple of weeks later:
“The new church in Lyttelton was opened for divine service on the 29th June. A numerous congregation assembled for the eleven am service, officiated by Reverends Jean Chataigner and J C Chervier. A procession was formed and the outer walls were blessed with Holy Water. The Church was elegantly decorated with flowers and the Mass was filled with much love and hope.”
With the 2010-11 Canterbury earthquakes sadly taking their toll, we all observed the slow and saddening destruction of our historic and sacred church, until the June 2011 quake ended our stunning gothic stone church forever. During our 160 years and up until our final Mass in 2022, we were blessed with spiritual support from no less than thirty three priests. We give thanks for the ministry of the Sisters of Mercy throughout that time. We know St Joseph will continue to look over us all and intercede for our community and those associated with it. St Joseph the Worker, pray for us.
