About Us
After finishing formal schooling, I went to work for the Evening Times Globe and Telegraph Journal. I worked as a District Manager for 3 years (Grand Bay and Westfield were part of my area). In 1987 I moved to Irving Oil Limited where I continued to serve customers in different capacities and finally finishing my time in Accounts Payable. In 1996 I left Irving Oil and began formal studies at St. Peter’s Seminary.
I was ordained a priest in 2003 and was assigned Associate Pastor to, then, St. Mary’s Parish, Miramichi for 3.5 years. In 2006 I was appointed for first time as Pastor to the Parish of St. Ann’s in Kingsclear, NB which included 3 mission churches: St. Patrick’s, New Market, Immaculate Conception, Cork, and St. Mark’s, Lake George. Truly, I enjoyed my first parish as pastor. In 2010 I applied for a sabbatical year that took me to the School of Applied Theology (SAT) in Berkeley, California. This was a life changing experience.
Upon returning from California in 2011, I was appointed Pastor to the parishes of St. Augustine and St. Matthew’s, Grand Bay Westfield. In 2017, I was invited to take on the parish of St. Rose of Lima and merge 3 parishes into one. I have remained pastor of the new parish of Holy Spirit since 2018. I am so grateful to God for my journey thus far and I am blessed to serve the people of God in these great communities. Currently, I continue to look forward with hope in working with so many others to make Holy Spirit Parish the best it can be. As a ‘personal vocation’ I am grateful to draw out the creative gifts of the baptized, enriching the parishes and making God’s unconditional love known to everyone.
Our Parish Secretary
Bernice Martin
In December 1979 we had our first son, Curtis and in September 1984 we were blessed with a second son, Chris. Between our 2 boys I have been blessed with 5 grandchildren who are the light of my life.
I Graduated from Millidgeville North High School in 1976 and began a 34 year career with the telephone company (NBTel/Bell Aliant) until November 2010. Then I worked for Carter Bros., a construction company from May 2011 to November 2015 where I left there to become the parish secretary.
I consider this my retirement job and I really enjoy serving the parishioners of Holy Spirit Parish.
Music Director – Saint Matthews Worship Site
Mary Rose Daigle
When the Music Director and pillar of the community, Ralph Poley, retired from the Music Ministry at Saint Matthews, the parish was left without music as it was heading into the Easter season. Mary Rose’s first Mass was Palm Sunday, one of her two favorite liturgies of the year.
After much thought and time, she eventually settled into the role of Music Director and composer together with a very patient and supportive group of singers in the St. Matthews Worship Site Choir.
When not singing God’s praises at church, Mary Rose can be found playing hockey, where she’s known as Rosie, or trying to learn other musical instruments, like the banjo, mandolin, melodion or bass guitar. Someday she plans to purchase and learn how to play drums.
It is her firm belief that her purpose in life is to bring joy.
Music Director – St. Rose Worship Site
Trish Gallagher
In her tenth grade at St. Vincent’s High School, Father Paulin brought Trish over to Holy Trinity to play and sing and she has been playing ever since.
Trish enjoys directing the choirs at Saint John High School and often invites students past and present to assist with the music at Mass at St. Rose Holy Spirit Worship Site.
All are welcome to join her on Saturdays at 4pm Mass at St. Rose Worship Site.
Married a “local boy” and raised two children in Welsford, and although both were baptized in Moncton, both received Reconciliation and First Communion at St Augustines in Westfield.
Retired from nursing after 32 years due to health concerns that lead to a four-year recovery period and still not able to physically return to nursing, began looking for new ways to be useful. Beginning with online volunteering in an international support and research group for Sjogren’s Disease and related autoimmune diseases; and continuing as a member of the Board of Directors and support chat host.
Through the years, interest in art, computers and graphic design led to study in those areas, and lifelong interest in various crafts like knitting , crochet, jewelry making and reading, helped prevent “idle hands”.
There are no idle hands in retirement. These hobbies led to enjoying an active involvement in the activities of Holy Spirit Parish. Stated as “snack lady” for St Augustine’s Catechism classes; shortly after classes moved to St Matthews, became a catechist for Grade 4, which somehow quickly escalated to the current position of Catechist Coordinator for Holy Spirit Parish.
Also, involved in the Women’s Society, Prayer Shawl creation, member of the Revitalization Committee and Communications/Technology Committee and the Administrator of our Parish Facebook.
Our Bishop
Most Rev. Christian Riesbeck, CC
Bishop
The following is taken from an exert from the Diocese of Saint John. “Following the announcement made by Pope Francis on January 7, 2014, Bishop Riesbeck was ordained to the episcopate on March 19 as Auxiliary Bishop of Ottawa. He held the offices of Vicar General, Vicar for the National Language Parishes, Communities and Faithful, Moderator of the Curia, and Coordinator of English Pastoral Services.
Bishop Riesbeck was named Bishop of the Diocese of Saint John on October 15, 2019 and installed on December 9, 2019. He is the thirteenth bishop of the Diocese.
Holy Spirit Parish Worship Sites
Saint Rose of Lima Worship Site
541 Milford Rd.
Saint John, NB
(Please, do not send mail to this address.)
Phone: 506-653-6850
Email: holyspiritparish@nb.aibn.com
Office Hours On Site at St. Rose:
Tuesday 9:00am-4:00pm
Mass Times:
Thursday – 12:10pm
Saturday – 4:00pm
Sunday – 9:00am
Reconciliation/Confession – 3:45 pm Saturday, before the 4:00pm Mass.
Religious Education, Sunday 10:15am – before the 11:00am Mass at St. Matthews Worship Site
Saint Matthews Worship Site
45 Dollard Drive
Saint John, NB
(Do not send mail to this address)
Phone: 506- 738-2320
Email: holyspiritparish@nb.aibn.com
Office Hours On Site at St. Matthews:
Wednesday & Thursday – 9:00am – 4:00pm
Mass Times:
Wednesday – 7:00pm
Sunday – 11:00am
Religious Education: 10:15am – before the 11:00am Mass
Our Parish
Since 1886, time has shaped the geographic area of Holy Spirit Parish. It includes many parts of West Saint John including Dominion Park, Randolf, Milford, Greendale, Quinton Heights, Westgate Park, Lorneville, Dipper Harbour, Lepreau. Also, South Bay to Martinon, the Town of Grand-Bay Westfield, and as far as both Hoyt and Evandale.
If you were to walk the entire circle of our parish’s geographical area the total distance is approximately 96 miles or 154.5 kilometers. The parish didn’t grow this big overnight.
- It started in 1886 when St. Rose of Lima was built and covered the area of what was called Lancaster and included parishioners as far as Lorneville and along the River Road (now Westfield Road).
- In 1909 St. Brendan’s opened its doors for parishioners of the thriving little fishing village of Dipper Harbour.
- In 1926 St. Augustine’s was built in what was called the Village of Westfield. The parish geographic area included parishioners as far as South Bay, the Villages of Grand Bay & Westfield and those living along the Nerepis and St. John Rivers.
- 1956 St. Ignatius Parish in Petersville was closed and St. Augustine’s parish grew to include the areas of Welsford, Wirral, Enniskillen and Hoyt.
- In 1985 St. Augustine’s was at capacity and there was a great need for a second church, thus St. Matthews was built on the edge of the Saint John city line and the Town of Grand Bay. This new parish was for parishioners as far as South Bay, and the growing Town of Grand Bay and parts of far west Saint John.
- In 1986 St Brendan’s, still going strong with approximately 65 families, became a mission church of St Rose of Lima.
- In 2016 the last service was held at St. Brendan’s. St. Rose’s parish grew to include parishioners as far as Dipper Harbour and Lepreau.
- In 2018 with the creation of Holy Spirit Parish the parish geographic area included the parish of St. Augustine’s, the parish of St. Matthews and the parish of St. Rose.
How We Became Holy Spirit Parish
In 2016, Bishop Harris hired the Catholic Leadership Institute, a U.S. based organization, to commission a study on how to deal with a declining population of worshippers and the cost of maintaining the many aging buildings in the diocese. Nearly 6,000 people were interviewed and nearly 3,500 people attended meetings held in impacted areas. Over 1,600 people also submitted feedback, either electronically or by mail.
In September of 2018, the Diocese of Saint John combined the three parishes of St. Rose of Lima, St. Augustine and St Matthews into one parish and provided a short list of parish names. The parishioners voted and Holy Spirit Parish was chosen as our new name. The parish priest of St. Matthews and St. Augustine, Fr. David Martin, took on the position of parish priest for the newly formed Holy Spirit parish.
To facilitate the merger and to reverse the trend of shrinking numbers at Mass, Fr. Martin had the vision to create a Revitalization Committee. Established in the spring of 2017, the committee’s objective was to both prioritize tactical actions, such as merging of bank accounts, building a pandemic plan etc., as well as strategic items such as coming up with a mission statement and running a baseline survey to measure the engagement of our parishioners.
The Revitalization Committee originally consisted of four parishioners from each former parish: Mark Palmer, Susan Nichol, Sue Ogden, Barb Tracey-Laroque, Matthew and Joann Tingley, Paul Riley, Stephen Parker, Eleanor Austin, Kenneth Fury, Angela Butler, Sarah Butler, Alex Butler, Kim McCormick, Patti Blake, Fr. David Martin.
Weekly Bulletin & Archives
Accountability Report & Archives
Accountability Report Archives
Our Church’s History
St. Augustine’s Memorial Garden
Stations of the Cross – St. Matthews
FaithBook History
With the sudden onset of isolation precautions in March 2020, and the restrictions on gathering for Mass, a few members of the Parish initiated a Facebook page for the Holy Spirit family to keep in touch. In a very appropriate play on words, it became Holy Spirit Faithbook page.
Earliest days were devoted to keeping parishioners informed about the ever-changing protocols, the availability of online or televised Masses, publication of Father’s Homilies, and general news about COVID in our community, but it quickly evolved to more inclusive content.
There were almost daily activities, bible stories and distractions for our younger companions, as they were home, unable to attend school or socialize; and supportive messages from the Clergy, notable days of celebration in the church, and social news of the parish
With the lessening and eventual dropping of restrictions, the Faithbook page evolved again, becoming a general news and information page, a bulletin board, and a source of current events, activities and socialization for our parish, diocese and community.
Pope Francis and his thoughts on communication technology
As early as 2014, Pope Francis discussed the internet and social media and their place in our Catholic lives. Here is what he said:
- “The internet, in particular, offers immense possibilities for encounter and solidarity. This is something truly good, a gift from God.”
- He did caution that “communication is ultimately a human rather than technological achievement.”
- The Pope added that “the internet and social media should be used to foster real connections and relationships, calling for greater calm and tenderness.”
- “The digital world can be an environment rich in humanity, a network not of wires but of people.”