Parish History
Goodbye to the Priory
Since 1932 the Augustinian Recollect Friars have served the Parish of Ivybridge with Modbury from St. Austin's Priory.
The Recollects arrived in 1932, purchasing from the sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary the church of the Sacred Hearts and the property soon became St. Austin's Priory. The Sisters were returning to their native France, from which they had been expelled in anti-clerical times. A similar situation now faced the Friars in their native Spain in the lead-u to the civil war. As priests they could accept care of the parish, to which they soon added Honiton, Ottery St. Mary and Seaton.
In the early days students were educated and ordained at the Priory before going as missionaries to Asia, especially the Philippines, or South America.
Numbers declined and much of the buildings were demolished in 1981 and the rest, including the church the sisters had built in 1912, renovated. A small community maintained the parish, until death and illness, together with the Order's reorganization plans have made it necessary to give future responsibility to the Diocese.
The solemnity of the Sacred Heart 2016 seemed the right way to celebrate and give thanks for the past and look forward to a bright future as a diocesan parish. Mass was celebrated by the O.A.R. priests from Devon and London, joined by the Dean, Fr Timothy Lewis, (Bishop Mark was in Lourdes, but sent a kind message to be read by the Dean at the Mass), and local priests. The Plymouth Catholic Choral Society led the singing and the parish C.W.L. provided refreshments for all.
An enjoyable evening to mark a sad occasion for the Order and parish.
Fr Sean Flannery O.A.R. June 2016
The Recollects arrived in 1932, purchasing from the sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary the church of the Sacred Hearts and the property soon became St. Austin's Priory. The Sisters were returning to their native France, from which they had been expelled in anti-clerical times. A similar situation now faced the Friars in their native Spain in the lead-u to the civil war. As priests they could accept care of the parish, to which they soon added Honiton, Ottery St. Mary and Seaton.
In the early days students were educated and ordained at the Priory before going as missionaries to Asia, especially the Philippines, or South America.
Numbers declined and much of the buildings were demolished in 1981 and the rest, including the church the sisters had built in 1912, renovated. A small community maintained the parish, until death and illness, together with the Order's reorganization plans have made it necessary to give future responsibility to the Diocese.
The solemnity of the Sacred Heart 2016 seemed the right way to celebrate and give thanks for the past and look forward to a bright future as a diocesan parish. Mass was celebrated by the O.A.R. priests from Devon and London, joined by the Dean, Fr Timothy Lewis, (Bishop Mark was in Lourdes, but sent a kind message to be read by the Dean at the Mass), and local priests. The Plymouth Catholic Choral Society led the singing and the parish C.W.L. provided refreshments for all.
An enjoyable evening to mark a sad occasion for the Order and parish.
Fr Sean Flannery O.A.R. June 2016
