On Wednesday 14th May 2025, twenty-two people from Liskeard, Sclerder Abbey, and Saltash, visited St Mary & St Boniface Cathedral Plymouth, where we were very warmly received by the Legion of Mary. We were given a detailed tour and talk on the history of the cathedral and then had the opportunity to have our passports stamped – Pilgrim Bear Francis had his passport stamped too!

We were able to see the Jubilee Icon by Ethiopian artist Mulugeta Araya. Unfortunately, we were unable to see the National Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, a hand craved statue blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1982, which had left on Monday for the next tour destination St George’s Cathedral, Southwark. Fortunately, 3 people from Liskeard visited the cathedral on Saturday 10th May 2025 and we have a photo of Our Lady of Fatima included in our photos.

We then said a prayer of thanks; a prayer for the new Pope Leo IV; the Jubilee Prayer and a Prayer for Peace and we sang ‘Make me a channel of thy peace. The Legion of Mary then led us in a decade of the ‘Glorious Mysteries’ Rosary.

We then retired to the parish room for refreshments, reflection and where we had a catch up with old acquaintances and the opportunity to make new ones.
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Finally, we returned to the cathedral for the ‘Divine Mercy’ before saying our goodbyes and leaving for home.

On Wednesday 19th March 2025 our Parish visited St Cuthbert Mayne RC Church Launceston. As you can see from the photos below, there was a very good turnout and there were representatives from all our four churches, and we were very warmly welcomed to the church. We opened with prayers and sang: ‘Make me a channel of thy peace’ with organ accompaniment. We were then invited to come forward and venerate the relic of St Cuthbert Mayne, after which we said the very emotive Litany of St Cuthbert Mayne.

Afterwards, we were allowed to walk around the church at leisure and have our passports stamped. This is the first Holy Door in our Diocese we have visited, celebrating the late Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Hope. Finally, we gathered in the parish hall for light refreshments, reflection, and to renew old acquaintances.

On 23rd April 2025, our St Neots Group hosted a talk by Caritas {Plymouth Diocese} on ‘Modern Day Slavery’ - an eye-opening and emotive topic. Myth: Slavery is a Thing of the Past. Fact: No, it is not. Slavery has ancient roots in history and still exists today in many different forms. There are more people in slavery today than at any other time in history.
“What do you mean by crushing my people, by grinding the face of the poor?” declares the Lord God of hosts. Isaiah 3:15

The late Pope Francis’ stated aim was to “… free the victims of the new forms of slavery… to unmask the traffickers and those who create this market, and to offer effective assistance… for the promotion of human dignity, that it may be able to draw out the best of every person and of every citizen.”

Who are today’s victims? Women and men, boys and girls are bought and sold worldwide. They may be living in poverty, unaccompanied children, migrants or people displaced by conflict. They are abused in many ways: Forced Labour and Begging; Domestic Servitude; Child Soldiers; Organ Removal; Sexual Exploitation and Forced Marriage. No-one knows the true scale of modern slavery – but 1 in 4 victims of modern slavery are children.

Modern Slavery is happening here in the UK, hidden in plain sight. There are actions we can take:
1} Write to your MP ask them to encourage our government to continue their commitment to tackling modern day slavery.
2} Support Stella Maris and their work to tackle modern slavery affecting seafarers.
3} Organize for a speaker from Caritas Diocese of Plymouth to talk to your parish.
4} Explore what you can do to raise awareness and take action for those enslaved at home and abroad.
5} Find out about the Catholic Church’s campaign against Trafficking and Slavery.
Thanks to our talk we learnt: What Modern Day Slavery is, how to recognize it and what to do!

On 14th May we will be visiting St Mary and St Boniface, Cathedral, Plymouth, the second of our Holy Doors. We will have space to reflect and pray and have our passports stamped.

After Mass on Mothering Sunday 30th March, we distributed our daffodil posies to all the four churches in our parish, honouring all mothers remembering their unwavering love and the role they play in our lives, and we also remembered Mary, the mother of God, as a model of maternal love and intercession. Fr Cyriacus handed out personally a posy to every lady in the congregations after each Mass and then encouraged all gentlemen present to take one home for their mothers or neighbours. All the posies were kindly made by volunteers in the St Neot room the day before.

During the Triduum {Holy Week} at our Holy Saturday service {19th April} all four churches from our parish gathered at Our Lady and St Neot, Liskeard. The choir was led by Sclerder Abbey Choir and the singing was heavenly. Two were baptized, and two were received into the Catholic church – all from our parish.

Every Thursday evening, we have Exposition, Silent Prayer and Divine Mercy Litany before the Blessed Sacrament. May we heed the Lord’s invitation: “Come to me” – by kneeling before the Tabernacle; “Could you not watch one hour with Me?”

​Every first Saturday of the month, we have Open Church at Liskeard. Please come and light a candle, have a quiet prayer or have a chat. Complementary Tea/coffee and biscuits. All very welcome. “Be still and know that I am God.”

On Mothering Sunday after the 11:00am Mass at Liskeard; at Sclerder Abbey after 09:00am and 11:00am Masses and on Saturday 29th March 2025 at Torpoint after 04:30pm Mass and at Saltash after 06:30pm Mass daffodil posies were distributed.

Posies were assembled by ladies from all four churches on the Saturday morning of 29th March. We would like to say a big thank you to all the ladies present who gave up their Saturday morning to help with the posy production line and all bunches of greenery and daffodils were assembled in record time. After each Mass Fr. Cyriacus distributed a posy to all the ladies in the congregation personally. The remaining posies were handed out to be given to mothers, friends and neighbours.

On Wednesday 19th March 2025 our Parish visited St Cuthbert Mayne RC Church Launceston. As you will see from the photos there was a very good turnout and there were representatives from all four churches, and we were very warmly welcomed to the church. We opened with prayers and sang: Make me a channel of thy peace with organ accompaniment. We were then invited to come forward and venerate the relic of St Cuthbert Mayne after which we said the very emotive Litany of St Cuthbert Mayne.
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Afterwards, we were allowed to walk around the church at leisure and have our passports stamped as this was the first Holy Door in our Diocese to have visited. Finally, we gathered in the parish hall for light refreshments, reflection, and to renew old acquaintances.

It was a lovely afternoon on Sunday 1st September in the Presbytery Gardens of Our Lady and St Neot Liskeard. Many thanks to Fr Gilmour’s brother and sister-in-law, and all who helped with the preparations and organisation. The good weather was a blessing, but a lot of hard work behind the scenes made for a great success and it was another occasion for all four church communities of the parish {Our Lady and St Neot, Liskeard; Our Lady of the Angels, Saltash; Our Lady of Light, Sclerder Abbey and St Joan of Arc, Torpoint} to work together and especially to come together to give thanks for the past nine years we have shared our earthly pilgrimage. It’s hard to believe that Fr Gilmour has left us. I speak for the whole Parish when I say, you are going to be truly missed! You have been such a kind, patient and understanding Priest. We all wish you the best in your retirement – though we understand it is only 2 days! You have been asked to help at another parish, good health and don’t work too hard! It’s never goodbye, just Au Revoir and see you soon!!

Every year Liskeard hosts Liskeard Unlocked as part of the National Heritage Open Days. There is a varied programme of walks, talks, exhibitions and a chance to see behind the doors which are normally closed. Our Lady and St Neot opened its doors on Saturdays 7th and 14th September and showed some clerical vestments and various silverware used in the church services, such as the Monstrance – used in Adoration and Holy Hour – Chalice and Paten - used in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. A History of the Church, shown in old pictures of the church, a model of a Tin Mine, made by one of our parishioners and a copper spun thread made by another one of our parishioners.

The last act of service from Fr Gilmour was to take part in Liskeard Old Cornwall Society’s annual ‘Crying of the Neck’ at Liskeard Cattle Market. Crying The Neck is a harvest festival tradition once common in the counties of Devon and Cornwall, in which a farm worker holds aloft the final handful of cut corn and a series of calls are chanted.

The tradition declined following the invention of machines such as the combine harvester, but besides this has persisted into modern times across Devon and Cornwall albeit to a more limited extent. In Devon the tradition was still recorded as occurring regularly on the Exmoor coast in 1950, and more recently has seen reintroduction elsewhere such as Stoke where it occurs annually alongside the Village Summer Fair. In Cornwall there was an organised revival of the practice on five farms in the 20 years after the Second World War by the Old Cornwall Society, which still organises most events where the tradition is practised to this day.

In the story of Cornwall, by Kenneth Hamilton Jenkin the following explanation is given on the practice: “In those days the whole of the reaping had to be done either with the hook or scythe. The harvest, in consequence, often lasted for many weeks. When the time came to cut the last handful of corn, one of the reapers would lift the branch high above his head and call out in a loud voice ……. “I ‘ave ‘un! I ‘ave ‘un! I ‘ave ‘un!”
The rest would then shout “What ‘ave ‘ee? What ‘ave ‘ee? What ‘ave ‘ee?” and the reply would be: “A neck! A neck! A neck!” Everyone then joined in shouting: “Hurrah! Hurrah for the neck! Hurrah for Mr So-and-So” {calling the Farmer by name}”
The ceremony is given in the Cornish Language, between the reaper {An Tregher} and the others {An Re erel}:

Liskeard Old Cornwall Society: Crying the Neck 2024

Introduction by Brian Oldham; Opening Prayer in Cornish by Rod Sheaff; Opening Prayer in English and Reading in English by Father Gilmour.

Jim Moon raises the neck aloft to the North and shouts “Yma? genef! Yma genef! Yma genef!” We all ask: “Pandr’ us genes? Pandr’ us genes? Pandr’ us genes?” Jim replies: “Pen Yar! Pen Yar! Pen Yar!” We all shout: “Houra! Houra! Houra!” This is repeated facing to the East and then to the South, but not to the West as this may bring a poor Harvest next year!

The neck is passed to the Mayor of Liskeard Christina Whitty who repeats the above but says it in English. The Lord’s Prayer is recited in Cornish by Rod Sheaff, then the Lord’s Prayer in English by all and a blessing is given by Fr Gilmour. Finally, some Classic Cornish Songs are sung by Melodi Liskerret and the ceremony concludes. Robert Hunt wrote in his Popular Romances of the West of England that the neck would be hung in the farmhouse after the ceremony. In a harvest scene in the third episode of the second series of the 2015 of Poldark, Francis Poldark performs the tradition at Trenwith, his estate. Also, in a harvest scene in the third episode of the supernatural drama The Living and the Dead, Charlotte Appleby performs the tradition at her husband’s family farm, which she manages.

On Saturday 3rd August 2024 at Liskeard Public Hall Our Lady and St Neot Catholic Church, Liskeard we held our summer fete – a big thank you goes out everyone who helped, donated and attended. It was a very successful, joyful day, and an amazing amount of money was raised for the Parish. The Lady Mayoress of Liskeard attended along with representatives from all four of our churches, Liskeard; Saltash; Sclerder Abbey, Looe and Torpoint and lots of local people came along to joint in the fun. Congratulations to everyone involved!

We have been called by the Diocese of Plymouth to turn away from violence and embrace peace and reconciliation: “The Southwest of England has long been a place of welcome. Our beautiful countryside and wonderful coast have been havens for those fleeing violence and discrimination. The realisation that we feel helpless as individuals in the gigantic, global upheavals in our time disturb that peace and bring fear and anxiety not only in family relationships or friendships, but also discrimination in different races and cultures and those of different faiths.

What can be done? We Pray!! Jesus tells us to “treat others as we would like them to treat us”. This is our hope. This is our prayer.
When we pray – God listens. When we listen – God talks. When you believe – God works. When you can’t pray – God knows {What’s in your heart}.
When we have nothing to give, lets us give him that nothingness! The essential thing is not what we say, but what God says through us. Prayer does not demand we interrupt our work, but that we continue working as if were a prayer.

The more we go around, the better we understand how very necessary it is for us to pray for the work we do, to make the work our love for God in Action. The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life.

Strengthen our resolve to work for reconciliation and peace within our communities.
Help us not to harden our hearts, to redouble our efforts to welcome the stranger and to reach out to those in need.

Thus, God leads us by strange ways; we know He wills our happiness, but we neither know what our happiness is, nor the way. We are blind; left to ourselves we should take the wrong way; we must leave it to Him. Let us put ourselves into his hands, and not be startled though He leads us by a strange way, a mirabilis via {wonderful way}, as the Church speaks. Let us be sure He will lead us right, that he will bring us to that which is not indeed what we think best, nor what is best for another, but what is best for us!

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’!” {Isaiah 52:7}

Our Lady & St Neot’s Bethany group, for their end of year celebration, visited Father David Mead’s retreat near Bugle, Cornwall. The theme for the afternoon was ‘PEACE’. We brought with us our ‘peace dove’ which had been brought back from The Holy Land by some of our parishioners in May 2019. Ten people shared a wonderfully peaceful and tranquil afternoon in the fabulously secluded grounds. The sun shone for us, and the weather was perfect. A candle was lit in our peace dove during the opening prayers said by Father David.

Some sobering statistics from the Global Peace index were discussed. Of 197 countries in the world, 92 are in conflict beyond their borders and 97 have deteriorated in peacefulness. Gaza and Ukraine are the main drivers with battle deaths in 2023 as 162,000. 110 million people are either refugees or internally displaced due to violent conflict. 16 countries host more than ½ million refugees. In Lebanon 1 in 4 people are refugees, Germany have taken 2. 5 million refugees, while United Kingdom have taken 0.25 million. Among the most peaceful countries are Iceland, Ireland, Austria, New Zealand and Singapore. The least being Yemen, Sudan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, the Middle East, and North Africa. Sobering facts, then thirty peace verses from the bible were contemplated.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. {John 16:33}

Participants wandered around the grounds in solitude to meditate or to pray in the beautiful tiny chapel, some chose to stay in the summer house by the tranquil pond to enjoy the gentle sound of water and observe the fish and fleeting dragonflies. Tea, sandwiches, cream and jam scones and fruit were shared, and people enjoyed a time to chat and reflect. Father David was thanked for hosting the afternoon. The closing prayer, St Francis of Assisi’s peace prayer ‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace’ was read by a participant followed by a blessing from Father David.

On the first Saturday of every month, at Our Lady & St Neot Liskeard, from 10:30am until 14:00 we have Open Church. Come to light a candle, say a prayer, find out about the history of our church and look around, meet new people and come and have a chat. Everyone is welcome! Tea/Coffee, biscuits and cake are available.

“What even you have learned or received or heard from me or see in me – put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. {Philippians 4:9}

Every Thursday at Liskeard at 18:00 we live stream on our Parish website via YouTube our Holy Hour – Exposition and Divine Mercy Litany. Please join us for a quiet hour of contemplation and reflection; “Could you not watch one hour with Me” {Matthew 26:40} This is very much at the heart of our Evangelisation in Liskeard. Just as Elijah encountered God in the still small voice, we can develop the habit of listening to God in quiet prayer and reflection. This is not easy in our noisy world, where we are often bombarded with messages from TV and social media. But by following Elijah’s example, we can be brought to a place of tranquillity and peace, where we may be ready for an encounter with God.