Brief History of Holy Cross
In 1247 the Augustinian Canons Regular gave the Dominicans the
small parish church of St. Clement’s, which was too poor to support a
priest. With the support of Simon de Montfort, Earl of
Leicester and son of the famous crusader and personal friend of
St. Dominic, the friars built a priory. They received a number of
benefactions, including timber to build a dormitory, given by king
Henry III. In its medieval heyday the community numbered thirty
three and hosted three provincial chapters. Then, as now, the
Dominican vocation is to hand on to others the fruits of contemplation
–prayerful study. Our official title is ‘Friars of the Order of
Preachers’ -hence the ‘O.P.’ after our names.
On 10th November 1538 king Henry VIII suppressed the priory. We
do not know what happened to the community of ten. With the
suppression of the priory in Smithfield, London, the Dominican English
province ceased to exist. Those friars who did not
apostatise went into exile in Flanders, with some of them returning to
work on the English mission. Young Englishmen entered noviciates
on the continent. Among them was Thomas Philip Howard, grandson
of the earl of Arundel. He persuaded his superiors to found
a priory to train men for the English mission. His dream
was fulfilled in 1657 when Holy Cross priory was founded at
Bornhem, Flanders. Thomas Howard was the first prior of
Bornhem. He was appointed Vicar General in 1661, Vicar Apostolic
of all England in 1672 and cardinal in 1675.
Dominicans trained at Bornhem came to work on the English mission, some
to Leicester and the neighbouring towns. These were dangerous
Penal times when it was illegal for Catholics to practice the faith and
for priests to say Mass. At first these Dominican missionaries
had to travel disguised and say Mass secretly. Among these
notable pioneers John Clarkson opened the Leicester mission in 1746,
serving it from the Catholic stately home at nearby Aston
Flamville. Peter Robson was the first priest to reside in
Leicester since the Reformation. He said Mass in a small room
near the site of the original Medieval priory. Matthew
Norton was a prominent Dominican missionary in the area. He
served the Leicester mission from nearby Hinckley, where a noviciate
was founded. Francis Xavier Chappell resided in Leicester
for thirty years, 1785-1815, at first saying Mass in a factory.
For security the congregation had to be checked out through a spy hole,
and Fr. Chappell had to travel in the guise of a coster selling
vegetables, under which he hid a chalice. He was succeeded by a
Flemish Dominican, Benedict Caestryck, who moved to a small house in
Wellington Street, where he said Mass. Under his inspiration,
building began on the first Holy Cross Church in 1817. This was
opened in 1819. Holy Cross was established as a priory in
1882. During this period the brethren opened Mass centres around the
city. These have developed into parishes, which have been handed
over to the Nottingham diocese. All the parishes in Leicester have
resulted from Dominican foundations. By 1929 the first Holy Cross
church proved to be too small for the congregation. So the
famous preacher and author, Vincent McNabb, started to raise money for
a larger church. Its foundation stone was laid in 1929, the choir
and transepts opened and the high altar consecrated by Bishop Dunn
in1931. The church was finally completed and consecrated by
Bishop Ellis on 14th May 1958. The original church is now
used as a parish hall.