We extend a warm welcome to all visitors to this website and to our Parish church.
St Dominic's is a friendly & diverse community seeking to worship God, in Christ and by His Holy Spirit. We are a Roman Catholic parish in the South-East of England, part of the Archdiocese of Southwark, dedicated to Saint Dominic de Guzmán.
Mass requests can be made through the parish email or by telephone. Donations for mass intentions can be paid directly into the parish account.
Sunday: 9am and 11am
Saturday: 9:15am and 6pm (vigil)
Monday, Tuesday & Thursday: 9:15am
Wednesday & Friday: 7pm
Holy Days: 9:15am, 7pm
Confessions: Saturday 5:15pm – 5:45pm & by appointment.
For up-to-date news from our parish, please download our newsletter
Parish registration form
Baptism form
Gift Aid form
First Holy Communion form
Confirmation form
Daily readings
Order of Mass
The Wednesday Word
Pray as you go
10 minutes with Jesus
If you are concerned about the welfare of a child or adult at risk, do not delay in contacting the police, using 999 if a child or adult is believed to be in immediate danger.
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St Dominic’s parish is funded totally by donations. This is normally given as Sunday cash donations, gift aid envelopes, standing orders and occasionally legacy donations.
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History:
The parish of St. Dominic’s in Waddon was very much the brainchild of one remarkable priest; the Rev. William Pritchard, parish priest of St. Gertrude’s, South Croydon, 1933 – 1955. Until 1921 the only two Catholic churches serving the whole of Croydon were St. Mary’s, West Croydon, which was founded in 1863 and St. Gertrude’s in 1903. Fr. Pritchard carried through an earlier idea that such a large area should be broken into smaller parochial units. So it was that Mass centres were formed in Selsdon (1921), Purley (1931), Waddon (1933) and Sanderstead (1942). In a very real way, St. Gertrude’s church is the ‘Mother Church’ of all the above.
Plans for the acquisition of a plot of land, for the future of our church, began in 1934 but were first of all delayed by planning difficulties and local objections and finally ‘put on hold’ by the advent of World War 2. At last in 1948 a nissen hut was erected and the satellite St. Dominic’s had a permanent home. The first Mass to be celebrated took place on the 19th. December of that year, the altar being situated where the statue of St. Dominic now stands. From this time on the numbers of people attending mass began to grow. In 1959 the Hierarchy decided that the congregation was strong enough to stand alone and so our parish was officially founded and Fr. Simes, a curate at St. Gertrude’s, became our first parish priest. The next priority was to build our own church and with tremendous enthusiasm our own parishioners and those of St. Gertrude’s plus, it should be remembered, many local non Catholic inhabitants of the area, the church was completed in two years and opened on 21st. August 1961. The debt for the church and the priest’s residence was paid off by 1970. A tremendous achievement!
After all these years the parish is still thriving and though a few years back we saw a dip in weekly Mass attendance, recent figures show a rise to well over 500+ and still rising. Our parish priests during this period have been:
| Fr. Simes (RIP) | 1959 – 1966 |
| Fr. J. Lennon | 1966 – 1973 |
| Fr. D. Sheehy (RIP) | 1973 – 1983 |
| Fr. J. Daly (RIP) | 1983 – 2001 |
| Fr. I. Knowles | 2001 – 2005 |
| Fr. P. de Freitas | 2005 – 2007 |
| Fr. P. Cannon | 2007 – 2018 |
| Fr. S. Pinakkattu Thomas | 2018 – 2020 |
| Fr. Simplicio d'Souza | Nov 2020 - |
The parish office is open Monday, Tuesday & Thursday from 10am to 12:30pm and on Friday from 5pm to 7pm.
Choir: meets every Monday in the Church at 7:30 p.m. for further information, please get in touch with us
Altar Servers: for further information, please get in touch with us.
Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation group: meets every 2nd Tuesday in the parish room.
Youth group: meets every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month in the Narthex from 3 to 5pm. If you are in Year 8 to Year 13, please come along. A consent form should be downloaded, completed and handed in to one of the Youth leaders, the Parish Priest or the Parish office.
Stewards:
PPC:
One Parish Team:
Safeguarding:
Altar Decoration Team:
Church Cleaning Team: a group of dedicated church cleaning volunteers who ensure our Church and the adjoining areas are kept clean and welcoming. At present there is a rota of people who clean the interior of the church weekly. It’s a 2 hour commitment once every 5 weeks. If you enjoy being active, are detail-oriented and hate dust, then this ministry is for you! Anyone is welcome to join us. If you are interested, please contact our parish office via phone or email and we will respond to you soon.
Craft Group: meets every Thursday in the Narthex from 10am to 12 noon.
Line Dancing Group:
Baptism: the basis of the whole of our Christianity, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments.
By baptism, we are set free from sin and reborn as children of God. We become members of Christ’s body, the Church, and are given a share in her mission.
Baptisms are celebrated on Sundays after some preparation sessions. The priest welcomes the one to be baptised with great joy in the name of the parish community. Parents and godparents commit themselves to ensuring the child will be brought up to follow God’s commandments as taught by Jesus Christ. The saints in heaven are called upon to pray for the child, who is then baptised in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
If you would like to have your child baptised, or seek baptism for yourself, please contact the parish office for more information.
Eucharist:
Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever."
The Eucharist is described as the source and summit of the Christian life. It is the origin for all our prayer, worship and activity, and it is the goal of everything we do. This is because in celebrating the Eucharist, we enter into communion with Christ himself, whose body and blood, soul and divinity are given to us under the form of bread and wine.
The Eucharist nourishes us for the rest of our days on earth. As Christians together we make up the mystical Body of Christ; in celebrating the Eucharist we unite ourselves with Jesus Christ our Head.
Faithful to Jesus’ command to “do this in memory of me”, the Church continues to take bread and wine and to speak Christ’s words of consecration over them. The Eucharist has been, since the very beginning of the Church, the central act of her worship.
The celebration of the Eucharist is more commonly called the Mass, and receiving the Eucharist more commonly referred to as Holy Communion.
Children are prepared to receive their First Holy Communion from the age of 7. Please contact the parish office for more information.
Adults who are seeking to become Catholic and receive Holy Communion should contact the parish office for more information.
First reconciliation and First Holy Communion:
Please contact the parish office for more information.
Confirmation:
Confirmation completes our baptism and strengthens us to take up our role as full members of the Church by witnessing to God's love in our words and deeds.
Candidates are enriched with the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit: given wisdom and understanding, right judgment and courage, knowledge and reverence; filled with the spirit of wonder and awe in God's presence.
Confirmation is celebrated during Mass, usually by a bishop, who imposes his hands on the candidates' heads and then anoints them with Chrism on their foreheads, saying: "Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit."
In our parish, Confirmation is conferred on anyone in Year 8 and above after a period of suitable preparation.
Please contact the parish office for more information.
Sacrament of Reconciliation:
Reconciliation is one of the two "sacraments of healing" in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, confession is a bridge to God’s infinite mercy, a path of conversion and forgiveness. As the catechism states: “The whole power of the sacrament of Penance consists in restoring us to God’s grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship” (CCC, No. 1468)
Confession at St Dominic’s is available by appointment or at these times:
Saturday from 9:45am to 10:15am & from 5:15pm to 5:45pm
Holy Matrimony:
Marriage preparation: before you make wedding arrangements, you need to see the priest. If any of you wish to marry in the parish of St. Dominic’s or in another part of the world and reside in this parish, you need to give 6 months' notice to the parish priest regarding your papers and your preparation.
Getting Married in Church: if you are reading this you have probably decided that it is time to get married. Congratulations! In marriage we commit ourselves exclusively to another person whom we love for the rest of our lives. Marriage is part of the natural law but it is also part of God’s plan for us which is why marriage between two baptised Christians is called the Sacrament of marriage and is blessed by God.
Requirements for getting married in the Catholic Church:
- at least one of you must be a baptised Catholic. In the UK it is desirable that you have been Confirmed and have made your First Communion. Elsewhere it is compulsory that you be confirmed.
- you must both be free to marry.
- you must not be under pressure to marry.
- at least one of you should reside within the parish boundary.
Essential paperwork to be collated:
- the pre-nuptial form.
- recent copy of your baptism certificate (within 6 months).
- proof of your confirmation.
- a signed Statutory Declaration of Freedom. A small fee will be charged by the Commissioner for Oaths.
- a notice to marry from your local Register Office at the Town Hall. There is a statutory fee for this notice.
Marriage Preparation Course: all couples must attend a marriage preparation course, approved by the Catholic Church. A number of parishes run these courses and you will need to contact them directly to register. There is normally a fee for these courses to cover materials.
Do not set any date for your Wedding or Reception until you have spoken to your parish priest.
Previous Marriages: if either of you have previously been through any form of marriage, whether in a church, register office or other registered place or by local custom, no further marriage can take place until the circumstances have been investigated by the church. Until the issue is cleared up, the forthcoming marriage arrangements can only be seen as provisional and no firm bookings should be made. The same situation applies for anyone who may have contracted a civil partnership.
Marriage between a Catholic and a non Catholic: Roman Catholics have to obtain permission from the Archbishop if they wish to marry someone who is not a Catholic. In these cases it is a requirement that both parties agree that any children they have will be baptised and brought up in the Catholic Faith.
Getting Married in a Church Abroad: if you want to marry in a Catholic Church outside England and Wales, the same procedures apply but it will take longer and certain countries require more documents.
Planning your Wedding Ceremony:
Once all the paperwork has been processed and the marriage course completed you will plan the wedding service with your priest. There are 2 options to think about:
- a Nuptial Mass – a special Mass during which you will exchange marriage vows.
- a Wedding Service – a service of prayer and readings during which you will exchange marriage vows.
You will need to plan for music, flowers, photography and people who will read the scriptures and prayers.
Do not set any date for your Wedding or Reception until you have spoken to your parish priest.
What next?
We hope you have found this helpful. If you have any questions or you want to begin the process of marriage preparation please contact the parish office.
Good luck and God bless!
Holy Orders:
Please make an appointment to see our parish priest if you require further information or alternatively, please follow this link for further information.
Anointing of the Sick:
The Anointing of the Sick is a remarkable sign of God's great love for us. In his merciful efforts to bring us safely to himself in heaven.
Please contact our parish priest if you require further information.
Funerals:
Please contact the parish office for more information.