St.Illtyd’s Parish, Swansea

For some time, the people of St. Illtyd’s Parish had awaited a very special day. It finally came on October 26^th when, in the context of the Mass, four people were presented with medals by Bishop Tom. They were – Anne and Peter Jones, Val Fox and Rae Clarke. As they stood humbly but joyfully before Bishop Tom, Father Cyril read out the personal tributes and appreciations which had been presented for each person. The applause from the congregation said it all. As Bishop Tom drew his homily to a close, he smiled at us all and said “I wish I could give you each a medal today but there are plenty more in stock!”

Apart from bringing up a family, both Peter and Anne Jones had spent much of their lives, in rendering services to the parish as they gave of themselves, their time and their talents in sensitivity to needs. When asked about his feelings on being presented with an award Peter said “ What I only wanted to do always was to help out in the parish” Anne too had a similar comment – “ I was very pleased but we were only doing our parish duty”. Later Anne said “As we went to bed that night we looked again at the medals and were delighted to see that they were Welsh with St. David on them. Very beautiful”

Val Fox was the parish representative for Cafod. She worked tirelessly and with the help of her husband Peter, she raised sizable funds every year for this charity. “I felt very honoured” said Val “and I never expected anything like that. What I want to say is, that this medal belongs to the people of St. Illtyd’s parish. Without their support down the years, we would not have been able to raise the funds for Cafod”.  Rae Clarke received a silver medal of merit for her dedicated altar serving over many years. Expressing how she felt Rae said “ I felt very humble to be able to serve my Lord, my community and my friends. What a privilege to be able to serve at Mass and to be able to help the young people.”

After Mass, which was celebrated by Bishop Tom with Fathers Cyril and Fr. Saji, the festivities continued in the hall. There we rejoiced with our four medal recipients, with their friends and families who were very proud indeed and very grateful to be part of something so memorable. As parishioners of St. Illtyd’s  we all say – “You do us proud. You are an inspiration to us all.  May you all continue to find joy in the Lord and in your service of God’s people”.    (Sr.Carmel)