A hundred and twenty years ago, during 1897, the first Masses were celebrated in what was to become Holy Trinity Parish by the Trappist missionaries from Mariannhill. We do not know the exact date, but we build gratefully on the work that they began. And it gives us an excuse to celebrate this year.

We have several other excuses.

On Christmas Day, 1897, two migrant miners were the first people to be baptized in Braamfontein, one a young man, the other rather older. Ministry among the poor has continued to characterise our parish and people of all ages from all nations have found a welcome here.

In 1937, on 18 July, the Foundation Stone was laid for the beautiful new church, that was completed the following year. We give thanks for it every week and every day.

In 1997, the centenary year of the parish, on 25 May, Trinity Sunday, the church was dedicated by Bishop Orsmond. As part of our celebration in that year, and our own debt having been paid off, we built a new church for the community in Orange Farm.

In 2017, with so much to celebrate, the Parish Pastoral Council began looking for an appropriate BIG project to which we can devote our efforts, leading up to our 125th Anniversary in 2022.

A 125th Anniversary Committee has been established under the PPC and they’re already looking at initiatives, events and projects we can undertake to mark these milestones and celebrate accordingly. The Committee will be looking at the next five years as a period in which we can make major investments to mark this Anniversary. You will therefore hear of the Anniversary celebrations that are already looking towards the 125 years of existence for Holy Trinity.

Our major planned project for marking this Anniversary is the building of a shower facility for our regular homeless guests. As we all know, Holy Trinity feeds up to 300 people every day and we believe erecting a shower facility will assist in further restoring their dignity as human beings. Initial plans are already on the go and we anticipate the costs of building this shower facility to be in the region of R250k. It’s obviously a lot of money and the plan is to raise these funds within a period of three to five years. We will be working with different groups (both within and outside the parish) as well as you as parishioners to help raise these monies.

Other initiatives and plans include raising some annual funds each November and donating them to Nazareth House in Yeoville. The Nazareth Sisters manage a clinic and a hospice which are in dire need of additional finances to help them.

If you would like to get involved please speak to Fr Graham.