Knutsford Circle (182):
Newsletter – September 2021
President: Sean McGhee
August Circle Meeting: There were 15 Knutsford Brothers and 14 visitors present at the August meeting.
Next meeting at Cottons Hotel (and on Zoom): 8 pm: 6 September, 2021 – First Monday of the Month (except Bank Holidays: Second Monday)
Message from our President
Dear Brothers,
This month we take our first tentative steps back to some sort of normality with our first face-to-face meeting since March 2020.
Special arrangements will be in place due to the pandemic; the meeting will be a hybrid one with visitors asked to join us online via Zoom, seating will be arranged to allow for social distancing and drinks will be served in the meeting room to prevent congregating at the bar. Also, windows will be open to allow for additional ventilation.
I would encourage all Brothers to attend this meeting as it marks a new beginning for the Circle and is an opportunity to renew old friendships following a year and a half of disruption.
In addition, there are two “pop-up” events in the next few weeks to allow us to begin socialising again and I hope that some of you can join me at these events.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
Yours fraternally,
Sean McGhee
Face to Face Meetings Resume in September
Our September Circle meeting will be a face-to-face meeting at Cottons Hotel. Due to the current pandemic, attendance is limited to Knutsford Brothers only and special measures will be put in place to allow for social distancing. Visitors and those unable to attend in person can join the meeting via Zoom.
September Anniversaries
R.I.P.: Walter Pettit, Graham Stuart, Frank Taylor, Norman Walmsley, Tom Wardrobe
Enrollment Anniversaries: James Meagher (21yrs), James Power (8yrs), Stephen Graham (1yrs)
Birthdays
Anthony Andrews (6th), Paul Yearsley (12th)
Recent Events
Bike Ride from Thornicroft Hall – 18th August, 2021

Stuart and Felix had a wonderful 34 km cycle ride in the Macclesfield area, with a short lunch stop at Pastimes in Goostrey. Terrific countryside, especially beautiful on the downslopes! As it happened, Stuart did nearly twice the distance as he rode from Knutsford to pick up Felix at Thornycroft hall, and then rode back. By the end of the ride, Stuart was fresh as a daisy, whilst Felix was practically pushing up daisies.
For the route, please see: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/course/72204660
Forthcoming Events
- Walk/Pub Lunch – Dunham Massey – Saturday 28th August 2021 – This will be a leisurely walk starting from Altrincham Train Station to Dunham Massey and the surrounding area. If possible, we will lunch at one of the Pubs in the Dunham area.
- Visit to Lion Salt Works – Saturday 11th September (pm) – Visit this National Heritage Site for a unique insight into our industrial past.
- Catenian Sunday Lunch – Date to be arranged
- Please note that, following feedback from members, the Toft Cricket Club Informal Event planned for the 24th September has been put on hold.
Events around the Province
- Provincial Mass for the Deceased. Commemorative service to remember those brothers and family members who have died during the Covid-19 pandemic from whatever cause. 7pm, September 17, Holy Angels, Hale Barns, followed by reception at Ringway Golf Club. All welcome.
- Didsbury Circle Provincial Visit, September 7, 7.30pm
- Crewe Circle meeting at new venue – Chimney House Hotel, Congleton Road, Sandbach, CW11 4ST – Off Jnc17 M6 – September 22, 7.30pm
Keep Connected
Use your Circle web-site: www.knutsfordcatenians.org.uk/
Keep up-to-date with circle events, news and chat – join the Circle WhatsApp Group. Email your name and mobile number to webmaster@knutsfordcatenians.org.uk. You will need to have WhatsApp installed on your mobile phone.
The Provincial Calendar tells you about meetings and events across the province. Contact the Secretary or John Sutton to get access.
The National Catenian web-site is at www.thecatenians.com. To login to the Members Area: Username – ‘Members’; password – Prayers*0819
Catena Magazine: The on-line edition: http://flickread.com/edition/catena/latest’. The login name is your own regular email address.
Reflection Corner

On 9 August we celebrated the feast-day of St. Edith Stein aka Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, one of the six patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia, Cyril and Methodius, Bridget of Sweden, and Catherine of Siena.
Her story is noteworthy. She was a distinguished phenomenologist philosopher in Germany, who converted to Catholicism on reading the live of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. She entered the Carmelite monastery of St. Maria vom Frieden (Our Lady of Peace) in Cologne-Lindenthal in October 1933. To avoid the growing Nazi threat, the Order transferred Edith and her sister, Rosa, who was also a convert and an extern sister of the Carmel, to the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Echt, Netherlands. The Dutch Bishops’ Conference had a public statement read in all churches across the nation on 20 July 1942 condemning Nazi racism. In a retaliatory response on 26 July 1942 the Reichskommissar of the Netherlands, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, ordered the arrest of all Jewish converts who had previously been spared.
Along with two hundred and forty-three baptized Jews living in the Netherlands, Stein was arrested by the SS on 2 August 1942. Stein and her sister Rosa were imprisoned at the concentration camps of Amersfoort and Westerbork before being deported to Auschwitz. A Dutch official at Westerbork was so impressed by her sense of faith and calm, he offered her an escape plan. Stein vehemently refused his assistance, stating: “If somebody intervened at this point and took away [her] chance to share in the fate of [her] brothers and sisters, that would be utter annihilation.” On 7 August 1942, early in the morning, 987 Jews were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. It was probably on 9 August that Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, her sister Rosa, and many more Jewish people were killed en mass in the gas chambers.