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Cat Island The Bahamas

In the Footsteps of Hawes Pilgrimage 2018

Deacon Andrew leading the group in The Stations of the Cross


Deacon Andrew and Bishop Justin
Our Lady of Sion Church Cat Island
Ada and Pat Mills were both baptised by John Hawes.

Our Lady of Sion
Andrew Deveaux’s House was on the site of a Cotton Plantation
The ruins of Deveaux House

Deacon Andrew at entrance to St Francis of Assisi
Priest Lodge outside St Francis of Assisi built by Hawes

The Holy Redeemer
Pulpit in The Holy Redeemer

Frieze in The Holy Redeemner
The resource Centre opposite The Holy Redeemer is dedicated to Hawes.
Resource Centre named in Honour of Fr Jerome in The Bight

Entrance to dilapidated Priests House at Holy redeemer
Sign at the entrance to Mt Alvernia
The Stations of the Cross

Bishop Justin prays at the entrance to the burial place of John Hawes.
Bishop Justin looking into the cave in which Hawes lived while he was building his Hermitage

Fr Robert Cross and Bishop Justin from Geraldton explore The Hermitage
Fr Robert and Bishop Justin celebrate Mass in the Chapel of The Holy Ghost
Hawes’ prie-dieu in the chapel of The Hermitage Cat Island

Our Lady of Good Counsel – Engraved into the wall of the Chapel

The Pilgrims were hosted on Cat Island by Deacon Andrew who had done a great deal of work in preparation  for the visit.  

There are many Hawes-related buildings on the island as this is where Fr Jerome spent the best part of the last  14 years of his life.

A church that had caused Hawes a great amount of heartache due to changes  made by a young priest,  but which ended up being restored to Hawes' design and decor, was Our Lady of Sion at Port Howe. Here Deacon Andrew had arranged for the Pilgrims  to meet 2 local parishioners, Ada and Jimmy.  They had both known Hawes and Ada had been baptised by him and was delighted to meet one of the Pilgrims, Pat Mills, who had also been baptised by him when he was  the parish priest in Mullewa WA. 

The Pilgrims were interested to visit the Deveaux House.  This was the home of a Cotton Planter and  Hawes had  stayed here when he first arrived on Cat Island in 1940.   It was a partial ruin in Hawes time  and more so now but it was interesting to note that Hawes  had celebrated Mass here  on several occasions. 

The Church of St Francis of Assisi had a strong connection to the West Australians as it was financed by the West Australian Franciscan Tertiaries and Hawes himself.  The fundraising in Western Australia had been coordinated by a friend of Hawes from Mullewa, Barbara Arnold. 

The largest  church which was built by Hawes on Cat Island  is the   Church of The Holy Redeemer at Freetown.  This was also funded by Hawes and  had a similar design to his Mullewa church. Beside the Church are the remains  of The Sacristy.  This had been  a ruined house  when Hawes purchased the land for the church and he had restored it and used it as a temporary chapel while the church was being built. The Pilgrims were able to contribute to Deacon Andrew's fundraising efforts to restore this building to be used as a Retreat Centre.

The highlight of the Cat Island visit was  of course the visit to The Hermitage on Mt Alvernia. As well as Bishop Justin and Fr Robert celebrating Mass in the chapel, Deacon Andrew lead the Pilgrims in the Stations of the Cross which are constructed on the pathway up to the Hermitage.  The group spent a great deal of time exploring the area and discovering the various features nearby including the cave in which Hawes had lived while building the Hermitage, his well, his separate kitchen, etc.   



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