The Society of St. Justin Martyr revives England’s Catholic past through prayer, reparation, and unity in pre-Reformation sacred sites.
Newsroom (03/02/2026 Gaudium Press ) In the quiet ruins of monasteries and the ancient naves of village churches across England, a small but devoted group of Catholics is engaged in a mission that blends history, prayer, and reconciliation. Members of the Society of St. Justin Martyr (SSJM) return to the nation’s pre-Reformation holy places to pray for the healing of centuries-old wounds.
Founded in 2005 by a group of English Catholics—all once Anglicans—the Society’s purpose is both simple and profound: to pray in former Catholic places of worship as an act of reparation for past desecrations, to intercede for the souls who once prayed there, and to ask for the unity of the Church. Their prayers—Pater Noster, Ave Maria, and Gloria Patri—are offered quietly, usually in Latin, wherever they stand: in cathedrals, monastic ruins, or churches now used for secular purposes.
A Pilgrimage of Reparation
Speaking via email on January 30, founders Graeme Jolly, Master of the Society, and Antony Pinchin, Chamberlain, explained the Society’s roots and mission. “We were originally a small group of Catholic friends, priests and laity, who had all previously been Anglicans,” Jolly said. “We asked ourselves how we should respond as Catholics when visiting churches that were once Catholic but now belong to our former communion.”
That question became a spiritual calling. The answer, they found, was prayer—prayer for unity and for reparation. As Jolly described, their visits honor the memory of faith long expressed in those places and seek to heal the “spiritual damage” caused by the Reformation and the dissolution of the monasteries.
“Our overriding goal,” Pinchin added, “is to help bring the intercessory power of the entire Church to the particular place and the particular situation—and simply to pray, ‘Thy will be done.’”
The Mystical Communion of Place
Underlying the Society’s spirituality is a profound sense of the communion of saints. The founders speak of sacred spaces as intersections of the Church Militant on earth, the Church Expectant in purgatory, and the Church Triumphant in heaven. Even when a church has been repurposed or fallen to ruin, they believe a mystical thread remains connecting the faithful through time.
“Faith leaves its mark,” Jolly reflected. “These places cannot be reduced to tourist attractions. Their enduring holiness comes from repeated prayer over centuries—faith that came at a price.”
This spiritual continuity is echoed in the hymn beloved within the Anglican tradition, which gives thanks for “the saints who before us have found their reward,” and in T.S. Eliot’s Little Gidding, where the poet reminds pilgrims: “You are here to kneel where prayer has been valid.”
Healing Through Prayer
Members of the Society visit sites across the United Kingdom—and increasingly beyond—to mark them with prayer. Their mission extends to places now used by other Christian communities. There, their intentions are both charitable and ecumenical: to affirm the dignity of all the baptized while silently praying toward the restoration of full unity with the See of Peter.
“Our apostolate,” Pinchin explained, “is not to repair the fractured nature of the Church at its core, but simply to pray. All prayer leads to the Dominical phrase, ‘Thy will be done.’”
After two decades, many members report personal transformation. Some have found visiting former Catholic churches helps integrate their spiritual pasts as former Anglicans into their present Catholic lives. “As to other spiritual fruits,” Jolly added, “we leave this to God.”
Standing Against Secular Indifference
In recent years, pre-Reformation churches have increasingly hosted secular events—from silent discos to film screenings—raising questions about the loss of reverence for sacred sites. From April, a new policy will also subject these historic buildings to tax on repairs. For the Society, however, the response remains measured and spiritual.
“As mentioned earlier, prayer changes things,” Jolly said. “Individual members may be politically active, but the collective response of the Society is always through the spiritual domain.”
Looking Ahead
The Society has no grand agenda beyond encouraging prayer and remembrance in places where Catholic faith once flourished. Its quiet work now spans borders, carried forward by Catholics whose historical consciousness resonates with England’s sacred past.
“We have no particular ambition beyond providing a spiritual association for those who value this task,” Jolly said. “If God uses our simple efforts, then we are happy.”
Across England’s former Catholic churches—their stones worn smooth by centuries of faith—the words of Christ’s prayer still echo softly: Pater noster, qui es in caelis… Thy will be done.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from NCR Online
Related Images:
