Father Roger died in Liverpool on 16th March 1969. He had been in indifferent health for about three years, but this zealous and active priest was mercifully spared an illness which would have left him incapacitated and, one would think, impatient of inactivity. Fr Roger was a priest first and foremost, and all the time, and wherever he had been made an indelible impression on the people he had served so generously.
He came from a family marked by all that is best in Lancashire Catholicism - simple, direct and deep. He was born in Ormskirk on 19th November 1900 and went to school at Douai (his brother, Abbot Anselm Lightbound, had gone to Ampleforth). On leaving school he was accepted for the priesthood by the then Bishop of Menevia, Bishop Mostyn, but on the translation of the latter to the Archdiocese of Cardiff, Fr Roger, too, changed his allegiance. He did his ecclesiastical studies at Fort Augustus with the permission of his Bishop and was ordained priest in 1926. It was while at Cardiff that he came into contact with our priests at St Mary's, and he was influenced in particular by Fr Ambrose Byrne. He had already tried his vocation for a short period at Belmont but it was to Ampleforth that he came in 1932. He was already an experienced priest and he did not stay long in the monastery, for in May 1933 he was sent on supply to St Benedict's, Warrington, and remained there for the next six years.
Fr Roger was never to live in the monastery again - seven years at Leyland, then eight at Cardiff until he was appointed parish priest at Harrington. Although he had little experience of monastic living as such, nevertheless he was a monk in spirit and at heart, and a real missioner in the traditional style of the Congregation, but always interested in the brethren and a regular visitor to the monastery at Chapter and retreats.
What sort of man was he? He had all those qualities which each one of us would wish to have when the time comes to render an account of our stewardship to the Lord - a real compassion, thoughtfulness, generosity. He was never happier than when administering the Sacraments (a true devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was a special characteristic) or visiting the people in their houses. But he had administrative ability too, and the primary school at Harrington will long be his memorial. His years at Harrington, and he was there from 1955 to 1968, were undoubtedly the happiest of his life, and the large number of persons, especially children, who came to the funeral and attended at the graveyard at Salterbank testified to the devotion they had for their parish priest. Early in 1968 the parish passed into the hands of the Community at Belmont and this caused Fr Roger great sadness, although he was happy and relieved to know that it would still be in Benedictine hands, and especially in the care of Belmont monks with whom he had always had such close ties - his brother had been Abbot of Belmont and he himself had been ordained there. This sadness, together with a certain bewilderment at the rapid changes in the Church, were an ordeal for him, but he worked right to the end, visiting the people at St Peter's, Seel Street, attracting them (as he always did) to his confessional - but meanwhile Almighty God was preparing him for his final assignment. He faced that as he faced everything else - a true priest and a humble monk. To Abbot Anselm, Fr Hugh Menken and Sister Theresa we extend the condolences of our Community, grateful to Almighty God for having given us such an exemplary brother in St Benedict.
JOHN ROGER LIGHTBOUND 16 March 1969
1900 19 Nov Born Liverpool
Educ Douai
1926 Jul Ordained & became a Secular Priest
1932 Clothed at Ampleforth
1933 Temporary Vows
1936 Solemn Vows
1933 Assistant at St Benedict's Warrington
1939 St Mary's Leyland
1946 St Anne's Liverpool
1947 St Mary's Cardiff
1955 Parish Priest at Harrington & remained there until the parish was surrendered to Belmont in 1968
1968 Assistant at Lostock Hall for some months until he moved to St Peter's Liverpool
1969 16 Mar Died at St Peter's Liverpool
Buried at Harrington