England is a country that is firmly associated with the Protestant religion because it was its King, Henry VIII who broke from Rome when the pope would not allow him to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon. It was Henry’s daughter Elizabeth I whose compromise between Protestantism and Catholicism resulted in Anglicanism, a hybrid of… Read More
Open Letter from our director to all during this time of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Helpful Links: Light A Candle Make A Donation Online Shop – Order Products Mass Offerings Magazine Renewal (If you are a promoter and receive more than one magazine, please call us on 01 8745465) Draw Tickets
COVID- 19 (Coronavirus) Message to Our Supporters At this time of unprecedented COVID-19 crisis in our country, and across the globe, we would like to assure you that all of you are in our thoughts and prayers. Please take the utmost care in terms of personal safety, and to follow the HSE guideline. This may… Read More
October The Special month for the Missions. Two years ago on World Mission Sunday, Pope Francis said: “For the month of October 2019 I ask the whole Church to live an extraordinary time of missionary activity”. He also explained that it would mark the hundredth anniversary of Pope Benedict XV’s Apostolic letter, Maximum Illud, a… Read More
Christianity, The Lion King and Narnia This week I finally got to see the new version of The Lion King. I wanted to go once I heard it had been re-made as I loved the original film released in 1994. I personally preferred the earlier one but the essential themes are all there, the main… Read More
A Helping Hand – St Martin Charities At the St Martin Apostolate we have as our Patron a man who is an inspiration not only because of his humility, but also for his care of the poor and suffering. We still strive to live by his word and example and are very proud to… Read More
An English Saint for the Irish Earlier this week the Vatican made the announcement that Cardinal John Henry Newman is due to be canonised on 13th October by Pope Francis. The elevation to sainthood of Newman, who converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism in 1845 comes after the Vatican announced that it had successfully attributed a… Read More
A Tale of Two Thomases The reign of Henry VIII is always fertile ground for writers partly because of his six wives and, with the exception of Katherine Parr, their decline and fall. Within the last few years two powerful television Series were screened on the BBC, The Tudors and Wolf Hall. The latter… Read More
Cathedrals Anyone? Summer is here and many parents will be trying to find ways to entertain their children on holidays from school. It may sound a trifle off-beat but why not consider taking them on a tour of our famous Dublin Cathedrals. They are treasures in their own right as well as testimonies to faith… Read More
Yesterday, June 13th marked the feast day of one of the best loved saints in the Roman Catholic Church, Saint Anthony of Padua. He is often invoked by the faithful to help them find lost or missing items. A little jingle goes like this: “St Anthony, please look around; something is lost and something must… Read More
This week on Wednesday the State examinations began; yes it’s that time of year again when so many homes all around the country are caught up, with what may seem a never-ending succession of Paper 1 this, and Paper 2 that. I still remember my own Leaving Cert back in the day and am even… Read More
In Roman Catholicism we have a tradition of wearing medals and scapulars and venerating relics of the saints. For many Protestants and others, this can seem strange, even alien. At best it may seem like worshipping graven images which is forbidden in the Bible and against the second commandment; at worst seeming to believe such… Read More
Are you suffering with your Mental Health or do you know somebody that is? Thankfully we are living at a time when there is much more awareness of the importance of mental health issues. Adverts on television encourage us to be on the alert for the masks people can wear and there is a realization… Read More
Religion in Schools While writing the blog last week on Christianity and Buddhism I realised how little I know about other religions. When I was in school, which as they say was not today or yesterday, we had more class discussions about issues and I do remember watching the series Jesus of Nazareth. However, I… Read More
This Sunday sees the celebration of the birthday of Buddha according to the Gregorian calendar. The only thing I knew about the Buddhist religion was their respect for all forms of life so I decided to compare it with Christianity and learn a bit more in the process! Buddhism originated in North-East India sometime between… Read More
Please note: Fr Pat Collins is a priest of the Vincentian order, if you would like to contact him please call Vincentians Ireland on 01 810 2561 or email parishmissions@vincentians.ie. Freedom From Evil Spirits Mention the word exorcism and most people will probably think of the famous film The Exorcist but there is much more… Read More