This week on Wednesday the Church began its Lenten journey with the distribution of the ashes at Masses. These are a reminder that our life here is not forever. On this day we start to put into practice the promises we have made, whether to abstain from or take up, various things as we move… Read More
Author: Sara
St Peter and His Chair
Image:www.ncregiste.com This week, on Tuesday 22 February, we celebrated a feast with an unusual and intriguing name, The Chair of Saint Peter. However, whatever it may sound like this has nothing to do with a piece of furniture, even though there is a physical object with the same name. More anon! We all know who… Read More
World Day of the Sick
Image:www.cardinalsblog.adw.org Friday 11 February is World Day of the Sick and was instituted by Pope John Paul II in 1993 to be celebrated annually on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. People around the world are asked to take time on this day to pray for the sick and for those who work very… Read More
The Consecrated Life
On 2 February the Catholic Church celebrates the World Day For Consecrated Life. Pope St John Paul instituted this annual observance marking it for the first time in 1997. It is celebrated in conjunction with the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas Day. This commemorates the presentation of Christ in… Read More
Pope Francis Formalises Recognition of Roles
Since Francis, succeeded to the Chair of Peter on 13 March 2013 there has been a perception in many quarters that he is or would be a somewhat ‘liberal’ pontiff. This may have come about because of the undoubted ‘conservatism’ of his immediate predecessors, Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. However, it… Read More
Saint Agnes and the Lamb
On Friday 21st January we celebrate the Feast of Saint Agnes of Rome, a virgin and martyr, held in esteem by the Church since her death circa 304. Her grave near the Via Nomentana was recognized soon after her death. She was young when she was martyred; St Ambrose stated that she was only twelve,… Read More
The Word was made Flesh and Dwelt among us
In the first week of the New Year, on 6 January, we celebrate the Epiphany, which is one of the three principal and oldest festival days of the Christian church (the other two are Easter and Christmas). The Gospel of Matthew (2:1-12) speaks of Magi, or wise men, who followed a star from the east… Read More
A Christmas to Remember
I am writing this in Christmas week, three days out from the big day on the 25th, and sadly we are in the midst of new restrictions and facing the possibility of more. The dreaded word ‘Lockdown’ is even being mentioned across the water in the UK. This time last year we probably believed,… Read More
An East and West Divide: Religion
Last week Pope Francis completed a six-day Apostolic Journey to Cyprus and Greece. The trip was a significant one for Greeks, who saw his visit as a message for Christian unity with a Catholic minority and an Orthodox majority. The pope met with a delegation from the Greek Orthodox Church, in which he recalled… Read More
Looking Forward: Advent & Christmas
For many years, and I can remember it well, there was a great tradition in Ireland of the pre-Christmas shopping season beginning on the Holy Day, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. People from all over the country would descend on Dublin and there was a real sense that the Festive Celebrations… Read More
Dying for the Faith- Red Wednesday
These days there is much written and spoken about how faith and the observance and practise of religion has greatly declined, especially among the younger generation. Sometimes we forget to be grateful for the fact that those of us who do want to go to Church and pray with our fellow believers have the… Read More
The Gentle Queen- St Elizabeth of Hungary
This week on Wednesday, November 17th we celebrated the feast of St Elizabeth of Hungary who was born in Pressburg in 1207, a daughter of the King, Andrew III, and his wife Gertrude who was later murdered. Those were very different times and in infancy, she was betrothed to Louis IV, son of Hermann I,… Read More
Our World on the Brink – Climate Change
Climate change is very much the topic of the moment and has been for some time now. Last week the eyes of the world were on Glasgow and the Climate Conference (known as COP26), which is being attended by many world leaders including American President Joe Biden. The meeting began on 31 October and… Read More
The Value of Retreat
When I was in Secondary School, back in the ‘70s, we had a retreat with the Chaplain and a team once a year and I always looked forward to those few days. Of course, it made a change from the daily routine and afforded me a break from the dreaded Maths classes! It provided… Read More
Celebration of Life Mass- Sunday 3 October
Celebration of Life Mass- Sunday 3 October Where: St Saviour’s Church, Upper Dominick Street, Dublin 1 In the early days of the lockdown caused by the covid-19 pandemic my good friend’s father died. At that time of course we were unable to go into the Church so there was no funeral Mass. Friends and neighbours… Read More
The Saint of our Time: Padre Pio
On Thursday, 23rd we celebrated the feast day of the man we still refer to as Padre Pio, but who is of course a saint of the Catholic Church, with the title St Pio of Pietrelcina. Born in 1887, to peasant farmers in the Campanian Uplands, he later said… Read More